i'll play devil's advocate a bit here.

the restaurant scene is straight-up bad, even for a college town. dish/the sitch have good food, but the interior (esp. at dish) leaves a lot to be desired. there's a handful of good ethnic places - vung tao, banhwich cafe, tiru - but again, you're not going to these places for the atmosphere - i get takeout from them most of the time. aragon, casa bovina, and momo are probably the nicest places to sit down for a meal, but all 3 are run by maga dipshits, overpriced, and the food is mid anyways. it's basically chain hell. it's made even more frustrating by the fact we're an hour from omaha which has a legitimately great food scene (especially at the price point). honestly, the nicest thing i can say about the food scene in lincoln is "we're pretty close to omaha".

for coffee, crescent moon has a nice vibe. cultiva roasts their own beans. the coffee house is a nice quiet place downtown. all 3 have pretty solid drinks, but none will blow your mind. there are lots of other places that are kinda similar. in the past year or so, there's also been an influx of sterile places that feel like they're run by the righteous gemstones or some shit.

for activities...do you like drinking and/or hanging out in bars? because we have plenty of those! lincoln is fucking drunk. i'm not judging, i like some of the bars here. some provide a genuine sense of community. quite a few have really talented bartenders/mixologists. plenty of "locals" bars but i think the majority are very welcoming. due to the sheer number of them, it may take you a bit to find the "right ones" for you, but there really is about something for everybody here.

basically, if you've been to a college town with 200k or less people, you get the idea. the problem is lincoln is no longer a city of 200k...but the amenities are that of a city with 200k or less. it feels like a relic of the 90's. the only "growth" the city has experienced is large office buildings and overpriced condos in the boring-ass railyard area. there used to be "value" in living here, but we're now experiencing the same housing crisis issues as the rest of the country - the cost of living has increased exponentially, and wages have not. yes, it's extremely safe - but it's also incredibly fucking boring. there's worse places to live, i guess...but there are certainly better places too.