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Thanks for the update. Your situation peaked my interest and thought I'd see what you think after being out there for a little bit. You bringing up cost of living is a huge wager on my decision making as far as living elsewhere in the country. I'm spoiled with the COL here in Kansas. You get a lot for your money around here. I plan to visit Colorado again this year, hopefully a couple times to really make up my mind if its somewhere I would consider living. Getting burned out on Kansas as of lately but its hard to think about packing up and moving your whole life when you have a career, your wife has a career, mortgage, etc. etc. etc.
You mention the job market is up in the tech sector. Like what types of jobs does that include?
Thanks again
Jason
Jason, I honestly don't know what all types of jobs that includes, I just keep hearing that the are lots of job openings in the tech sector here. My resume is still on career builder, monster, etc (just been lazy and haven't taken it down), and it seems like at least 2-3 times a week I get emails from people wanting to know if I am interested in a job opening in the greater Denver area. Best I could tell you is do like I did, and put yours and your wife's resume out there and see what kind of replies you get for it. I know how you feel though, moving myself, my wife (no job), and our one year old out here was a task, plus I still have a house with a mortgage in LA that is currently rented, but I want to sell it. Good luck in whatever you decide to do, at least being in Kansas you are fairly close and it is easy to come here for a weekend, or vacation.
I am considering a move to Lafayette, LA. Just wondering how often someone gets busted for MJ in Louisiana if they grow their own (indoors, very discreetly) and only do it in their own home. Any idea?
Thanks
No idea how often people get caught (I did not grow there since we had a baby in the house did not want them catching me and taking the baby away), I do know LA just changed the 3 strikes and your out law for cannabis, but they still have some of the strictest laws in the nation, and I wouldn't even want to get caught with a joint there because you will probably go to jail if you do. If you grew it discreetly in your home, didn't tell anyone, used a charcoal filter to keep the smell down, and only did it in your home you would probably be ok. They are a bunch a drunk rednecks that still think MJ is the devil weed. Personally I would never move back to LA, but that doesn't mean others wouldn't like it there.
Sterling/Logan County are not MJ friendly and I'd imagine it will take a fair amount of time and/or in$entive for them to change their "minds". You'd be better off in the Ft. Morgan area--the commute to the Front Range is shorter but the MJ attitude is the same.
DO NOT MOVE TO STERLING. There is a reason why the houses are so cheap; no one really wants to live here that hasn't lived here for generations upon generations. It is VERY Fundamentalist Republican(The whole "We're Christians but only on Sundays otherwise you wouldn't know they were Christians any other day of the week hypocrites.) The prison on the outskirts of town brings LOTS of undesirable situations to Sterling.
They people are NOT open to any kind of change at all. They truly believe in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. There is a definite line through the town of the haves and and have nots and the REALLY like it that way. "Old money, stuck in a rut, we've done just fine with the way things are" attitude.
The gas prices are the highest around compared to other towns. (Fort Morgan is *ALWAYS* 10-15 cents cheaper. Haxtun, and Fleming seem to be pretty close if not the same with their prices. Once in a blue moon they are cheaper. Sidney, NE, which is a half hour away, even has cheaper prices; odd since Nebraska is *NOTORIOUS* for their gas taxes.)
You're grocery options are *VERY* limited. Walmart, Sunmart or the Grocery Cart. Walmart is hands down the cheapest but that's *IF* and *WHEN* the selves are stocked. They know you can't really afford to shop anywhere else local without traveling outside of Sterling. (Not just my opinion as there is/was a recent discussion on a few facebook groups for Sterling. Search for the I Care Sterling group on facebook. The infighting and asinine "dialogue" ie childish bickering is indicative of the small minded attitude you will find on a daily basis here.) Sunmart has a better of variety of fruits & vegetable but at a price of course. The management will actually try to get a product in if you ask though. VERY personable and friendly. For me, it is worth it to pay a bit more to have good service and keep it out of Walmart's hands. Grocery Cart is so ridiculously expensive I honestly don't know how they stay in business. I think most folks who shop there only do so because it is close proximity wise. There is also a little healthfood/naturopathic store off of the highway. I've been in there once and I think the prices are inline for what you would pay considering the town we're dealing with here. Pretty good selection of stuff for the size of the store.
There is proposal up for consideration to allow people to have hens *NOT ROOSTERS* in town. EVERY SINGLE OTHER CITY of the same size already have an ordinance in place. You would think that the city council was voting on allowing pot in town. It is a VERY close minded town to say the least. NO FRICKING WAY will there be pot allowed here in town as a medicinal source or other. Especially given the recent death of a child who's mother who was a known marijuana user who already had her children removed recently. This child's death has polarized the town once again. There have been 3 deaths in as many years; 2 out of the 3 were drug related deaths. Yet when you try to talk about resources for preventing this outcome from happening again, people shrug it off and act as if it isn't their concern. They get outraged at the deaths and are quick to point fingers but don't actually *GET* involved. They would rather blame social services then to see how as a society they have failed these children.
Dining other than fast food is VERY limited. If you can name a fast food joint, Sterling probably has it. There are only a handful of real restaurants, none of which are name brand chain brands though.
