[johnson8617]

My husband has been offered a transfer/promotion which would relocate us to Omaha--our second relocation in 2 years, but a position which would not require additional relocation in the near future. However, this was an unexpected opportunity so we are in a time crunch. We will be visiting as a family next week.

We have been pleased with housing prices compared to the sticker shock we experienced with our relocation to Minneapolis from Cincinnati. We are interested in suggestions for at least somewhat racially diverse areas to look at buying a house. I am white and he is black. I have read all the posts and more about Omaha and don't really need advice regarding that . . . we lived in Cincinnati, which has similar reputation/problems in that department, for 13 years. Just need advice about housing. He is a professional and will be working downtime. I am currently not working outside the home and we have 4 children, so schools are also important. We lived in the city in Cincy and loved it, but knew the magnet school system and how to work it. We are most likely too late for those deadlines so our desire to look in Dundee and Country Club areas probably isn't realistic or the best long term idea. What about Bellevue? Any other suggestions/ideas? We have both done long commutes and are done with it having become accustomed to his 10 minute commute in Minnesota. A short commute is highly preferred. Thanks!

[ehenningsen]

Actually Johnson, despite what stuff has been posted on this board...
Omaha is a diverse community with members of every race in every sector, and in this community there are minority leaders, enterprenours, religeous leaders etc...

Some people who know little about Omaha understand that Omaha's history isn't pretty when it comes to racial tensions, however, race is of little to no issue, and the city has done much to try to spread the wealth and inspire growth and development in EVERY sector.

Groups of people tend to gather in certain areas, like S. Omaha has a higher percentage of hispanics, and north Omaha has a higher percentage of african-americans, midtown is a very blended mix, west omaha is also a blended mix, you have american indians and middle easterns all over.

One thing in common that you will see in each part of the community is that EVERY community proudly displays the O! symbol.

[johnson8617]

Thanks for the input. We have enough experience in enough places that what I've read doesn't bother me at all. But I am still interested in knowing locations where we will find some diversity in our neighborhood as well as good schooling options. I'm not worried that we will have any problems whereever we live, but wish to allow our kids to continue to interact with all types of people so want to make appropriate choices.

[ehenningsen]

I would say the very best spot for what you are looking for is mid-town Omaha, and here are the reasons:

1. This sector of the city is very blended with culture
2. Lot's of neat developments here, approaching a $billion worth
3. Very good restaurants, and some people here will say otherwise, but
Central High school actually has really good academics and sports, plus
you are near private schools if you are looking into it.
4. Close to many varieties of shopping, I would say that everything you can
want is within a few miles..
5. Jobs, jobs and more jobs, probably 60% of the highest paying jobs are
within 5 miles..
6. Midtown is the mecca of healthcare options and research in a world
renown health-care mecca city..
7. Midtown is near to many visual arts, performing arts, its about 5-6 miles
from a top 10 concert ticket selling in the world venue called the Qwest
Center, plus it's close to the #1 rated University in the midwest called
Creighton University, and soon when the new downtown baseball
stadium is built (extremely confident) much more will happen in the area.

[johnson8617]

Thanks for the feedback. We are in town this week and will look around that area and the nearer western suburbs to start. We used to live in a Tudor in Cincinnati and miss our old house and have noticed (online) the older homes in those neighborhoods, but it is tough to feel like jumping back into a city environment with the kids/school factor, but that is all of our initial preference. The kids even miss living nearer to the city. We'll see what we feel the vibe is. Didn't see a very constant police presence though the streets were quiet except for the homeless people--see below--and a few other pedestrians we encountered during a midmorning Sunday morning walk. In both Cincinnati and the Minneapolis suburb we lived in there has been a very visable police presence at all times. But their crime rates are higher. But we were impressed with the overall look and cleanliness of what we have seen so far as far as the buildings/streets/landscaping/design etc.

We were shocked at the number of homeless people we encountered. Reminded me of college days many moons ago in another midwestern city. Surprising and a very negative impression, though our minds remain open. Is this typical and/or more widespread than downtown? We also noticed since we arrived, a little more attention given than we have typically experienced--not hostile, just too-long to be polite looks--to our mixed-race family, but we are a large family,too so it is hard to gauge. We have had a commitment since early in our relationship not to look for things or assume the worst, but to balance that with realism. I am anxious to re-walk our path during the business week and see how all of our observations change when the downtown workers are around. We see potential here, but hope that we would be getting in midway through an upward cycle, not the other way, if he accepts this job offer.

[RebaRocks]

I live in the Millard area. In this area it is not uncommon at all to find mixed race families. The Millard public schools are incredibly diverse as well. All races and background are represented in all of omaha. Do not be mislead by the # of homeless in the downtown area, this is not a common occurance in most of Omaha. Try visiting further out west and steer away from the downtown area if you are worried about homeless people. The police are around, but we do not have a high crime rate, and therefore it is unneccessary to have police walking every city block. Good luck to you!!

[red_hot_chili_yeppers]

I'm relocating from Cincinnati to Omaha as well. Good luck finding a place to live. Whereabouts in Cincinnati do you live now?

[red_hot_chili_yeppers]

I'm a bit surprised about you being surprised about homeless. Cincinnati has homeless people everywhere it seems. But I guess it depended on where you lived when you were here.

[johnson8617]

We lived in Westwood. We had other problems there that may have distracted my attention from the homelessness. But we loved it anyway. We actually are moving from Minneapolis. We made a frog jump to Minneapolis last spring/summer and now my husband has been offered a promotion to Omaha with the same company. Hopefully if he accepts, this will be it for awhile!! It's hard to move with kids. What part of Cincinnati are you moving from?

[Carta]

to Johnson, I am also moving to Omaha in a few months due to job relocation. Im currently living in Kansas City and the diversity is very well balanced here so i really dont want to move. I understand what you mean about unwanted attention and gauged looks when your in an interracial relationship. Im hispanic and my wife is white and we have one child ,so I have also adapted to not caring what people thought as well. But because im comfortable and knowledgable about my surroundings...this the main reason why im so adimate in Not wanting to move to Omaha because I have also heard some negative things as well. the statistics state that its 90 percent white and the population is around 800,000. Kansas City like Minneapolis is 3 times the size so diversity is more common in these places. I plan on looking for a house to rent..but dont know where to start. I heard from some of the posts that hispanics live to the south, blacks to the north and white to the west and eastern Iowa
so i assume i will start looking in the southeast side of that city. Any suggestions anyone? I want a small town feel with decent schools. not nessarily in Omaha but maybe a suburb or town in the surrounding areas.
by the way I used to live in Cincinnati as well..in the suburb of Blue Ash near Amberly Village.
it was ok.for the most part..