I love Lincoln: Why we love where we live
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BY KATHRYN CATES MOORE / Lincoln Journal Star
How do you carry on a love affair with a city? There is no way to wine and dine your favorite town. Love letters are stamped “return to sender.” With a song, perhaps?
Tony Bennet tried to explain his feelings for the California coastline jewel when he sang, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” longing for the cable cars and the morning fog.
Frank Sinatra loved Paris in the springtime and New York any time.
There is no ballad listing its attributes, but a lot of people think Lincoln is pretty lovable, too.
Earlier this year, some Journal Star readers wrote us about their feelings toward the Capital City as part of our series comparing and contrasting Omaha and Lincoln.
The comments were complimentary. Exuberant. Downright gushy in some cases.
What makes Lincoln so desirable?
Is it the trees that line almost every neighborhood, giving us a green canopy and shelter for bushy-tailed squirrels?
Is it the ability to whiz from one end of town to another in less than 20 minutes?
Or is it something else? Something that’s not as easy to measure as the number of elementary schools per square mile or full churches on a Sunday morning.
“Often, I refer to Lincoln as ‘uncomplicated living, a well-kept secret.’ I consider it relatively safe and easy to navigate. It includes some of the features of larger cities, such as an attractive skyline and main street, commercial airlines and train travel. Winters are not as severe as Minnesota, where I grew up. Summers are bearable as well. Government includes healthy debates among liberals and conservatives.”
— Peter Ringsmuth, 51, contract publisher
From across the Atlantic Ocean, Lincoln still looks pretty good to Nebraska Wesleyan University sociology professor David Iaquinta. On sabbatical in Freiburg, Germany — a city of red tile roofs and an extensive system of bike paths and weekly open air produce markets — Iaquinta knows his views are subjective and overshadowed by the fact that he is away from home.
But his list of positives about the Capital City is still lengthy: It’s a safe place to raise a family, good school system (“given the stingy budgeting”), relative freedom from traffic gridlock and honest public officials.
Finding a city that feels right is a complex process, one based on both quantifiable and emotional issues, Iaquinta said.
Part of choosing to move to a city is “self-selection,” he said. Some people consider a city — perhaps for a job opportunity — but decide to come (or not come) because of its “fit.”
But choosing to stay in a city is a different matter and usually means you are more satisfied with your living situation. “The dissatisfied are more likely to leave,” Iaquinta said.
Those who stay here come to love Lincoln for multiple reasons, Iaquinta said. “All of us have a need to justify our life choices.”
There is lots of research to support this, he said.
“We need to see ourselves and our choices in a positive light. To some degree, it is in all residents’ interests to see Lincoln positively to validate our lives here.”
Clearly, there are real issues of the “match” between the characteristics of an individual and the degree to which the community supports people with those characteristics.
“Most residents will find some aspects of the city that allow them to meet their personal needs or goals beyond simply surviving. These characteristics are often individual,” he said.
So folks who live to snow ski probably find this Great Plains city too far from the mountains for their liking.
On the other hand, when it comes to being involved in the hustle and bustle of state government or the intellectual offerings of a large university, this city is just perfect.
“I love Lincoln because it is a university town. The central feature of Lincoln is UNL, and surrounding it is a wealth of life and culture. Lincoln is a safe place to live, with plenty of good restaurants (especially if you’re into Indian, Chinese, Thai or authentic Mexican). Lincoln has good schools, good water and good weather (compared with anywhere else in this state). If I have to live in Nebraska, Lincoln is the place to be.”
— Anthony Roberts, 27, online advertising designer
Mayor Coleen Seng definitely thinks Lincoln is the place to be. And she sings its praises at every opportunity, she said.
“We need to stand up and talk about why it’s so great,” she said. “We need to toot our own horn.”
Seng has devised a way to orchestrate the tooting. She calls it the “L factor” and tries to work a few Lincoln tidbits into the many speeches she gives to community groups.
Seng said she has been sharing those tidbits for the past year, but as a response to some negative comments about Lincoln and the Journal Star’s report on the “O (Omaha) factor,” she coined her own phrase. City department heads are following suit, using the “L factor” as a way to emphasize the positive.
Here are some of the “L factors” Seng likes to highlight:
* Over the past 10 years, the growth of the sales tax base in Lincoln has outperformed Omaha.
* The Lincoln property tax base has grown faster than Omaha’s.
* Jobs in the Lincoln area were up 2,000 over last year.
* Lincoln is No. 4 on Forbes’ list of "Best Small Places for Business and Careers.”
* Lincoln is in the top 10 on the Expansion Magazine list of "Best Places in the U.S. to Locate a Company."
On a personal note, Seng says she likes Lincoln’s clean air, good public schools and hometown restaurants, such as Valentino’s and Tasty Inn.
“I love Lincoln for its outdoor music fest, for the Star City Holiday Parade, for Elephant Hall, for Sunken Gardens, for sports events, its marching band festivals and the variety of gospel concerts sponsored by many of its churches. Lincoln always gives us a good time.”
