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I was wondering since Lincoln has been lagging behind Omaha alot lately why doesnt the state put all its eggs into one basket and just worry about Omaha.
This state would be much better off if they transfered alot of the UNL divisions to UNO in Omaha.
Omaha by far as the most potential in the state and is doing very well at the current time so why dont the rural and Lincoln politicians take a back-seat and let Omaha drive the state's economic growth.
Lincoln in my opinion is a lost cause economically it doesnt care about economic growth, all it cares about is being "family friendly" which Ive never understood because a vast majority of the jobs are low-wage in Lincoln compared to other cities.
Considering the average wage in Lincoln is lower then the largest city in the poorest state of the nation why does Lincoln have local politicians and zoning officials who want to create a city where their dream demographic is large families only.
It makes no sense for a low-wage city to want a demographic which is large families especially considering Lincoln's low-wages.
Basically this has created a situation where Lincoln has a horrible infrastructure because so much of the tax dollars go to K-12 education purposes.
Lincoln also is becoming increasingly blighted in alot of neighborhoods, while Omaha's bad neighborhoods are stable and slowly but surely getting better.
North 27th corridor in Lincoln is in worst shape then North Omaha at the present time and it seems like while North Omaha improves alot of Lincoln just declines by the month. The area in back of UNL east campus is in about as bad of shape as the 16th and Florence Blvd corridors in North Omaha.
I do think the higher-level state employees should also be transfered to Omaha and just have the secrateries and clerical workers stay in Lincoln.
Why should the state worry about a town which has no potential.
I dont think the Department of Roads should improve the road systems around Lincoln either they should worry about building a light-rail system in Omaha or maybe build some more viaducts like they have along Dodge Street.
First of all, this whole discussion has happened time and time again. Secondly, you act as though the state makes a decision on these things! Yes, it may control the university system, to a degree, but that's it. It is not as though they sit back and say, "hey, I think we should abandon Lincoln and put all of our eggs in one basket". Seriously, you need to understand how government works!!
Secondly, UNL is so so so far ahead of UNO its laughable to even compare the two. You act as though you can just move the classes to UNO and be done with it. UNL is way ahead not because of the number of students, but because of their national level of recognition. They also have first rate research that occurs in biology, physics, chemistry, biochem, and engineering. Do you have any idea how much money comes from outside sources because of this research?? It would take decades to transfer from UNL to UNO and it would be a complete and total disaster. Ask one person in the country to name a college in the state of Nebraska and they'll all say The University of Nebraska. And they aren't referring to the Omaha campus!! You might get some to mention Creighton, but no one will mention UNO. Hell you'd get them to mention UNK before they would mention UNO.
I would also add that not all roads are built by the state!!! Much of the infrastructure is built by the developing city. So, I'm not exactly sure how you expect the state to just abandon Lincoln.
Considering the average wage in Lincoln is lower then the largest city in the poorest state of the nation
Okay, we've been over this before! This is totally an irrelevant fact! I'd be willing to bet that Jackson, Mississippi has a higher wage than a lot of other cities in the U.S. Jackson is not indicative of the large amount of poverty that it rampant in the rural areas of Mississippi. You are completely twisting the statistic!
Seriously, your post just indicates how little you understand government in general, and state policy to be specific. It also illustrates your very linear way of thinking with regard to these very complicated economic and social-economic matters. You also repeatedly twist facts and present false statements as fact. I could go through and tear apart every single statement you've made in this post, but honestly I'm completely tired of it. You won't respond to any rebuttal, and you'll only respond by making other absurd and completely ridiculous statements and claims. In a nut shell you have no idea what you're talking about with regard to Lincoln, Omaha, or Nebraska in general and many, including myself, have grown very tired of your antics.
All I know about the State of Nebraska policies is that they are short-sighted and backwards and that rural, special interests control the state. Catering with a gold platter to Lincolnites and rural Nebraska places with no little potential is plain foolish.
Then again what sort of leadership can one expect when alot of the people running this state are from the middle of no where. The governor is from Falls City, The Lt. governor is from Hastings and so many politicians in this state are from one horse towns.
Omaha is the premier city in the state, it has by far the most potential and its metropolitan area is 3 times the size of Lincoln and its CSA could be a million people or more by 2020. Not only that but Omaha is located on the interstate with-in 3 hours of Kansas City and Des Moines.
Besides, Lincoln has no interest into becoming a innovative and corperate powerhouse like Omaha. The only interest Lincolnites have is having more and more babies. I was looking it up and Lincoln's public school system is as large as Pittsburgh, PA's public school system. I guess when people have as many babies as they have in Lincoln their mind's are going to be more pre-occupied on their families then starting businesses and expanding the economy like Omaha has.
Of course a lot of people in the legislature and the state of Nebraska dont want all the eggs to be put in Omaha's basket. Seriously all those wasteful, special rural interests and projects that are very expensive to benefit just a small population is silly.
I also think Nebraska should be smart and abolish state subsidies to education for primary education and Omaha gets a special earmark in the state budget for its learning districts. Only a small fraction of the people who live in Lincoln, Grand Island and Lexington amongst many others even make enough to have the financial capacity to have babies anyway, so if they choose to have them why not raise the property tax rather then being anti-Omaha.
