Why don't you go out to eat at night?

Have lived in Omaha my whole life and it really gets to me how despite having a million-and-change people in the metro, there are absolutely none of the trappings of a "real" city. It makes me start to get where Stothert's people were coming from with the streetcar, with pouring money into Blackstone, but in 12 years none of it has really worked, there's still just this weird "small town, nothing ever happens" vibe here.

I can't think of a better example of this than how early everything closes. I went down to Askarben the other night with my friend to eat (we ended up eating at New Gold Mountain) and it took us a while to find somewhere that would be open long enough for us to sit down, talk, and enjoy our meals starting at 830 P.M. Even that was kind of early, the restaurant closed at 10 and it felt like we were at the tail-end of service. Why do people in Omaha eat dinner so early, that restaurants don't stay open late?

It kills me that everyone goes home so early here, it's like everyone is a senior citizen. This is a big part of why I'm leaving this fall.