O St, Nebraska

O Street is great! This street has lots of character and shows the diversity of Lincoln itself. I work with bands, and the clubs on O street provide some of the best live music in the Lincoln area. Their are several different personalities connected with O St in Lincoln, and the best thing I can say about it, is it is diverse.

Depending on where you jump onto O St., you get a different vibe. The area I am most familiar with is downtown O St. This is walking distance from UNL and offers a variety of downtown businesses and activities. If you take a walking trip down O St., you will see there are a ton of small bars and restaurants that cater mainly to the campus crowd. At night you can find a wide variety of music coming out of the clubs. The streets are usually filled with college kids goofing around, seeking food, looking for one the small shops to purchase records, memorabilia, clothing, etc.

This is downtown O st. If you are to jump into your car and head east, you get less of the downtown feel. There is more of a city feeling. You see some ethnic shops that offer speciality clothing, foods, groceries and other amenities. Then the city starts to take a turn and becomes more commercial. There are familair gas station chains, realty offices, corporate restaurants and grocery stores. This is the meat of O St for families that live in the city. Then when you get about 1/2 way down O, you come across Westgate/Gateway Mall. This has been Lincoln's largest mall for some time. You can find a little bit of everything, from major chain stores (Penny's) to more quaint little shops. Surrounding the mall is a wide variety of great restaurants. This is the location most families shop.

As you make your way further east, you will see a few more restaurants, hotels, and then a few abandon buildings. They once tried to start a night life here, with hot spots and Guitars and Cadillacs. They didn't make it, and several of the buildings remain empty today.

There are a few car lots at the end, and a Kohls, but once you hit the highway, you are kind of done. I'm sure there will be more building on the other side of the street but right now, it is mainly a few houses and a couple of farms.

If you go west from downtown O, you go over an overpass, round a curve and then there are a few businesses, but I believe that it ceases being O and becomes another street.

O Street runs across almost all of Lincoln and is smack dab in the middle of downtown. The local bar scene on O street is mainly college-age kids. The sidewalks are covered with crowds at night as Lincoln's smoking ban sends a lot of smokers outside, and others gather after the bars close to socialize. Traffic is something to avoid during rush hour, but not quite as bad during the rest of the day. Shopping on O street is fun and shops range from a record store to Oso burrito to a used clothing store.