All that state subsidies to primary education to rural Nebraskans and Lincolnites are just encouraging alot of them a vast majority of them financially unable to be able to raise family to have them anyway. The state budget saved from abolishing state subisidies to education should go Omaha infrastructure and Tax-increment financing for high-rises in Omaha.
I just dont see how it would be so difficult to transfer alot of UNL divisions to UNO in Omaha. I think UNO should really try to increase growth and 20,000 students as the goal.
You are aware that the governor and Lt. governor were democratically elected, aren't you?? Whether they are from Falls City or Hastings is completely irrelevant. They were elected in a democratic process. One person-one vote!! Why should those in small towns have less of a say in the voting process??
Plus, Nebraska (Omaha included) would be dead without agriculture. Period! That is our mainstay and it always will be. I love Omaha and want to see it develop further and succeed, but it has to be done within the present framework. You don't abandon the entire state, which has more total population than Omaha, to accelerate Omaha's growth. Its just ridiculous to even consider! Would you abandon all of the small towns and rural areas in Oklahoma to further expand Oklahoma City??
Besides, Lincoln has no interest into becoming a innovative and corperate powerhouse like Omaha. The only interest Lincolnites have is having more and more babies. I was looking it up and Lincoln's public school system is as large as Pittsburgh, PA's public school system. I guess when people have as many babies as they have in Lincoln their mind's are going to be more pre-occupied on their families then starting businesses and expanding the economy like Omaha has.
That's just total junk! Lincoln is a smaller city than Omaha! Of course they will make less of an economic impact than does Omaha. The inference that "people" in Lincoln care less about growing their economy than those in Omaha is absolutely ridiculous. You also make it sound like everyone has 6 kids, which is also absurd!! The reproductive rates in Lincoln are not significantly different than they are in Omaha. And what does Pittsburg have to do with anything???? I also just love how you seem to be completely in touch with what people are thinking!! Stick to facts and not suggestive inferences about an entire populations thoughts and motives!
Only a small fraction of the people who live in Lincoln, Grand Island and Lexington amongst many others even make enough to have the financial capacity to have babies anyway, so if they choose to have them why not raise the property tax rather then being anti-Omaha.
Are you kidding me??!! Where do you come to the conclusion that a "small fraction" of Nebraskans, outside of Omaha, can afford children!!?? This pretty much displays in a nutshell how ludicrously out of touch with reality you are. Good god you act like all of Nebraska is in poverty.
I just dont see how it would be so difficult to transfer alot of UNL divisions to UNO in Omaha. I think UNO should really try to increase growth and 20,000 students as the goal.
I'll tell you why it would be difficult. First, you'd have to build dozens of additional buildings just to handle the increase in students. Secondly, you'd have to tear down practically all of the research science buildings and rebuild new ones. UNO may have a physics department or a biology department, but they are minuscule when compared to UNL's. They may have 4 or 5 professors at UNO in a given research field....UNL has 40 or 50. They may have a floor or two in a building at UNO...UNL will have one department take up one or two buildings. In addition, the buildings aren't equipped to handle the vast amounts of research space that is required to maintain a top notch research program. Basically, all research departments (physical and natural sciences, engineering, and etc.) would have to be built from the ground up.
This doesn't even bring in the fact that athletics is a major area of interest for any major university. You would have to build new arenas, stadiums, facilities, and etc. to even consider maintaining UNL's level of success. In the end you would basically have to build a brand new campus from the ground up!! Oh, and in the meantime, you have 100 million dollar facilities just rotting in Lincoln. Talk about wasteful spending. What do you think that would do to your taxes! Seriously.
I would also add that it is the State of Nebraska...not the State of Omaha. Things are decided by the legislature, who are ELECTED to the state senate. I love Omaha, but I also love the small little town that I grew up in. Not everyone wants to live in a condo in downtown Omaha. We are pluralistic society and there is room for several lifestyles. The idea that rural Nebraska is a drain on Omaha is ludicrous as agriculture is the absolute backbone of this state.
You have this serious issue with small town people and families and it borders on irrationality. I'm not quite sure what the problem is but its pretty obnoxious and I will be damned if I'm going to sit here and let you paint the majority of the Nebraskan population as inbreed hillbilly baby factories with no sense of goal, purpose, or determination. Its just completely off base.
States that rely on only one metropole for culture and economy are playing a risky game, compared to states with multiple power centers.
I agree with that assessment. Missouri with STL and KC, Texas with DFW, Houston, SA, and Austin.
Nebraska needs Lincoln. Just like Iowa needs Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Quad Cities (aka Davenport). Des Moines is nice, but your state gets more tax base with other MSA's located within a state.
Nebraska only has two real sizable MSA's, Omaha, and Lincoln. Perhaps Omaha and Lincoln can aim for what Dallas and Ft. Worth did, create a huge metroplex. One thing that stimulated growth between our two cities is putting a single regional airport in the region's geographic center. Minneapolis/St. Paul did the same thing with their airport. It attracted population growth between the two cities and rapid development.
Now DFW is the 4th largest MSA in the country at 6.2 million people Minneapolis/St. Paul now boasts nearly 4 million people.
Now I realize Omaha and Lincoln is no DFW or MSP, but perhaps a single regional airport for the region could do wonders to stimulate growth and connect the two cities.
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