Moving to Nebraska

Moving to Omaha?

July 2010

My company may be moving me (and my 2 kids, ages 8 & 10)to Omaha, Nebraska. We are a single parent (Dad) family, typical bay-arean open-minded, comfortable with diversity. One of my kids is dark-skinned, the other is blue-eyed and fair. Both are friendly, outgoing and do well in school.

Does anyone have recent experience with schools and neighborhoods in Omaha? How can I prepare my kids for this new environment? Will there be a big culture shock for them?

Thanks for any information folks can provide.

Relocation Dad

I grew up in Omaha and until quite recently continued to visit often to see my parents. I couldn't wait to leave for high school, but in retrospect it was a good place to grow up. There are lots of pluses - a surprisingly good cultural scene (art/theater/music/ restaurants), one of the best zoos in the world, and extremely affordable. You'll be amazed at the housing you can get for a fraction of the price here.

Nebraska is a very conservative state, but Omaha is quite liberal. Omaha is not very diverse, but Midwesterners are very open and friendly and I don't think get very stuck on appearances.

The schools in Omaha are in general much better than here (assuming you are doing public school), so you might want to prepare your kids that they'll need to work a bit harder to get the grades they're used to here.

The worst thing I have to say about Omaha is the weather. Cold winters, hot and extremely humid summers. But, you'll get used to it.

Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss more. juliannes