Council Bluffs, IA

Sounds like if you just like to run it is a decent place to go and put in miles. I'm not much for competition anymore so I'm not too concerned about people and races. Thank you though for the input I really do appreciate it!

Yes, there are plenty of places to go for miles. There are plenty of good trails and grave/county roads to run on. As people have said, Wabash Trace, Zorinsky, Memorial Park Area, the pedestrian bridge area (majority is concrete), but I still enjoy the run.

If you actually enjoy running, you will have no problem living/running in Omaha. Several people have already listed some of the great places to run in the area. Ignore all the idiots on here trying to discourage you (Pope Teabag, I'm looking at you). Omaha is not a " filthy, god-forsaken, fvck-stained shit-hole" and I've never heard a "local" refer to it as such. If you're committed to running you will have no problem enjoying running in Omaha.

Go TNB! wrote:

Runguru is totally right! Attitude is everything in Omaha/CB! That guy that said that this place is a "filthy, godforsaken, fvck-stained shithole" sounds like a real 'poo'ssy.

That is damning with faint praise.

Beast wrote:

You couldn't have said it better RunGuru. Running in Omaha/CB definitely takes the right mind-set but yes, I still find it very enjoyable.

More damning with faint praise. "Eating horse penis definitely takes the right mind set, but then you can find it enjoyable!"

That is probably technically true.

eraelpmagnav wrote:

I've never heard a "local" refer to it as such. If you're committed to running you will have no problem enjoying running in Omaha.

True, but irrelevant.

Notice every post, even by people who praise it, have some sort of caveat. You have to be "committed" to it, have the right "attitude" and have the "right mindset". It is ok to be from Nebraska/Iowa and say "I like it here, but it ain't a great place to run on a daily basis". I am from Atlanta and I can admit it was a terrible place to run (but a good place for races).

Well, coming from Duluth it shouldn't be too much of a shock. If you live on the CB side, avoid the area near Broadway. You should also investigate Glenwood which is about 10 miles from CB. If you want more of an urban experience (you will sacrifice decent places to run), then check out the Dundee neighborhood on the Omaha side. If you live out in the West Omaha 'burbs, you are looking at a 40 minute one-way commute to CB.

I take exception to the comments regarding an "open-mind". Omaha/CB isn't for everyone. Why is it that these same people are always quick to accept it just fine when someone says "Oh, I could never live in (insert major city here)...". This should clue you in, dear poster, that Omahans have a MAJOR inferiority complex.

Duluth is a nice town, BTW. :)

Anyway, good luck with your decision!

Look - was I exaggerating for my own amusement? Sure. Was I aware that comment would stir the pot for some fleeting moments of entertainment? It didn't as much as I'd hoped... Do I expect anonymity with this handle anymore? Not really...

Here's the bottom line: Like others have said - it's all in what you're looking for. I suppose if you have a good job (or prospects), some connection to the area and can find like-minded people to share some degree of camaraderie here with, then driving to all those desolate country roads and "trails" is doable. There are some good, well-meaning people involved in the community and as long as you find some other redeeming value in the place, you *can* MAKE it work. I've MADE it work. But if you ever truly experience what else is out there - it's difficult to go back with any competitive ambitions - almost impossible to pull the wool over your own eyes.

Competitive ambitions. That pretty much defines David Adams, Luka Thor, Matt Pohren, Eric Rasmussen, Matt Schneider, and a whole host of other Team Nebraska mates. It might be difficult, but these cats don't care so much about difficult. Put that in your pipe and smoke it ;)

runguru wrote:

Competitive ambitions. That pretty much defines David Adams, Luka Thor, Matt Pohren, Eric Rasmussen, Matt Schneider, and a whole host of other Team Nebraska mates. It might be difficult, but these cats don't care so much about difficult. Put that in your pipe and smoke it ;)

Never heard of any of those people, did a little research, the only credible runners are adams and rasmussen (I have no life). Not to divulge off topic too far, but you missed the obvious. Peter van der Westhuizen, unless he moved to a more runner friendly climate...

Anyways wabash trace is one of the best places to run around that area check it out its nice.

I live in CB and it is not worse than most places. How many of you actually run on trails near your house. I live close to the north edge of town and the country roads are very nice to run on, I could go on some very long runs from my house without being in town.

The wabash is nice (a rails to trails) and long (56 miles) but out and back. I run there evry Sunday that there is nor snow with a group of friends.

Omaha is a great mid-size city, 800,000 + metro area. If anyone tells you otherwise they have no appreciation for cities.

If you want the job I'd take it.

Email if you want more information.

I agree - the CB side is tolerable. If you live in the right spot you will have some options.

