Sweet Sixty

By: Mr. Wilson on July 19, 2006
Is it just me, or is Melissa Lee's celebration of Lincoln's sixtieth place finish in a CNNMoney poll of the best places to live a little ... off? Sixtieth place just doesn't sound all that exciting to me. It's not bad, mind you, but Ms. Lee's gloating seems a bit over the top. Actually, it sounds like another example of the Journal Star's ongoing insecurity over Lincoln in comparison to Omaha. Since Omaha was way down the list at 97, this gives the local rag a chance to strut. That's fine, I guess. (On second glance, Omaha isn't number 97 at all. Omaha came in 7th in the list of cities with a population over 300,000. To me that sounds like they scored better than Lincoln, not worse, although a direct comparison is difficult since we're talking about two different lists. Omaha typically scores better than Lincoln on these lists, so I'd be very surprised if Lincoln actually topped Omaha by 37 spots.) In any event, I'm not all that impressed by a Top-60 finish. Even though this is just a goofy little analysis with some arguable methodological decisions, it still is a decent rough indicator of how we're doing. I think it says we're doing OK. We can, and should, do better than OK. I'm not saying we have to hit #1, but reaching Casey Kasem territory would be nice, don't you think?

Comments

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Mr. T
July 19, 2006 at 1:21PM

Yes, as always who knows what kind of weighting and analysis they used to come up with these rankings. Anecdotally, some of them make sense to me on a personal, subjective level (i.e. Rockville MD is MUCH nicer than Lincoln and Lincoln is MUCH nicer than Cedar Rapids, IA) but others don’t (how did a bunch of Twin Cities’ suburbs get so nice all of a sudden?).

In anycase, I would have to say two things about Lincoln - for a city its size I am starting to appreciate both its A) parks system and B) public library system more and more. And traffic is quite good for a city its size. One thing that is starting to bother me more and more however (or maybe its just because I have gotten more sensitive to it) is the noise pollution.

Oh yeah and the exception to the city libraries is the main library downtown. They really need to do something about that dismal place. It has the atmosphere of the bar scene from “Star Wars.”

foxspit
July 19, 2006 at 1:29PM

Well said Mr. T.  I agree wholeheartedly with your concerns on noise pollution.  It befuddles me that they want to make downtown (including the Haymarket) more pedestrian friendly and encourage outdoor seating while doing nothing to address the noise pollution.

Why sit outdoors at a downtown restaurant when semis will rumble by belching diesel fumes your way?

I thought the Journal Star article was entirely too smug too.  Placing 60th isn’t cause for gloating at Omaha.  It’s nice, but not that nice.  Besides, should we be rooting for Omaha to do well too?  That just makes Nebraska even stronger.

I think the library system would like to address the situation with Bennet Martin Library but it’s quite costly to relocate or renovate.  I like having the library downtown but it does attract an interesting clientele.

Dave K
July 19, 2006 at 1:52PM

These ‘best places to live/raise kids/attend college/eat/sleep/breath/walk/read/be old’ lists seem to come out weekly.  The article is ridiculous; it starts with gloating at Chicago, Minneapolis, etc., when those cities didn’t even qualify for the analysis because of their size.


I read some of the comments on the LJS site, and this one is the best, from ‘Fancher Elementary teacher’:


“In your face, Omaha! I bet Lincoln would whoop Omaha on list of best state capitals, too. “


Lincoln should be on the list of best places to live for people not able to afford living in nice areas of large cities, but that’s about all.

Mr. T
July 19, 2006 at 1:52PM

Why sit outdoors at a downtown restaurant when semis will rumble by belching diesel fumes your way?

Exactly. That is the WORST. Combined with guys who feel some masculine need to pump music as loud as possible from their cars, the noise pollution in downtown can be a sickening cacophony from hell.

But anyway yeah, Lincoln’s pretty nice if you can accept its strengths and weaknesses, which I can. Its not as if I expect fresh seafood markets, Malaysian restaurants and female fashion models to start falling from the sky. If you can concentrate on what Lincoln has as opposed to what it doesn’t, it can be a great place to live.

Litoralis
July 19, 2006 at 7:39PM

I agree Mr. Wilson but I think there may be a deeper reason for these arbitrary polls substituting as our news. To me this is a false news story. With huge media conglomerates controlling over 90% of what we can read and see on the boob-tube. We are left with this trash because everyone has closed down their international news bureaus and trimmed the staff here at home because some genius decided that NEWS must now make a profit and that is more important than citizens of the USA having an informed opinion of what is happening in the world. Therefore we get these polls masquerading as our he said, she said news. Well, I better lay down and drink a glass of water I think the heat is getting to me today. Later!

Karin
July 20, 2006 at 12:03AM

I was trying to think of what changes Lincoln could make that would make me want to stay here. Here’s what I have come up with so far (in no particular order):

More friendly for bikes - not just on trail systems (which, for the most part, really aren’t that great) but also things like bike lanes so that you can actually get somewhere on a bike.

A better, more vital downtown. I know, everyone wants this, but a few must haves are a grocery store very close to downtown (even if it’s a small one) and nicer, better planned parks. If the antelope valley project goes as the website makes it look like it might, this might come to fruition.

More revitalization of the center of town. Again, they have started on this, but more could be done. When I first arrived in Lincoln, I came down 27th street and thought “well, this place looks drab” - and it still does.

A better event center.

Some better public art. I really hated the bikes- trite and dumb. How bout some mural contest? Lincoln could use some good (read: not trite) murals, and there are plenty of artists here that I think could pull it off. There’s tons of public art projects that are both thought provoking and beautiful out there, why not here? (note, I think stories of home has potential, but so far I have not been too impressed.)

No more events like July Jamm. They charge to get in. what is up with that? I’ve never seen any other event like that. (that is, one that takes over city streets and charges to get in) It’s also completely closed off. If you look at most other art/music events, they are free and open so you can wander in and out.

That’s my non exhaustive list for now.

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