Downtown Lincoln

[thenewguy]

I didn't see a place where this seemed to fit best, but Mods can feel free to move it if I've overlooked where it could go.

We were in Lincoln for a college visit over the weekend, and I was really impressed with the vibe of downtown Lincoln. Sure, I've been down there before, but it was always 'park and get where you have to get for the game' kind of thing, so this time I looked at it through a slightly different lens.

First, I was really impressed with how many of the garages have retail and restaurants at street level. It made it feel alive, where there are several spots in Omaha that could be better utilized to do the same thing.

Secondly, it felt bigger in the sense that there were lots of people milling about and seemed bigger than a metro of 350k

Lastly, from a college kid's perspective, there were an insane amount of food options all within walking distance. You could go to a movie downtown, get a bite, go to a bar, and be back on campus and all within very close radius. I was really impressed with Lincoln, it was very appealing.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

While I was in college in Ames, I went to a friend's birthday in Lincoln and I was quite annoyed how much more fun and interesting downtown Lincoln is compared to Ames.

[Cermak]

I’ve always been impressed with DT Lincoln. With the University right there and the State Capital it creates a vibrant environment. And they’ve added some more buildings in the last 10 years. Which improved the skyline to some extent. The beautiful Capital building is still the focus of the skyline,
Which it should be.

[Louie]

It really is a perfect confluence of a 25,000 student university, state government offices, and a downtown that seems to make the right decisions for the most part. Really enjoyed my time in school there and how much I could access on foot.

[Greg S]

What has been amazing to me is how many hotels and apartments and condos have been built in Downtown Lincoln over the last 15 years or so. I went to UNL in the 80's and the amount of people living and staying/visiting in downtown Lincoln has been such a dramatic change.

Back in the 80's students didn't live downtown or on the immediate edges like the do now. The newer dorms are closer to downtown along 17th and 16th. Plus a lot of off campus student housing built in downtown, and more up by 18th and O.

Seems like every year a new hotel opens in downtown/Haymarket as well.

[Linkin5]

Glad you enjoyed your time there. It won’t happen but a streetcar in the downtown area would be wildly popular and make the area even more vibrant. Routes that connected the campus, haymarket, P Street, O street, and the Capitol area would be ideal.

[Linkin5]

What has been amazing to me is how many hotels and apartments and condos have been built in Downtown Lincoln over the last 15 years or so. I went to UNL in the 80's and the amount of people living and staying/visiting in downtown Lincoln has been such a dramatic change.

Back in the 80's students didn't live downtown or on the immediate edges like the do now. The newer dorms are closer to downtown along 17th and 16th. Plus a lot of off campus student housing built in downtown, and more up by 18th and O.

Seems like every year a new hotel opens in downtown/Haymarket as well.

It truly is crazy how much development there has been. I grew up in the 90s/early 2000s and the downtown area was stagnant development wise.

[thenewguy]

Glad you enjoyed your time there. It won’t happen but a streetcar in the downtown area would be wildly popular and make the area even more vibrant. Routes that connected the campus, haymarket, P Street, O street, and the Capitol area would be ideal.

it may seem corny, but if they had a semi-dedicated Olly-the-trolley type system with maybe 2 or 3 cars that went just throughout downtown/campus, the novelty would make it a hit. If you ran it on weekends or gamedays for basketball and volleyball, all the better.

Who knows if the kid will pick UNL or not, but I'd sure not be disappointed if he did.

[buildomaha]

Glad you enjoyed your time there. It won’t happen but a streetcar in the downtown area would be wildly popular and make the area even more vibrant. Routes that connected the campus, haymarket, P Street, O street, and the Capitol area would be ideal.

it may seem corny, but if they had a semi-dedicated Olly-the-trolley type system with maybe 2 or 3 cars that went just throughout downtown/campus, the novelty would make it a hit. If you ran it on weekends or gamedays for basketball and volleyball, all the better.

Who knows if the kid will pick UNL or not, but I'd sure not be disappointed if he did.

There is a downtown circulator that goes in a clockwise direction in a circle covering the haymarket, capitol, east-central downtown, and r street through campus. I think it costs like a quarter to ride.

[locoluke]

Glad you enjoyed your time there. It won’t happen but a streetcar in the downtown area would be wildly popular and make the area even more vibrant. Routes that connected the campus, haymarket, P Street, O street, and the Capitol area would be ideal.

it may seem corny, but if they had a semi-dedicated Olly-the-trolley type system with maybe 2 or 3 cars that went just throughout downtown/campus, the novelty would make it a hit. If you ran it on weekends or gamedays for basketball and volleyball, all the better.

Who knows if the kid will pick UNL or not, but I'd sure not be disappointed if he did.

There is a downtown circulator that goes in a clockwise direction in a circle covering the haymarket, capitol, east-central downtown, and r street through campus. I think it costs like a quarter to ride.

It also runs with buses outfitted to look like trolleys.

[thenewguy]

every time i have a good idea, someone already thought of it first

That's awesome though