Is Nebraska really 'the good life'?
Ali Ribeiro is coming back to Nebraska soon. Say what you must, but she misses the place.
Should’ve seen her grandma when she told her that.
“You can’t tell me that if it weren’t for your family that you would want to live in Nebraska,” Grandma said.
“Why not?” the 28-year-old responded. “I like living here. There’s nothing wrong with Nebraska.”
Sure, it may seem flat, boring and unyielding in its politics to outsiders. But what about those Nebraska sunsets, that Midwestern work ethic, traffic that gets you home from work in 15 minutes, the orange leaves of October?
How about a Runza in hand and the Huskers driving for 6? A haircut for 10 bucks? This is a place where people will get down on their knees in their best dress pants to help a stranger fix a flat, won’t they?
Yes, Nebraska is all those things, Emily Evnen says.
She admires much about the place she grew up. Now 19, she wouldn’t be opposed to potentially calling the place home again.
But like others her age, getting out of Nebraska was a welcome thought during her high school years. For all she respected about the place, there was one big issue: the state’s politics, usually more red than blue, and in her eye, sometimes leaning more toward intolerance than progress. So when it was time for college she left, for a while, maybe longer.
She’s not alone.
Rylee Buettner left because the state lacked diversity.
Alex Wheeler wants to leave for his career’s sake and because he thinks people here don’t always think for themselves.
Marissa Cook came here from Michigan to live for a year and quickly turned back. She never wants to live here again.
Meanwhile, down in North Carolina, author Amy Knox Brown speaks with an overflowing fondness of Nebraska. She calls Lincoln “secretly progressive,” and her husband calls her the “minister of propaganda” for the state. Her check’s in the mail.
In Orlando, Fla., 31-year-old Deborah Schaben thinks often of coming back home. Nebraska’s a great place to live, she thinks. Granted, it took leaving to realize it.
Such were the wide-ranging opinions from late teens to retirees, all of whom live or have lived in Nebraska.
There was an equal share of loving and loathing for the state, a mixture of praise and disgust that brought to the surface many of the issues young Nebraskans are debating as they decide whether to stay or go.
The signs call it “the good life,” but then again, the good life means different things to different folks.
Should’ve seen her grandma when she told her that.
“You can’t tell me that if it weren’t for your family that you would want to live in Nebraska,” Grandma said.
“Why not?” the 28-year-old responded. “I like living here. There’s nothing wrong with Nebraska.”
Sure, it may seem flat, boring and unyielding in its politics to outsiders. But what about those Nebraska sunsets, that Midwestern work ethic, traffic that gets you home from work in 15 minutes, the orange leaves of October?
How about a Runza in hand and the Huskers driving for 6? A haircut for 10 bucks? This is a place where people will get down on their knees in their best dress pants to help a stranger fix a flat, won’t they?
Yes, Nebraska is all those things, Emily Evnen says.
She admires much about the place she grew up. Now 19, she wouldn’t be opposed to potentially calling the place home again.
But like others her age, getting out of Nebraska was a welcome thought during her high school years. For all she respected about the place, there was one big issue: the state’s politics, usually more red than blue, and in her eye, sometimes leaning more toward intolerance than progress. So when it was time for college she left, for a while, maybe longer.
She’s not alone.
Rylee Buettner left because the state lacked diversity.
Alex Wheeler wants to leave for his career’s sake and because he thinks people here don’t always think for themselves.
Marissa Cook came here from Michigan to live for a year and quickly turned back. She never wants to live here again.
Meanwhile, down in North Carolina, author Amy Knox Brown speaks with an overflowing fondness of Nebraska. She calls Lincoln “secretly progressive,” and her husband calls her the “minister of propaganda” for the state. Her check’s in the mail.
In Orlando, Fla., 31-year-old Deborah Schaben thinks often of coming back home. Nebraska’s a great place to live, she thinks. Granted, it took leaving to realize it.
Such were the wide-ranging opinions from late teens to retirees, all of whom live or have lived in Nebraska.
There was an equal share of loving and loathing for the state, a mixture of praise and disgust that brought to the surface many of the issues young Nebraskans are debating as they decide whether to stay or go.
The signs call it “the good life,” but then again, the good life means different things to different folks.
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