Do you feel different, Lincolnites, now that you're officially residents of a city of a quarter-million people? Probably not, since we unofficially hit that mark way back in July 2008.
Regardless of the official population, Lincoln remains a city that isn't quite sure how large it is, nor how big it wants to be. There are both a simmering envy of Big Brother Omaha and a sense of pride (or is it relief?) in our smaller size.
Our wish to "grow up" has presented itself in many ways over the past decade. The Antelope Valley Project is no small town effort, nor is the West Haymarket project. Yet our denial of our size and potential remains. How else can you explain the ostrich-esque head-in-the-sand approach to the South and East Beltways that has caused those roadways and their accompanying opportunities to languish for decades?
Lincoln is still Lincoln to me. That's due in no small part to the fact that I now live in a house not more than a mile from the two houses in which I grew up. I run into people from my present and past all around town, every single day. It's hard to feel like you live in some anonymous metropolis when you can't even go to the gas station across town without recognizing the face at the next pump. Former teachers know my children; I referee soccer with people who reffed my games back when I played; my mom still receives a Christmas card from the family whose son she watched as an infant, and who now is a Marine.
Lincoln has a lot of issues to address as we head toward 300,000, there's no doubt about that. But don't you feel a general sense of optimism in the community right now? I know I feel it. It could be misplaced optimism, of course, but I don't think so. We are in a relatively good spot right now.
How do you feel about Lincoln's size, growth, and future? Is Lincoln still Lincoln? Was it ever?
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Need to get that horse back into his corner lot east of Indian Village, then we’ll be Lincoln again.
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