Wichita vs. Omaha

[flyOMA]

I was just browsing around some MVC sites (looking for informarion on CU basketball's newest signee Ty Morrison) and came across some SERIOUS Omaha-bashing on http://www.valleytalk.net (just search for Omaha). Apparently, Omaha doesn't compare to WICHITA.

A little off-topic, but I thought it might spark some interest on here.

[Bob from Omaha]

I took a look. It's really funny

"Bradley is better than Wichita State!"

Carbondale is better than Wichita!

Wichita is better than Omaha!


Jeez.....

All I could think of was "Wichita State...Prison?" What's a Wichita State?

[OmahaJaysCU]

Don't worry about that board, I stoped posting there because all it does is tickle the egos of some Wichita and SIU fans. Its not even worth fighting. Trust me that coldbloded is like joemoney. They're all idiots.

[OmahaJaysCU]

Oh, and one more thing, I even went as far as creating an entire master thread including newspaper articles, that MSNBS story about the holland, renderings of all downtown and area construction, and of course, a link to the most comprehensive Omaha information webpage (wonder what that is... ). They are just a bunch of idiots, only a few people commented and they were from evansville, drake (desmoines was defending the big o big time) illinois and indian st and MSU fans. Most of the SIU and WSU fans on that site know nothing.

[Harpoon]

Coming out of school I was faced with a decision on whether to take a job in Wichita or Omaha, needless to say I chose the Big O. All Wichita had to offer was their little Old Town area, and a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright houses, the rest was trash.

[flyOMA]

I spent some time in Wichita during an internship with Boeing, I never really thought it measured up to the typical city of 550,000+. To me, it seemed like a larger version of Lincoln.

That ValleyTalk site is hilarious. I have never seen such a group of delusional idiots in my life. It certainly proves one thing though (which I already knew), Shocker fans have some SERIOUS issues.

and don't forget, Wichita St is better academically than Creighton (which was in more than one thread I read).

[Omaha Cowboy]

I think I've posted this before..

But individuals posting that Wichita is somehow 'better' than Omaha is very funny to me..

Having spent significant time in Wichita, I'll say this..While Wichita is a fine city and probably more similar than it is different (than Omaha), it doesn't 'feel' the same..Omaha is clearly the more cosmopolitan city..And being a metro nearly 250,000 larger does make a difference..Whether those 'Wichitans' want to believe it or not ..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace

[jjjjhskr]

There's nothing like the smell of Wichita as you drive through! mmmm mmmmm (from the oil refineries)

[HskrFanMike]

Does Wichita still have that open sewer in the median of I-35? It's been a while since I headed south for a football game?

[iamjacobm]

Not sure I agree with the entire theory here, but interesting look at the difference in prosperity between the two cities.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/st ... qVXCb42lms

EDIT: Haha, didn't expect this to be in the sports section with all the old Omaha vs X City threads we used to have.

[Linkin5]

Wow, that article makes Omaha look amazing while making Wichita look like a backwards |expletive| hole. The Koch brothers are a stain on this country and perpetuate problems by investing in and pushing right wing ideology.

[omaha79]

Wichita is nothing special. Omaha beats it by leaps and bounds.

[damonhynes]

Wichita is closer to Texas, so there's that.

[damonhynes]

Does Wichita still have that open sewer in the median of I-35? It's been a while since I headed south for a football game?

I-135, but yeah. Looks like $hi'ite.

[skinzfan23]

I would say this is a pretty good article from forming a positive impression of Omaha.

This sentence says it all between the 2 cities:

While both Omaha and Wichita hovered at around 500,000 residents in 1980, the population of Omaha’s metro area now exceeds 975,000. Wichita’s is 645,000.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I would say this is a pretty good article from forming a positive impression of Omaha.

This sentence says it all between the 2 cities:

While both Omaha and Wichita hovered at around 500,000 residents in 1980, the population of Omaha’s metro area now exceeds 975,000. Wichita’s is 645,000.

