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You've never been to Omaha, have you? It can compare to Kansas City, MO, and is more dense. City proper, there's not that much difference. City proper, Omaha is larger than Minneapolis.
The KC, KS shot was a low blow, but city proper doesn't mean much. Omaha's metro can hang with cities larger than it no doubt, but there is a cutoff that it falls short.
Indy and KC are easily in the next tier up, Minneapolis would have gotten my vote above any of the 4 the OP brought up in this thread.
Nothing wrong with that, Omaha isn't even a 900K metro and has tons of amenities.
Indy would of ended up with the CWS had the new baseball stadium not been built downtown. The Holland Performing Arts Center is a fantastic facility, the most underrated new public works project this past decade in Omaha IMO.
I am sure any of these other 3 cities would love to host the Olympic Swim Trials that Omaha now is hosting for the 2nd cycle in a row. Prime time NBC coverage for 8 straight days from downtown Omaha directly after the CWS.
For the 3 week period from mid June through early July Omaha will have ~25 live broadcasts on either ESPN or NBC. That kind of exposure isn't exactly commonplace for most places in the country.
Omaha has lots going on for it, one of the reasons I enjoy living here is the excitement for the future, but realistically we are a tier behind.
Now let's be realistic. City proper there's only ~ 20,000 people difference between Omaha and Atlanta, but nobody should argue that the two cities are of comparable stature.
It's just the lay of the land in Omaha. The city has nice continuous development that is contained by the river boundaries while the city itself has very few natural obstacles and there are not many large industrial areas, so it has good, consistent density.
Obviously Omaha is a smaller city and the overall size and density is simply attributed to much of its built out suburban areas being in the city limits and while it's mostly single family homes, it's built out without a lot of sprawl or gaps.
Omaha is a nice city. It's compact, has a nice downtown with a lot of modern amenities (arts center, arena etc) and some great urban recreation (river walks, trails etc) and one of the best zoos in the country. Omaha also has some very civic minded corporations that have heavily invested in downtown and some of the architecture there is very similar to that of any large midwestern city, especially KC. This is why I have always thought Omaha would actually be a great city to have a 10-15 mile light rail line right down dodge. It would connect nearly the entire city including the suburbs together in one line and serve about the same amount of people as a similar line in a larger city.
Omaha also does not come across to me as "countrified" like OKC or some other places. It's a small big city if that makes any sense and people wouldn't think that with it being in Nebraska.
Omaha also has a great urban university and it's attached at the hip to Lincoln which is a large college town and Kansas City is sort of the weekend getaway I think for many if they want to go to pro sports, amusement parks etc. KC is not that far away so you can live in Omaha and have a decent city with nearly everything you need for everyday life and KC is just down the road for the occasional trip for higher end entertainment and culture of a bigger city.
So it's smaller, but I think people would be surprised by what it offers. I have always liked Omaha. While I would prefer a larger city of at least 2 million, Omaha is one of the few cities under a million that I would be okay in.
Now let's be realistic. City proper there's only ~ 20,000 people difference between Omaha and Atlanta, but nobody should argue that the two cities are of comparable stature.
Oh and St Louis is not a deserted city by any stretch of the imagination. Parts of downtown still need some love. Downtown StL seems a bit behind downtown KC when it comes to converting all those warehouses into lofts etc, but so much of StL city is very vibrant and full of life. When I think of St Louis, blight and decay and vacant buildings does not even cross my mind because I think of all the vibrant areas it has. Even the north side has a lot of people in it and there are very few areas of StL that are just bombed out like what you would find in Detroit, but the areas they do have are almost entirely on the north side of the city. The midtown through west end and south sides of StL are really neat urban areas that anybody that likes cities in general should enjoy. What I like about StL is it's not just fake and manufactured. It's a real city. I love Portland and Denver etc, but StL has its own vibe and culture and you can feel it just by walking down the street. It's not just a bunch of new condo buildings filled with white people from the suburbs that could be in any gentrifying city usa.
Omaha also has a great urban university and it's attached at the hip to Lincoln which is a large college town and Kansas City is sort of the weekend getaway I think for many if they want to go to pro sports, amusement parks etc. KC is not that far away so you can live in Omaha and have a decent city with nearly everything you need for everyday life and KC is just down the road for the occasional trip for higher end entertainment and culture of a bigger city.
I probably make upwards of 6 trips a year. 5 Royals, 1 Chiefs game and sometimes a concert or two are my usual KC trips. Although the concerts are often in Lawrence.
