Kids here grow up with space, fresh air, and a slower pace — but fewer organized activities, cultural programs, and teen hangout spots. Are Springfield-area parents giving their children something priceless, or quietly limiting their world?
Join the debate to comment
Reading is free. Members pay to post — that's why it stays clean.
Add your commentGift. Absolute gift. My son had a creek to explore, a woods to build forts in, and a neighborhood where every adult knew his name. He's 24 now living in Denver and he calls me every few weeks just to say he wishes he could raise HIS eventual kids somewhere like where he grew up. Make of that what you will.
Born and raised in Springfield, graduated from Platteview in 2003. My kids are in 4th and 6th grade now and honestly? They can name every bird that comes to our feeder, they help with our neighbor's horses, and they've never once asked me to take them to some indoor trampoline park because they're too busy ACTUALLY MOVING outside. You tell me what's limiting their world.
Can we stop pretending that "fewer organized activities" is automatically a bad thing? There is actual research — look it up — showing overscheduled kids in suburban environments show higher rates of anxiety and burnout by middle school. My kids are bored sometimes out here near Springfield. GOOD. Boredom is where creativity lives.
I want to push back on the people romanticizing this. Springfield is a great community but let's be real — if your kid figures out they're gay, or they're into theater, or they want to find other kids who share a niche interest, the resources just aren't there the way they are in Omaha. That matters. That's not a small thing to hand-wave away.
Genuine question for the people saying it's a disadvantage: disadvantage compared to WHAT exactly? Compared to growing up in Dundee with two working parents and a nanny and a full activity calendar but zero unstructured time and a backyard the size of a postage stamp? I'm not being snarky, I genuinely want to know what the ideal benchmark is here because "suburban Omaha" covers a LOT of very different childhoods.
I moved here from Elkhorn about four years ago and I'll be honest — the first year I panicked a little. My daughter was used to club volleyball, three different dance studios within ten minutes, the whole thing. But she found her people at Platteview and I think the smaller school environment actually gave her more confidence because she wasn't just one of 400 kids competing for the same spotlight. Would not move back.
I have to correct something — Springfield is NOT in the middle of nowhere, but it IS a solid 25-30 minutes from most of the major Omaha metro programming depending on traffic on 370. That adds up. Anyone saying "it's just a short drive" has clearly never done pickup from a 6pm swim practice in November when it's already dark and icy. Distance is real time and real money.
Quietly limiting their world. Yes. That's exactly the phrase and I wish more Springfield parents would sit with it instead of getting defensive. I grew up in a small rural community in western Nebraska (not Springfield) and I spent my entire 20s playing catch-up culturally, socially, professionally. I don't blame my parents — they thought space and safety were enough. But the world doesn't grade on a curve for where you grew up.
disadvantage. full stop. my nephew lives out there and every single extracurricular requires a 25-30 minute drive minimum. baseball, band lessons, orthodontist, everything. that's not idyllic rural life, that's just exhausting parenting logistics dressed up in nostalgia.
Nobody is talking about the school piece enough. Platteview is a smaller district. Smaller districts in Nebraska consistently get fewer state resources per pupil than the larger metro districts when you account for programming breadth. Advanced coursework options, specialized counselors, vocational tech variety — it's not the same. I say this as someone who loves this community. We can love it AND acknowledge its limitations.
My family has farmed just outside Springfield going on three generations. I'll tell you what my grandfather told my dad and what my dad told me: kids who grow up knowing where food comes from, knowing how to work with their hands, knowing their neighbors by name — those kids do just fine. Every single cousin I have who grew up here is employed, stable, and happy. Anecdotal? Sure. But it's MY anecdote and I'll stand on it.
Sarpy County is actually the fastest growing county in Nebraska so Springfield isn't going to stay this rural edge much longer anyway. Give it 10 years and this whole debate is moot because there'll be a Starbucks and a Planet Fitness on every corner out there just like everywhere else.
okay but springfield is literally only like 15 miles from papillion. you guys act like its the alaskan wilderness lol. my friend drives her kids to the la vista rec center twice a week no problem. this isnt exactly hardship territory
Is it wrong to choose not to have children just because you don't want to?
110 comments
Would you still eat meat if you had to kill the animal yourself?
109 comments
Is judging someone by their height as shallow as judging by their weight?
108 comments
Are dating apps genuinely harder for men or for women?
108 comments