[bluechris]

Please forgive the back story, in my first posts on here, i'll get to the point.

My wife and I are at a big potential crossroads and trying to sort some things out. This all comes about because my company who will remain nameless announced job last October, just as we were about to buy a house. After listening to the advice of local job agencies for my field i began a search for a new job in other cities. My company finally did the job cuts in february by which time i was in serious talks with an agency in columbus,OH which have developed into a very serious chance of me being offered a job (i have now had 3 interviews with the company and they are doing some background checking). At the same time, my job here could be looking up now. So this has spawned my first 2 threads here.

We can stay here, and look for a house, we have some ideas on neighborhoods having rented here for just over a year now, but there is much of the city we don't know, and my wife has safety concerns with mid town and other areas which more closely fit our outlook on life than the suburban sprawl. We're looking for an area safe enough to start a family, but with more a community feel - Benson appeals to us for this. There is one other big caveat - she hates the idea of being stuck on a sloped drive way or on her street in winter with the snow and ice, and Omaha is not flat (and driving in Benson off the main roads are some pretty tasty hills. We identified one flattish neighborhood between cass and blondo along the keystone trail which was where we almost bought a house last year but want to expand our outlook. We are also hoping to stay a one car family, at least for now so bus routes are also important. So, assuming we decide to stay in Omaha.

Are there any flattish areas in omaha that we might be totally overlooking and might suit us - where would you recommend?

Is there any part of north east Omaha we should be considering - NE being north of dodge, saddle creek, nw radial and east of 72nd all the way up to 680 and the bridge? We had heard that parts of this area are dangerous, but don't rally know the boundaries for that.

Is there any parts of south east Omaha we should be considering - east of 42nd, south of center down towards Belleville? Likewise here - we have no problem with the Hispanic community in that area (we used to live in South Hollywood) but have also heard that safety is not so good in that part of town and house prices were coming down there before anywhere else.

[McBain II]

There isn't any reason you should be concerned for your safety in Midtown. It's overall a very safe area and the few bad parts can easily be avoided with a little research.

You'll get people who tell you that everything east of 72nd is bad. Those people seem to feel like there is a bright line running down 72nd that separates the good from the bad. Despite what they may think, it isn't all sunshine and kittens on the westside and the eastside isn't the Gaza Strip.

Sorry, but those brain dead types work me up a bit. Don't let their misinformation sway you.

[smithy77]

Originally Posted by bluechris

Please forgive the back story, in my first posts on here, i'll get to the point.

My wife and I are at a big potential crossroads and trying to sort some things out. This all comes about because my company who will remain nameless announced job last October, just as we were about to buy a house. After listening to the advice of local job agencies for my field i began a search for a new job in other cities. My company finally did the job cuts in february by which time i was in serious talks with an agency in columbus,OH which have developed into a very serious chance of me being offered a job (i have now had 3 interviews with the company and they are doing some background checking). At the same time, my job here could be looking up now. So this has spawned my first 2 threads here.

We can stay here, and look for a house, we have some ideas on neighborhoods having rented here for just over a year now, but there is much of the city we don't know, and my wife has safety concerns with mid town and other areas which more closely fit our outlook on life than the suburban sprawl. We're looking for an area safe enough to start a family, but with more a community feel - Benson appeals to us for this. There is one other big caveat - she hates the idea of being stuck on a sloped drive way or on her street in winter with the snow and ice, and Omaha is not flat (and driving in Benson off the main roads are some pretty tasty hills. We identified one flattish neighborhood between cass and blondo along the keystone trail which was where we almost bought a house last year but want to expand our outlook. We are also hoping to stay a one car family, at least for now so bus routes are also important. So, assuming we decide to stay in Omaha.

Are there any flattish areas in omaha that we might be totally overlooking and might suit us - where would you recommend?

Is there any part of north east Omaha we should be considering - NE being north of dodge, saddle creek, nw radial and east of 72nd all the way up to 680 and the bridge? We had heard that parts of this area are dangerous, but don't rally know the boundaries for that.

Is there any parts of south east Omaha we should be considering - east of 42nd, south of center down towards Belleville? Likewise here - we have no problem with the Hispanic community in that area (we used to live in South Hollywood) but have also heard that safety is not so good in that part of town and house prices were coming down there before anywhere else.

The area bounded by 36th St., 60th St., Center St. and Harrison St. is just fine, as is the area just south of there in the Northwestern part of Bellevue in Sarpy County, and you can buy or rent there for a song. Good luck.