Runguru, your points make no sense and you wouldn't make that argument in any parallell situation. Think about all the people who live in Millard for the "good schools". If I point to some successful person and say "this person went to South Omaha HS and he is successful, so it must be a great school" your neighbors aren't going to buy it. Sure, they will admit they can "make it work" if you have all these correct attitudinal qualities, but they ain't about to send their kids there. The Omaha metro is just not a great place to be a runner - the towns don't prioritize snow removal, they don't have a bike lane or a shoulder on most roads (and they just throw snow in it in the winter), the weather sucks (which is nobody's fault, of course), etc. I don't get why people in Omaha get so damned defensive, like there can't be anything wrong with the place. It is this weird reverse elitism. I have lived in like 12 places and Omaha is a shitty place to run - it is that simple. Where I grew up in Gwinnett County, Ga - also a shitty place to run. This is just an objective fact - it isn't a criticism of the people or their values, or wheatever it is they are so defensive of. It is just not a good town to run. Des Moines is better. Minneapolis way better.

People in the midwest just have their antennae set too sensitively for insult. There are simply a great many places in the country in decent-sized towns where you can have 4 or 5 different 10 mile courses from your door that have little overlap where dealing with traffic isn't an issue and that is my reference point, in addition to having nice places like trails that are a short drive and where in a pinch you have a few good courses from work too if you have to squeeze in something around your work schedule. Omaha roads are made of concrete, people don't plow their sidewalks, the road has no shoulder and if you live in town there is a traffic light every 6 blocks. Sure you can "make it work", but what else do you call good when you can "make it work". Showing me decent runners there tells me nothing (see my school example). Sure, people can make it work (which becomes increasingly hard when you work and you run in the dark all the time in the winter and have to work around the heat in the summer) Most of those people have strong cultural and emotional attachments to the area and can't separate its shittiness for running from the good qualities they like. It is almost like they think if they say anything bad about Omaha, they are betraying their family or Jesus or something.

I can name all sorts of otherwise good cities that suck for running. Atlanta leaps straight to mind. They just aren't built to be pedestrian and bike conscious - might have tons of other great qualities. I can say all sorts of nice things about the Omaha metro - it just isn't a good town for running (I mean the act of going out for a run, not a comment on the runners or the running community).

runguru wrote:

Competitive ambitions. That pretty much defines David Adams, Luka Thor, Matt Pohren, Eric Rasmussen, Matt Schneider, and a whole host of other Team Nebraska mates. It might be difficult, but these cats don't care so much about difficult. Put that in your pipe and smoke it ;)

See, you seem to think this discussion is about the runners in Nebraska - it is not. It is about the town as a good place to train. I can probably name 4 or 5 successful graduates of Jackson High School in Atlanta, but I am quite sure you ain't gonna be sending your kids there. Omaha is the Jackson High School of places to train.

For example, Pohren ran 15:01 this weekend for like the millionth time. Would he rather run a 15:01 with a "Nebraska makes you tough because you deal with irritation" asterix by it, or run 14:40, as I know he could if, he didn't have to deal with all the inconveniences of training there? Do you want to be faster, or have some sort of abstract ability to put up with irritating obstacles and still run ok?

Now I ain't sayin' a person should move somewhere merely because of it being a decent place to run (before an offended Omaha booster make this argument while fishing around for arguments to defend their emotional attachment to the place). The questioner asked if it was a good place to run. The answer - CB somewhat, Omaha not so much. I am not endorsing the idea that this should be foremost in someone's relocation decision. Omaha/CB has some good qualities I would be happy to enumerate.

And if this dude has a professional upper middle-class job, God knows everyone will tell him he should live in Omaha since the class snobbery against CB is so great (Which is strange to me - Omahans get mad at the perceived contempt of the rest of the country, which they then visit doubly on the town across the river, nevermind they are all conservative family values Republicans anyway and I can scarcely tell them apart).

funny you should mention it, when I moved here everyone made a big deal about how trashy CB was, but having ridden around and through CB quite a bit now (been here a couple years) I realize there are some really nice parts of the town and that it is not all a scene straight out of deliverance

HK wrote:

You should also investigate Glenwood which is about 10 miles from CB.

In are seriousness, who in the hell would drive 10 miles to get a run in? I'd run in place in my kitchen before I did that.

Well, that is life in that region--you have to drive pretty much everywhere to do anything. I guess I should have been clearer and stated that the poster should consider living in Glenwood.

Yeah, for some reason Omahans trash CB. Ignore them--they are not the arbiters of taste. A lot of them have some bizarre, deep-seeded inferiority complex. Avoid the Broadway area of CB for living/running and you will be fine.

Brian,

You took the bait....shame on you. You make great points, but you know it won't matter with Will. You can't win an argument or convince an irrational person.

As far as CB goes....it is funny how elitist those in Omaha are towards "Counciltucky." One nice thing about living east of the river is not having to deal with Husker nation quite as much, although Iowa fans can be almost as obnoxious.

People live everywhere because the cost/benefits of each place tend to cancel. There's a reason we don't all live in San Diego.

If the job is great, you can live a pretty decent life in CB, but have to be creative to make the running satisfactory.

Bdubs wrote:

Brian,

You took the bait....shame on you. You make great points, but you know it won't matter with Will. You can't win an argument or convince an irrational person.

Of course Brian took the bait, if you knew both of them you would know Brian is just an more educated Will.