[art-lover67]

Thanks, downthathighway, for your thoughtful response. I am very interested in the part about your resulting pay cut from taxes. We always think of our state as Taxachusettes, but the sales tax in Omaha is 2% higher, the property tax rate is $18.49 versus our $12.29, and the income tax rate is almost 1% higher, too. This was very surprising to me. The math will be very complicated, as right now, we have our own business that we run out of our home, so we get a lot of tax write-offs on mortgage, utilities, etc.

I think the company courting my husband is thinking they will offer him what he's making now, hoping we'll jump at it due to the overall lower cost of living. But now, I'm thinking if he doesn't get at least 15% more than he's making now, it won't be worth it. But then again, there is the lower housing cost. It's all so confusing! Any advice?

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by art-lover67

Thanks, downthathighway, for your thoughtful response. I am very interested in the part about your resulting pay cut from taxes. We always think of our state as Taxachusettes, but the sales tax in Omaha is 2% higher, the property tax rate is $18.49 versus our $12.29, and the income tax rate is almost 1% higher, too. This was very surprising to me. The math will be very complicated, as right now, we have our own business that we run out of our home, so we get a lot of tax write-offs on mortgage, utilities, etc.

I think the company courting my husband is thinking they will offer him what he's making now, hoping we'll jump at it due to the overall lower cost of living. But now, I'm thinking if he doesn't get at least 15% more than he's making now, it won't be worth it. But then again, there is the lower housing cost. It's all so confusing! Any advice?

The overall cost of living is the important factor - yes our taxes can be higher than alot of areas, but take look at the total picture of your income/expenses. Yes, as this poster said property taxes are high, but your complete standard of living will generally be higher here than other places. Taxes alone, yes its high... total cost of living, very nice... The housing example is just one real example of that...

Take a look at this Cost of Living Comparison Calculator that another forum member (can't remember who) posted a long time ago. You can put in your base salary and then select your current and new location. It will show you the difference in typical salary for the area, but then also the change in total cost of living for that area. Example: $50,000 in Omaha vs Boston you would have $8,830 more disposable income in Omaha (even factoring in taxes). Omaha is 35.6% lower cost of living than Boston. It factors in those higher property taxes so is the total perspective I mentioned.

[art-lover67]

Thanks! I'll definitely check that out. Thanks, too, for all the helpful links.

[downthathighway]

Originally Posted by Dave1215

The overall cost of living is the important factor - yes our taxes can be higher than alot of areas, but take look at the total picture of your income/expenses. Yes, as this poster said property taxes are high, but your complete standard of living will generally be higher here than other places. Taxes alone, yes its high... total cost of living, very nice... The housing example is just one real example of that...

Take a look at this Cost of Living Comparison Calculator that another forum member (can't remember who) posted a long time ago. You can put in your base salary and then select your current and new location. It will show you the difference in typical salary for the area, but then also the change in total cost of living for that area. Example: $50,000 in Omaha vs Boston you would have $8,830 more disposable income in Omaha (even factoring in taxes). Omaha is 35.6% lower cost of living than Boston. It factors in those higher property taxes so is the total perspective I mentioned.

Aha ! I was not imagining the drop in 'disposable income'
According to that chart the cost of living in Omaha is 11.2% higher than my last residence.
(darn it Cole, I'm jealous as could be now)
Probably not the result one would expect is it ?
Realistically, though I had lived in areas of SE U.S.
Coastal areas E & W the cost of living is very high. Boston is almost a 'worst case scenario'. Real estate prices skyrocketed in dot com years with so many tech jobs in Mass.
Upper New England, about same as here. New Hampshire almost cheaper. They have neither income or sales taxes, go figure.

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by downthathighway

Boston is almost a 'worst case scenario'. Real estate prices skyrocketed in dot com years with so many tech jobs in Mass.

I specifically pointed out Boston because that's where she indicated they were moving from.

[downthathighway]

Originally Posted by Dave1215

I specifically pointed out Boston because that's where she indicated they were moving from.

yep. read that.
My bad, I should not have used the chart to compare other cities.

[DTO Luv]

Art-lover

If you're looking to be around more liberal types the eastern parts of Omaha are decidedly more liberal.

What part of town will your husband be working in? That may make a difference as to how good the public transportation will be to work and where you live.

Also Omaha in general is a very artsy community. The eastern parts of the city have many different little gallery and antique areas. There are shows from local artists to the museum attractions too. The Joslyn Art Museum is free to the public on Saturdays before noon so be sure to check that out. The Joslyn is also working on an outdoor sculpture garden. I'm not sure when it will be completed though.

Jazz on the Green is a very popular event running weekly in the summer at the Joslyn. I haven't been able to make it myself but I can hear the music and see the crowds from my condo.

Omaha's big art show is the Summer Arts Festival. It has local and national artists and runs for a week in June I believe. There is also some sort of basterdized version of the art show out west at Village Point.

Omaha is also home to the nations largest urban artist colony at the Bemis in the Old Market. They have shows and tours where you can actually talk with the artists in residence. They are always fun to go to and meet with people from all over the world. The Artist Co-op in the Old Market has a lot of free shows (donations suggest though) and they are diverse from paintings, to sculptures, to even furniture design and video graphic mediums.

Sculptor Jun Kaneko is based out of Omaha and has his gallery Downtown as well as new artist space he is opening Downtown near where I live. He is also working on his own museum Downtown too.

Omaha also has many small ethnic museums/galleries in north and south Omaha.

[DTO Luv]

Also the public schools aren't bad here. I went to OPS all of my school career and as a student it seemed fine. Their were challenging classes offered and many of the students have gone onto make something of themselves.

My whole thing with education is you get out what you put into it. If your kid doesn't have it naturally then that's just the way it is. I also think it's more about parental involvement then anything else.

[art-lover67]

Hi DTO Luv! Thanks for your thoughtful response. It sure does make me feel a lot better. Some older posts I read from disgruntled transplants were complaining how there is nothing to do there. They must not be looking in the right places.

Hey, I was also wondering, do you all have a cinema that shows more independent films, like an art house theater? I love movies, but not usually the mainstream ones.

Regarding the schools, I'm in a bit of a pickle because I have 3 kids with very different educational needs. My oldest will be a junior in high school next year. He is our math/science guy, wants to go to MIT. He is taking the most difficult math classes right now, and they aren't even very challenging for him. He also does math team, and competes very well against seniors. I thought I saw that Omaha had a math/science magnet school. Do you know how one gets into it? Is it a lottery system?

My middle son will be a HS freshman. He's actually a working actor, so it would be nice for him to be in a performing arts school, or at least a school with a good PA program. Can anybody recommend one?

My third son, 10, is just a regular guy, into sports, skateboarding, a decent student. I'm not too worried about him.

Oh, you asked where my husband will be working? Actually, he'll be in south Omaha, closer to the Papillion-La Vista area. We would look there, but then again, we are city folk. I'm guessing the commute out of the city (against the traffic) shouldn't be bad, right?

[DTO Luv]

All of the public schools have open enrollment so your kid can go where ever they want. There are different magnet schools so look into them.

If your kid is into acting he will like Omaha. The Community Playhouse is the nations largest community theater. Actor John Beasly lives in Omaha and produces and directs productions around town. Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, and Peter Fonda are all Omaha natives and got their starts on stage here.

Between the Orpheum Theater and Holland Center, Omaha does get big acts coming through. The Phantom of the Opera has been running all month here and wraps up this week. Last year the Lion King had a month long engagement.

If you guys do end up somewhere in the city, which I hope you do, traffic to Lavista won't be as bad since he will be a reverse commuter.