The meaning of Bellevue is a “beautiful view;” this is thoroughly shown by a variety of things in this city. The little town of Bellevue can sometimes be overlooked by outsiders with it’s bigger brothers of Lincoln and Omaha right around the corner, but for me their second and third compared to Bellevue. And with “Money magazine” agreeing and placing Bellevue as a best place to live in the U.S., it is just one small source that supports my belief.

Although I could go on about all the reasons Bellevue is the best, we’ll focus on one, and arguably the most important, the homey feel of the city. When I say homey feel, I mean the small town charm, the community feel and the overall feeling of being in Bellevue, Nebraska.

The city is a close-knit community consisting of multiple local events from a 2-day long celebration on the river to a farmer’s market at Washington park every Saturday during the summer. Personally, one of my favorite events would have to be the farmer’s market. You get to experience a variety of different cultures and people, giving you the chance to get some fresh summer air. We also have an event called Riverfest. Riverfest is a 2-day celebration in June with music, rides and tons of food.

With all this said you’ll obviously have people who will disagree, pressing the idea the we having nothing to do, but in reality we have a variety of activities people can engage in – starting with the nature trails. Fontenelle Forest has a trail that runs directly through a beautiful forest right here in Bellevue. For students it is only $8 and for adults it is $11. Bellevue is also home to a large amount of small businesses, from a record store off Franklin street to The Game Shoppe, a board game store on Harlan Drive.

The food in the city is also amazin. For example Roma’s is an authentic Italian restaurant, right off of Fort Crook Road. Roma’s is one of my favorite places to eat and has actually only been in business for a short amount of time. There has not been a day where I’ve driven by and the parking lot was completely empty.

People say that Bellevue is old fashioned, and in some cases that can be a bad thing, but for this traditional city it’s good. Not changing our ways is all by choice, we as the people of Bellevue love the way that we are, we love our city, and our community and in return our city gives us a loving environment full of entertainment and once in a lifetime experiences that always makes us feel at home.