Hit or Miss but I like it here...
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6/4/2019
My job relocated my family here in 2015. My company built a new Data Center on the outer skirt of Omaha.
What I like about this place... the slow pace living in a large city atmosphere. Yet it lacks much of the larger city night life, activities and resources that I'm accustom to. I like the free hospital/clinic parking... that's something I don't see much from the previous city where I used to live. I like it that the main roads are straight forward. I can drive any of the main roads from north to south, west to east and not get lost. You pretty much get from one end of the city to the other end on the main roads. Here in Omaha, I barely had a mosquito bite. Could also be that Omaha lack lakes and most are man made lakes or pond in the area. One major attraction to Omaha is it's Zoo. Without the zoo, there's not much to talk about coming here for a visit with my family and friends from out of town. And If you like beer, they are a dime a dozens of local joints in town in almost every neighborhood.
What I don't like about the city... roads here are terrible, lots of pot holes and they do shotty works at patching it up. I'm guessing road planning for the city back in the earlier years didn't predict the growth it see's today. Even when they are fixing the road to accommodate the population growth. They're only adding one additional lane in certain section and not through out the whole length of the road. Guess it's another excuse for more road works in the future. Job security I guess. Taxes, don't get me started on that. Being a Red State, I was expecting better but they charge you pretty much for everything. Example, in the previous state I came from. My motorcycle tab is a flat $13 buck a year. Here in Omaha, I'm paying $161 for tab... plus they have individual wheel taxes too... WTH!
Lack of diversity also shorten peoples view on the world, it's access to foods and culture. For a state/city known for beef. There's not many steak joints that I can say is my absolute favorite. Of course it's not a pork state so finding a good BBQ joint are far and few. The malls here are pretty much dead, I see more outdoor shopping center popping all over. I guess that's the next wave of shoppers here. Talking about shops and restaurant. They pretty much shut down around 8pm or 9pm. Most shops are closed on Sunday unless you're shopping at large chain stores.
There's a few of us none natives who moved here and we've compare notes about living here... What we notice is single car accident. In broad day light with perfectly fine weather... Omahanian can get into it's own single car accident. Don't know how or care to ask... it just so happen that we see it often enough to put it on the list. Guess it's a good thing they're not hurting someone else in the process.
People here when making left turn, they don't drive part way into the intersection so when the other car passes, they can keep traffic flowing and clear the left lane. They'll sit at the stop light and wait instead. I guess there's a pro's and con's to that.
People here are hit or missed like anywhere else. Mostly are good people though. Don't get me wrong, my list consist more negative then positive but I like it enough to put up with it... until my company relocate my family again to another city/state. For now, I'll enjoy it while I'm here.
Vic | Omaha, NE