I agree with you. And it is true, while Omaha has always been a larger city and metro than Wichita, the populations of both metros were much closer 40 years ago compared to where they are today.. With Omaha now more than 325,000 larger. Even the Des Moines metro has recently passed Wichita in MSA population...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[damonhynes]

I would say this is a pretty good article from forming a positive impression of Omaha.

This sentence says it all between the 2 cities:

While both Omaha and Wichita hovered at around 500,000 residents in 1980, the population of Omaha’s metro area now exceeds 975,000. Wichita’s is 645,000.

I agree with you. And it is true, while Omaha has always been a larger city and metro than Wichita, the populations of both metros were much closer 40 years ago compared to where they are today.. With Omaha now more than 325,000 larger. Even the Des Moines metro has recently passed Wichita in MSA population...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Maybe because there's no east-west interstate? OKC has no navigable water, same as ICT--but it does have I-40.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I would say this is a pretty good article from forming a positive impression of Omaha.

This sentence says it all between the 2 cities:

While both Omaha and Wichita hovered at around 500,000 residents in 1980, the population of Omaha’s metro area now exceeds 975,000. Wichita’s is 645,000.

I agree with you. And it is true, while Omaha has always been a larger city and metro than Wichita, the populations of both metros were much closer 40 years ago compared to where they are today.. With Omaha now more than 325,000 larger. Even the Des Moines metro has recently passed Wichita in MSA population...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Maybe because there's no east-west interstate? OKC has no navigable water, same as ICT--but it does have I-40.

That’s an interesting question and it may be a contributing factor..

This LA Times article takes some liberties in comparing metro populations- 40 years ago in 1980, the starting point in which the article references, Omaha was much closer to 600,000 in metro population (585,122) compared to Wichita at 466,722..So 40 years ago, there was a 120,000 plus population difference between the two metros. Today, that gap has widened to more than 325,000..

Why the jump?..

I’d say it mostly reflects resting on laurels, lack of vision and proactiveness..by Wichita city and chamber/business leaders..to diversify its business climate, and to change their local aspect of lousy civic pride.. Luckily, over the past 40 years..Omaha has taken steps, proactively, to diversify its economy..and get the word out that Omaha is a desirable place that has good jobs..while at the same time working internally on its lousy civic pride issue. I’m in my 50’s today, but when I was in my 20’s and 30’s (1981-2001), Omaha was a place most of the people in my age group couldn’t wait to get out of. Sure, there’s still some of that today (just check out Omaha’s Reddit page as an example), but for the most part, young people in the 21-40 age group look at Omaha as a much cooler option with more opportunities and tend to stay or are attracted to it from other parts of the country. Wichita? That metro has been stuck in the mud on this aspect for far toooo long. Wichita should be doing better. Wichita should be growing faster. Instead, a historically smaller metro like Des Moines, Iowa has now passed them up..

In the end, perhaps East-West interstate transportation would have made a bit of a difference. But apathy, lack of vision/civic pride and no proactiveness are the biggest culprits hindering Wichita imo. The good news is, there are signs of a turnaround. I’m hopeful it happens because in reality, for all the flack it gets, Wichita really is a much nicer city and metro than it’s given credit for...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[lisanstan]

I know everyone always goes on and on about brain drain. But I'd say most young people want to get out of town when they become adults. Especially if they didn't grow up in or near a large city. I grew up in Los Angeles, I couldn't wait to leave and explore other options. The problem is when they don't come back when it's time to start their own family. I think we see that people are more than happy to settle in stodgy old Omaha when it's time to buy a house and send kids to a decent school without paying big city prices.

