Hello everyone

[halljul]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this board and will hopefully one day be new to the area as I have a job interview coming up in a few weeks at omaha childrens.  my wife and I will be flying out there memorial day weekend for me to interview and have contacted a real estate agent to show us around the area while we are out there so we could get a feel for the area.  We are trying to find out what the best areas for younger families to live in.  I am 28 and my wife is 25.  we have a 2 year old and one on the way.  My wife is a high school science teacher and i am a nurse.  we currently live in Birmingham, AL. and were both born and raised in Alabama.  
We love the small towns and hate that we will be moving away from the South, wherever we move.  My mother lived in Nebraska many years ago when my grandfather was stationed in the Air Force base near omaha.  she said she loved the area.  
We know the realtors cant tell us bad areas to stay away from but we asked him to show us areas he would be comfortable living in and leaving his family alone at night in.  This being said, which areas would you suggest?  We are not partiers and do not need a big bar/club scene.  we like restaurants, quiet close knit communities, good church offerings, etc...

Thanks in advance!

[Guest]

Depends on your budget. Memorial - Dundee - Country Club and Field Club are safe, family neighborhoods but will likely be more expensive. Neighborhoods around Elmwood and Aksarben are also nice and won't be as expensive.

You also have many options further west which will be more suburban in nature.

[joeglow]

If it is any consolation, I worked for 3 months at Healthsouth and said Birmingham was the only city I could move to, as the people I met were so similar to those in Omaha.

[LC]

I was born in Bellevue, Offutt Air Force Base and raised in LaVista.  I currently reside in Millard and I would definitely recommend the Millard and Papillion areas.  Good luck with the interview!

[nativeomahan]

It depends upon what sort of housing you are looking for.  And what price range.  Omaha is like most cities between the coasts.  Lots of older, established neighborhoods, and lots of newer starter homes out where there are no trees.  Dundee, Aksarben, Elmwood Park, Midtown, Ralston, even South Omaha offer lots of options, and most areas are close to restaurants and shopping.

[Melissa]

The Aksarben area between 67th Street and about 50th/52nd anchored by Leavenworth to the North and Center to the south has homes in many price ranges and is a pretty safe area with a tight-knit community feel.

[HuskerDave]

Omaha is a commuters city, so I would recommend you consider your major transportation routes to work when looking for a place to live.  Northwest Omaha continues to grow and has great amenities, but if you're working downtown you'll have a long commute.  Southwest Omaha has more ready access to the interstate system, but traffic tends to be heavier.  Many people are moving farther west along the West Dodge Expressway, to communities like Elkhorn and Fremont, as that road makes it a lot easier to access the Omaha freeway system.  Most Omahan's believe you can get from any point in the city to any other in about 20 minutes, though it's probably a little more than that, especially during rush hour.

By and large, all of south Omaha west of 42d street and all of North Omaha west of 60th street is pretty family-friendly.  East of there it's more neighborhood-by-neighborhood.  Your big shopping centers are mostly west of 120th street, but there's good retail everywhere outside the downtown - and even downtown it's beginning to bounce back through recent redevelopment efforts.