There isn't much as far a culture but then again that goes without saying since we're out in the boonies here. Sports and 4H are huge of course. There is a very nice recreation center that has a great pool with 2 giant twisty slides. There is also a bowling alley and skatepark for skateboarders. There are a few large parks too. One, has a great walking path, and the other has 3 tennis courts and disc golf course. (I haven't the foggiest idea of how to play that so don't ask.) There are 2 golf courses as well. Sterling reservoir is a state park close by as well. It is a popular spot during the summer. Lots of pelicans!
There is a *HUGE* feral cat overpopulation yet the human society is overworked and underfunded. People have a different attitude towards animals out here; they aren't seen as much as a loving animal but rather a piece of property that are indespensible at the drop of a hat. (Hence the overpopulation problem & despite the *FREE* and reduced animal neuter clinics offered monthly)
The rental market is non existent really..unless you know someone. I can tell you who to stay away from if you email me. There is a certain company that has gotten into trouble recently with renting properties with active mold issues in them. If you are from out of town, it is twice as hard to find a landlord that will rent to you. If you have any kind of animals, especially dogs, it is near to impossible. 3 bedrooms are the *HARDEST* to find; affordable and in a good neighborhood that is. Most go for the same price as what you can find on the front range. The cheapest one we found was for $900 a month, a 2 year lease and the place looked like a Frankenstein house. The landlord even admitted she bought the house for cheap after a couple had a huge domestic violence issue in the house. There was still blood and hole in the bathroom door from said incident. We opted to buy a house instead. I pray everyday we don't get stuck in the godforsaken town because of that decision.
The schools...awful. They are awful not because of the teachers and staff; they are awful because they have too many kids and not enough parents who want to be involved in the learning process *WITH* their kids and the teachers. Most of the parents are too fat and lazy to simply park their car, and walk their kids into the school so I guess I shouldn't be surprised they aren't involved in the education of their children. Anytime there is an issue with a child, most folks are quick to point the finger at the school and the administration rather than sit down & TALK with the teachers etc.
Now, with that being said, there is definite room for improvement in the schools. A majority of the teachers, by their own words(in a recent survey done by the Superentendent)said they felt unappreciated, and overworked. The insurance has gone up each and every year and the administration seems to be getting the majority of the raises. Most classes have 26-30 students per class. If your child is an average student, then the school is fine. If they struggle or god forbid, are advanced at all, the don't know how to handle it. Sterling, is a farming community as far as I am concerned as most of outlying smaller towns are in fact farms. With this, you get teachers who are teaching simply to supplement their husband's income from farming. There is a mix of young, new teachers as well as those who have been there forever. There has been an increase in students leaving the district. Because of this a new superintendent was hired and brought in from Fort Collins. There is hope that she will bring about some change that equates to some major improvements. the only other options are to send you child to the private Catholic school, Caliche (which is in the same district but just outside of town) or go out of District. There is Fleming (Which is ranked in the top 10 in the state) Merino, Peetz and I think that is about it. Homeschooling/online schooling is your only other option.
The BEST thing about this town is there is no traffic. And if you move into the right neighborhood and are lucky enough, your neighbors. I was fortunate to live in a quiet, older neighborhood. I absolutely love my neighbors as they are friendly and look out for my family and I. Whenever we go out of town they "keep an eye" on out house for us :-) In return I make sure to bring over some home baked goodies a thank you. THAT is the best part of this town, but only if you are fortunate to find it. You really have to dig to find the good in Sterling unfortunately.
Marijuana may be legal here, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to employers, so beware if job-hunting. Drug tests are common at all levels of hiring.
Seems we get many of these threads now where the most important thing is smoking cannabis, which is pretty much what I expected. Work and productivity are things of the past. Good luck Colorado.
There are many people who smoke cannabis and work and are productive, many who are actually VERY successful! Of course the legalization of marijuana is going to draw a lot people there, being that there are only 2 states where its legal, there isn't much choice in the matter! I say good luck to rest of the country with their conservative, old-school thinking!
Here's the town the OP is looking for....somewhere....along the road....less traveled....or was it the Twilight Zone....
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Last edited by Mike from back east; 03-31-2014 at 09:06 PM..
Now we can take "Marijuana has never killed anyone" off the table. A college student on Spring Break from Wyoming fell to his death after becoming violent due to eating some marijuana edible cookies. He was just 2.2 nanograms over the intoxication limit.
He was only 19 years old.
He was in college. You're supposed to wait till college to experiment with drugs according to some but he was technically under age too.
So I guess you could hold Colorado liable for his death.
Anyone who thinks that MJ never has, or never will contribute to someones death is an idiotic fool in my book. But then again, anyone who is anti marijuana because of it's potential contribution to someone death, and still drives a car, or takes an aspirin, drinks a beer, goes to the doctor, along with many other common things is a a card carrying HYPOCRITE.
I'm sure there's some social and moderate weed smokers out there, but maybe 10% or better are likely to go overboard with it.
But maybe these edibles are hard to moderate and can be easier to abuse, idk.
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Here's the town....