— Nina Rohlfs, Unadilla
In the beginning, in 1867, when only 30 people called Lincoln home, there’s wasn’t much to offer.
People began arriving in the new Capital City for one reason — jobs, according to Lincoln historian Jim McKee. The potential for new businesses and economic growth was a big draw then.
By the 1880s, the town claimed the state university and the prison and was the county seat. “It was a center for municipal employment,” McKee said.
Slowly, the town began to evolve, and from the 1890s to the late 1920s it earned the nickname “the Athens of the West.” With four universities and a city auditorium at 13th and M streets that brought in top entertainment acts, the city was brimming with culture, McKee said.
When the Great Depression struck, the city’s culture seemed less of a necessity. The climate shifted when insurance companies began to locate here and with them came a white collar work force, McKee said.
The city’s new nickname was “the Hartford of the West.” Lincoln became known as a “clean” city, McKee said, with not much heavy industry and low crime rates.
Later in the 20th Century came more schools, libraries and other things that people associate with the good life — “it seemed more like a little city grown large.”
That’s the big difference with Lincoln, McKee said. It feels like a small town (in a good way) because the city has grown from a small town.
“Widowed, I decided to move back ‘home’ to Lincoln. I love it. It’s home. It’s a beautiful, clean city with warm, friendly people. While the city has grown, spread out and changed markedly, I still can spot old, familiar landmarks that bring back many happy memories.”
— Naomi Long Hopperstad, 74, history buff
For many of us, events in our lives at certain lifecycle stages are completely intertwined with that place and that time, said Iaquinta. Madison, Wis., where he attended college, is a place he has fond memories of, based on the experience of his youth. “I can’t help but feel that this is also the case for many former residents of Lincoln,” he said.
Another universal finding, Iaquinta said, is that after leaving some place, people have a tendency to “freeze” their perception of it. “For many, the Lincoln they remember may not be the Lincoln that is,” he said.
Older Lincoln residents often decry the changes the city is going through today or mourn that it is becoming “different.” Those who have moved on and away don’t feel that way because for them “Lincoln is as it was,” Iaquinta said.
Mike Johanns, current U.S. secretary of Agriculture and former mayor of Lincoln and governor of Nebraska, originally came to Lincoln to stay for one year, as a clerk for the Nebraska Supreme Court.
He became hooked on the city, he said in a telephone interview. He left once — to practice law in O’Neill — but he came back. “I just loved living in Lincoln,” he recalled.
Although he echoes the accolades of others about Lincoln — nice parks, good schools, great restaurants — Johanns believes you can find those in many cities. “I think it is the people,” he said. “They are very caring and very community oriented. It’s contagious.”
Now, when he and his wife, Stephanie, are asked, “Where are you from?” they answer, “We live in Washington, But home is in Lincoln, Nebraska.”
When it comes to Lincoln, Johanns said, “our roots are so deep, they will never go away.”
Ultimately, whether you live in Lincoln now or just passed through its streets on the way to other places, it probably did leave its mark, one way or the other.
“Everyplace is great in terms of some of its characteristics for some people at some times,” Iaquinta said. Imagine coming from a small town where you didn’t fit in and finding just the right “community” for that stage in your life, he said.
Iaquinta uses the example of the claim that Lincoln is family friendly. “Friendly to which families?” he asks. “No doubt there are family- supportive features such as a good school system, good public parks, extensive organized sports, cultural and educational activities. Those who take advantage of that will find the city ‘family friendly.’”
The presence of the state capitol and the intellectual atmosphere of a major land grant university also puts Lincoln in the company of other “desired” cities such as Austin, Texas, Eugene, Ore., and Madison, Wis., he said.
So it’s not one factor that makes Lincoln so lovable. Rather, it’s all of the factors intertwined — like those popular bike paths that wrap up, down and around our city.
“Why I Love Lincoln”
It’s home sweet home.
The perfect size.
Family friendly.
Easy to get around.
Lots of great restaurants.
Lots of great art galleries.
Sheldon Art Gallery — amazing.
Great parks (and bike paths).
Great schools.
Great swimming pools.
Great churches.
Great libraries.
Awesome State Capitol. ...
The best people in the world live in Lincoln.
Brilliant sunsets on the western edge of town — just doesn’t get any better.
— Cathy Wilken, 51, legal assistant and writer, Lincoln native
Reach Kathryn Cates Moore at 473-7214 or kmoore@journalstar.com.
Abraham Lincoln birthday celebration
You can celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday with the rest of the city at North Star High School, 5801 North 33rd St. from noon to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 12.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debate, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. features Larry Diemer as Stephen Douglas and Michael Krebs as Abraham Lincoln.
Other entertainment includes music and dancing with the Smith Family Band joined by the Roundhouse Band, storytelling, games and crafts for kids, music by Chris Sayre, Civil War re-enactors and historical exhibits.
All ages are welcome at an Abe Lincoln impersonator contest.
And of course there will be free birthday cake.
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