'Good Life District' idea 'a mess' of unintended consequences

LINCOLN - Be wary of unintended consequences.

That's good advice for any endeavor, and appears to be the problem facing proposed retail/sports/entertainment developments called "Good Life Districts."

The recent effort to create such districts was well intended. The idea was to lure out-of-state shoppers, visitors and youth sports teams to spend millions in Nebraska, rather than Kansas City, Des Moines or Minneapolis.

Envisioned at Gretna's Nebraska Crossing mall were stores like Nordstroms, IKEA and Crate & Barrel (high-end retailers that have bypassed Nebraska) along with youth sports complex...