I get my pro sports fix and am a big Royals and Chiefs fan so it works out well, even scheduled trips to Dallas and Chicago around when the Royals would be there the past few years.
Always get some BBQ and rotate museums if I have the time. The College Basketball Experience is a get way to burn a few hours of free time on top of the other more stately offerings. Its too bad a little of that BBQ culture hasn't rubbed off up north here. Our offerings are pathetic when you consider KC is a day trip away.
P&L District is highly impressive, but I generally enjoy Crossroads, Westport, City Market and The Plaza more. More organic feeling and more life on a day to day basis right now. Never been to P&L during a Sprint Center event though, I am sure it is the place to be during the Big 12 basketball tournament or after a concert.
It's just the lay of the land in Omaha. The city has nice continuous development that is contained by the river boundaries while the city itself has very few natural obstacles and there are not many large industrial areas, so it has good, consistent density.
Obviously Omaha is a smaller city and the overall size and density is simply attributed to much of its built out suburban areas being in the city limits and while it's mostly single family homes, it's built out without a lot of sprawl or gaps.
Omaha is a nice city. It's compact, has a nice downtown with a lot of modern amenities (arts center, arena etc) and some great urban recreation (river walks, trails etc) and one of the best zoos in the country. Omaha also has some very civic minded corporations that have heavily invested in downtown and some of the architecture there is very similar to that of any large midwestern city, especially KC. This is why I have always thought Omaha would actually be a great city to have a 10-15 mile light rail line right down dodge. It would connect nearly the entire city including the suburbs together in one line and serve about the same amount of people as a similar line in a larger city.
Omaha also does not come across to me as "countrified" like OKC or some other places. It's a small big city if that makes any sense and people wouldn't think that with it being in Nebraska.
Omaha also has a great urban university and it's attached at the hip to Lincoln which is a large college town and Kansas City is sort of the weekend getaway I think for many if they want to go to pro sports, amusement parks etc. KC is not that far away so you can live in Omaha and have a decent city with nearly everything you need for everyday life and KC is just down the road for the occasional trip for higher end entertainment and culture of a bigger city.
So it's smaller, but I think people would be surprised by what it offers. I have always liked Omaha. While I would prefer a larger city of at least 2 million, Omaha is one of the few cities under a million that I would be okay in.
Oklahoma City as a whole isn't " all countrified " you have people from every state in the country there. OKC is a lot more conservatist when compared to the more progressive Omaha , and the countrifed vibe is more or less the "cowboy vibe " that OKC has pretty much like Dallas and to a lesser degree Houston.
You've never been to Omaha, have you? It can compare to Kansas City, MO, and is more dense. City proper, there's not that much difference. City proper, Omaha is larger than Minneapolis.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamjacobm
The KC, KS shot was a low blow, but city proper doesn't mean much. Omaha's metro can hang with cities larger than it no doubt, but there is a cutoff that it falls short.
Indy and KC are easily in the next tier up, Minneapolis would have gotten my vote above any of the 4 the OP brought up in this thread.
Nothing wrong with that, Omaha isn't even a 900K metro and has tons of amenities.
Indy would of ended up with the CWS had the new baseball stadium not been built downtown. The Holland Performing Arts Center is a fantastic facility, the most underrated new public works project this past decade in Omaha IMO.
I am sure any of these other 3 cities would love to host the Olympic Swim Trials that Omaha now is hosting for the 2nd cycle in a row. Prime time NBC coverage for 8 straight days from downtown Omaha directly after the CWS.
For the 3 week period from mid June through early July Omaha will have ~25 live broadcasts on either ESPN or NBC. That kind of exposure isn't exactly commonplace for most places in the country.
Omaha has lots going on for it, one of the reasons I enjoy living here is the excitement for the future, but realistically we are a tier behind.
Ah, the KC, KS thing was a joke. I've never been to Omaha, but I assume it is a great city, and I honestly would love to visit. I only mentioned KC, KS because no one had really mentioned previously. However, I still think that Omaha is being compared to the wrong cities here. As someone said before, I think it's better compared to Milwaukee or Des Moines. NOT KC, KS. So no hard feelings against Omaha.
Out of curiosity, what is in KC, KS? I don't know too much about the Midwest except some general stuff and what I see people arguing about on c-d haha.
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I've never been to Omaha, but I assume it is a great city, and I honestly would love to visit. I only mentioned KC, KS because no one had really mentioned previously. 
However, I still think that Omaha is being compared to the wrong cities here. As someone said before, I think it's better compared to Milwaukee or Des Moines. NOT KC, KS. So no hard feelings against Omaha.
