Opinion ID: 1595736
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Living ConditionsCultural Opportunities

Text: Cynthia argues that the metropolitan area of New York City, as compared to Lincoln, would present virtually unlimited educational, cultural, and entertainment opportunities. Cynthia thus argues that relocation to New York would improve the quality of life for the children. The essence of Cynthia's argument seems to be that New York City, culturally speaking, is the center of the universe. We confronted a similar argument in Farnsworth v. Farnsworth, supra , in which the mother, seeking leave to relocate from Omaha, Nebraska, to Denver, Colorado, argued that Denver would offer access to a wider variety of outdoor activities and professional sporting events. We concluded that although access to such activities was commendable, the quality and quantity of access to such events was not significantly greater in Denver than in Omaha, and did not weigh this factor significantly in our de novo review. Id. See, also, Carraher v. Carraher, 9 Neb.App. 23, 33, 607 N.W.2d 547, 556 (2000) (declining to put this court's `Chamber of Commerce' seal of approval on residing in the mountains). Although the evidence presented in the district court was sparse, we cannot disagree with the contention that New York has more museums, theaters, and other cultural and social activities than does Lincoln. The flaw in Cynthia's argument, however, is the conclusion that such opportunities suffice to improve the living conditions for the children. In the first place, Dwight adduced testimony that Cynthia had not taken advantage of the cultural and social opportunities available in Lincoln, and therefore, Dwight argues, we cannot assume that the availability of cultural activities in New York means that Cynthia will allow the children to take advantage of them. Second, the dispositive question is not where the children will have more fun, but where the living conditions will further their best interests. Simply put, the considerations one includes when choosing a vacation destination are not necessarily the same as those included when deciding where to raise a child. While Cynthia testified that New York offers more cultural and entertainment opportunities than does Lincoln, that testimony does not allow us to conclude that New York is, ipso facto, a better place to raise a child. See Carraher v. Carraher, supra (concluding that Estes Park, Colorado, and Wahoo, Nebraska, are undoubtedly different places, but declining to state that one is better than the other).