[Padre]

I’d say it mostly reflects resting on laurels, lack of vision and proactiveness..by Wichita city and chamber/business leaders..to diversify its business climate, and to change their local aspect of lousy civic pride.. Luckily, over the past 40 years..Omaha has taken steps, proactively, to diversify its economy..and get the word out that Omaha is a desirable place that has good jobs..while at the same time working internally on its lousy civic pride issue. I’m in my 50’s today, but when I was in my 20’s and 30’s (1981-2001), Omaha was a place most of the people in my age group couldn’t wait to get out of. Sure, there’s still some of that today (just check out Omaha’s Reddit page as an example), but for the most part, young people in the 21-40 age group look at Omaha as a much cooler option with more opportunities and tend to stay or are attracted to it from other parts of the country. Wichita? That metro has been stuck in the mud on this aspect for far toooo long. Wichita should be doing better. Wichita should be growing faster. Instead, a historically smaller metro like Des Moines, Iowa has now passed them up..

In the end, perhaps East-West interstate transportation would have made a bit of a difference. But apathy, lack of vision/civic pride and no proactiveness are the biggest culprits hindering Wichita imo. The good news is, there are signs of a turnaround. I’m hopeful it happens because in reality, for all the flack it gets, Wichita really is a much nicer city and metro than it’s given credit for...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Three of Wichita’s top 15 employers are involved in aircraft manufacturing. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket.

[Omahacritic]

Wow, that article makes Omaha look amazing while making Wichita look like a backwards |expletive| hole. The Koch brothers are a stain on this country and perpetuate problems by investing in and pushing right wing ideology.

Hate much?

Including Koch political thought in the article was classic sucker punch writing. Including the Kansas tax code is another. The two have little to do with the overall themes ...

An engaged, civic minded affluent population, and, a more diverse and adaptable business base are advantages Based on the article, Wichita has a smaller and less diverse group of billionaires than Omaha. More billionaires gives a wider spread of civic causes to garner support.

And perhaps, those Buffet billionaires “came of age” at a fortuitous time in Omaha evolution. But a lot too is the “crossroads” of railroads, communication, military, communications and, perhaps more enlightened financial services laws for Omaha ... all at the right time.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I’d say it mostly reflects resting on laurels, lack of vision and proactiveness..by Wichita city and chamber/business leaders..to diversify its business climate, and to change their local aspect of lousy civic pride.. Luckily, over the past 40 years..Omaha has taken steps, proactively, to diversify its economy..and get the word out that Omaha is a desirable place that has good jobs..while at the same time working internally on its lousy civic pride issue. I’m in my 50’s today, but when I was in my 20’s and 30’s (1981-2001), Omaha was a place most of the people in my age group couldn’t wait to get out of. Sure, there’s still some of that today (just check out Omaha’s Reddit page as an example), but for the most part, young people in the 21-40 age group look at Omaha as a much cooler option with more opportunities and tend to stay or are attracted to it from other parts of the country. Wichita? That metro has been stuck in the mud on this aspect for far toooo long. Wichita should be doing better. Wichita should be growing faster. Instead, a historically smaller metro like Des Moines, Iowa has now passed them up..

In the end, perhaps East-West interstate transportation would have made a bit of a difference. But apathy, lack of vision/civic pride and no proactiveness are the biggest culprits hindering Wichita imo. The good news is, there are signs of a turnaround. I’m hopeful it happens because in reality, for all the flack it gets, Wichita really is a much nicer city and metro than it’s given credit for...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Three of Wichita’s top 15 employers are involved in aircraft manufacturing. That’s a lot of eggs in one basket.

Correct..

Which is a big part of why Wichita’s growth has been slow to stagnant..especially since the 1990’s. There was not much diversification of their local economy after the airline manufacturing industry started to really struggle..

Hopefully, things are beginning to turn around for Wichita...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Cermak]

Wichita has seen slow growth for quite some time now. I’ve only been there once back in the 90’s. I thought it was an OK town but nothing great. Kinda reminded me of a bigger Lincoln. But Omaha definitely seemed a step up. I still think Johnson county Kansas gets most of the attention in that state, this probably hurts Wichita to some extent as well. As it’s not top dog in Kansas, Johnson county is. They do have some nice residential areas such as the College Hill area, a historic area similar to Dundee. But the DT could use some more height, it’s skyline is weak in my opinion for the size of the metro.