Living in Omaha

Hello, friends! 

Before moving to Omaha, I knew very few things about it. I knew the College World Series was there. I knew that Warren Buffet was there. I knew that Omaha steaks were there. I'd driven through a few times and stayed at some houses on my way to and from South Dakota, but the only time I spent any significant time there was in 2017 when I did some training with InterVarsity. Even then, I was at a hotel for most of it so I'm not sure if it really counts. Now that I've been living here for 6 months, I certainly not an expert but I've learned a few things. Some of these things I like and some of these things I like less. 

I like the way the streets are numbered. You start at the river and as you head west, the numbers get higher. I'm pretty sure the street numbers go as high as into the 200's. We live off 48th, so anything that has a triple digit number as a cross street is way out there as far as I'm concerned. 680 and 80 are the interstates that act as dividing lines for Omaha. Anything west of 680 (right around 100th) is "West Omaha." Anything south of 80 is South Omaha. As someone who is really bad with directions, I really appreciate being able to tell which direction I'm going by just reading the street signs. 

You know what is less great about Omaha? The hills. When people think of Nebraska, they think of farms and fields. They probably think of flat. I know I did. That may be true further out west but in Omaha, close to the river, it's really hilly. As someone who loves to bike, especially commuter biking, this has been a big adjustment. I used to make fun of folk who had electric assist bicycles. As far as I was concerned, why bother biking if you're going to have the motor do all the work?! After living in Omaha for a bit, I now understand. =0). 

Here's something great about Omaha: there is a ton for the kids to do. The Omaha Zoo is one of Ezra's favorite places to be and he really likes going to the Children's Museum too. Thaliea is now old enough to start to enjoy those spots, even though she spends most of her time still in the stroller. There are lots of parks around (including one right across the street from us) and while Omaha is about 10 times bigger than CoMO, it's not so big that we're stuck in a car all day trying to get from one thing to another. 

Speaking of being in the car, you know what isn't so great in Omaha? The roads aren't great. Well, at least they aren't great in our neck of the woods. There are potholes and cracks in the pavement everywhere. Again, as a biker, this is less than ideal. I'm learning the safest, least hilly, best kept routes to get from one place to another but sometimes there aren't really great options. Omaha has an app where you can report potholes and such so the City can come and take of things. I'll definitely be using that app quite a bit. 

One of the things we love about our part of Omaha is the diversity. I don't have the exact numbers on me but I know that Omaha is more diverse than CoMO was. There's a decent sized Black population as well as a good number of LatinX folk and a fair amount of refugees from Southeast Asia. Asian grocery stores abound and for the most part, the diversity of cuisine has been a good thing (more on that in a different post). We have really enjoyed living in a more diverse city. 

All said and done, it's been an adjustment but it's been a good adjustment. Each day, it feels more and more like home, which is a good thing. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam