Native Omahan Kurt Andersen explained the city's curious indie appeal in a recent story for the New York Times.

Mid-size cities seeking their own version of appeal should read this story. It's one of a few creative people, widely traveled but committed to their hometown, developing real estate and projects devoted to art, artists, musicians, writers and businesses that spin-off from concentrations of those interests.

"We were deadly bored with this town, and I wanted to make it better," explained Cedric Hartman, who, in 1964 was a "young Omahan who has gone to New York but returned and who later became a designer..." It was Hartman who suggested to one of the city's major property owners that he turn his defunct warehouses into a district of stylish shops, restaurants, theaters, apartments. Back then, that was a bizarre, visionary notion; SoHo did not yet exist."

Omaha's creative mix now includes the Bemis Center (100,000 square feet of artists's studios), the Saddle Creek label, Film Streams, and the annual Omaha Lit Fest.

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