 Two new studies suggest that Lincoln is both strange and innovative.
The studies say that only New York City is stranger, and Norfolk, Va., more innovative.
A Madison, Wis., company judged Lincoln based on the number of odd headlines coming out of the capital city.
At the same time, the Digital Cities Survey awarded Lincoln the No. 2 spot because of its Web site: http://lincoln.ne.gov/. Specifically, the site was cited for what it offers its visitors: On the site, a Lincoln resident can set up a tee-time, get a seasonal pool pass or pay to park for a Husker football game. Also known as InterLinc, the site entertains around 20,000 visitors a day and as many as 15 million page hits a month.
"Per capita, this is a substantial amount of hits," said Chris Plock, systems software integrator for InterLinc. "It's definitely a lot for a city Web site."
Norfolk may have grabbed the top spot this year, but Lincoln holds the title for the most Top 10 finishes. Lincoln has finished in the Top 10 eight of the last nine years.
"Finishing at the top for numerous years shows the dedication we have to provide services to our residents," Plock said. "If you look at other cities' Web sites, they are almost like a brochure. Ours is interesting because people can function within our system and even pay their electric bills."
Lincoln might be less proud of its other recent No. 2 finish. Tableseed, a Wisconsin company that usually helps restaurants build business, chose Nebraska's capital city as the second strangest city in the United States.
The company ranked the nation's cities according to how many "strange headlines" came from each city, said Tableseed owner Aaron Quinn, who graduated from the Wisconsin School of Business earlier this year.
Lincoln finished with 16 "strange" headlines, falling 36 short of New York's 52.
Tableseed also conducted a study of the strangest states. It found Florida was No. 1, and Nebraska came in 13th.
Quinn checks headlines on the Associated Press Web site every day. "Certain cities always seemed to pop up under ‘strange headlines,' so I wanted to dig a little deeper and see what was going on. Omaha is ranked 32, so your neighbors are strange as well."
When asked why he thought Lincoln ended up so high in the rankings, Quinn laughed.
"I have no idea," he said. "It's strange that it's strange. Maybe it's in the water."
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