Questions about Nebraska - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

GraniteStater · 10-08-2011, 09:14 PM

To the OP:
I think what you might be forgetting is just how RURAL the rural areas in Nebraska are compared to western New York. The population density in many of the counties in western NE are less than 2 people per square mile. This same population density is only found in one county in NY, Hamilton county, in the middle of the Adirondack park wilderness for a frame of reference. Many enjoy and thrive off the relative isolation, but it would be a major adjustment for most from the East. Nebraska is a state that is part of the West- it just doesn't have anything in common with the East. You must prepare for the differences those entail from climate, culture, distance, and other such factors. Good luck!

SCGranny · 10-08-2011, 10:03 PM

All of that is very true, GraniteStater.

Most folks need people around them, amenities, occasionally a crowd. When I say the nights are long and silent, except for the occasional moo, whinny, or bellow, or the wildlife noises, I mean silent... no cars, no trucks, no movement. Sometimes it is almost surreal; like a painting. Othertimes it is wild and violent, during the thunderstorms or blizzards. That can drive some folks crazy, even if they think they might like it at first. They start to need the companionship, the rowdy behavior; they'll scoot up to the casino in SD or over to Grand Island or Lincoln or Omaha just to feel connected. They do start to get 'cabin fever' when there is nothing but the same people or spouse around, every single day... and the wind moans outside, like a lonely calf who will never find its mother... it can make some folks crazy.

Fortunately I was crazy to begin with. Not to mention that I had spent the last 30 years running and going and being and doing, owned two different cell phones for my two different businesses, and the last five years of that life traveling the whole country, never unpacking my bag all the way... The silence is glorious to me. Many of my friends here like to pack up and go and see and do; they invite me along, but I rarely go. The best 'go' for me is the long back way to Merritt Dam, watching the moon come up over the still, still water, and hearing the wildlife in the underbrush. Or just to take long walks on the hills behind my house, especially during a snowstorm, and watching the wind pile the snow up in my valleys for long hours, until I can't feel my feet. Some like it, some don't, but it is what it is.

itsMeFred · 10-09-2011, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Many of my friends here like to pack up and go and see and do;

That's us.
My favorite vacations are a few days in Denver!

But then, I live "away from it all," and the purpose of vacation is to do something different than the norm.

GraniteStater · 10-09-2011, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

That's us.
My favorite vacations are a few days in Denver!

But then, I live "away from it all," and the purpose of vacation is to do something different than the norm.

I have never been to Denver and I lived in KS for years. I would like to visit that city next year.

GraniteStater · 10-09-2011, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCGranny

All of that is very true, GraniteStater.

Most folks need people around them, amenities, occasionally a crowd. When I say the nights are long and silent, except for the occasional moo, whinny, or bellow, or the wildlife noises, I mean silent... no cars, no trucks, no movement. Sometimes it is almost surreal; like a painting. Othertimes it is wild and violent, during the thunderstorms or blizzards. That can drive some folks crazy, even if they think they might like it at first. They start to need the companionship, the rowdy behavior; they'll scoot up to the casino in SD or over to Grand Island or Lincoln or Omaha just to feel connected. They do start to get 'cabin fever' when there is nothing but the same people or spouse around, every single day... and the wind moans outside, like a lonely calf who will never find its mother... it can make some folks crazy.

Fortunately I was crazy to begin with. Not to mention that I had spent the last 30 years running and going and being and doing, owned two different cell phones for my two different businesses, and the last five years of that life traveling the whole country, never unpacking my bag all the way... The silence is glorious to me. Many of my friends here like to pack up and go and see and do; they invite me along, but I rarely go. The best 'go' for me is the long back way to Merritt Dam, watching the moon come up over the still, still water, and hearing the wildlife in the underbrush. Or just to take long walks on the hills behind my house, especially during a snowstorm, and watching the wind pile the snow up in my valleys for long hours, until I can't feel my feet. Some like it, some don't, but it is what it is.

It is just a different flavor, a "frontier" type of feel. The Census Bureau defines a frontier county as one that has seven or fewer people per square mile, not attached to any metropolitan or micropolitan city. Most counties in Nebraska would be considered frontier in terms of population density, with the frontier slowly spreading east again. For example, Antelope and Boone counties are quickly becoming frontier due to a steady out-migration and aging out of the population.
I do have personal experiences with a very remote area as my relatives ranch in rural north-central KS. Not as remote or isolated as the Sandhills, but still frontier. You do learn to appreciate the outdoors and nature at its best. I get stressed easily, so I do prefer being in the country. Now I just have to find a good paying job to live where I want to.

itsMeFred · 10-10-2011, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I have never been to Denver and I lived in KS for years. I would like to visit that city next year.

Yeah, in this corner of both Kansas, as well as Nebraska, Denver is a LOT closer than the "metro" areas of our own states.

SCGranny · 10-10-2011, 07:13 AM

"Ah been to Denver - oncet." That was enough.
Rapid City SD and North Platte are considerably closer (and smaller) with the amenities I need. Denver and Omaha are pretty much equidistant for us, and too far to be pleasureable; the drive is pretty, though... as long as there is no ice on the Interstate!

SCentralNEGuy · 10-10-2011, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCGranny

"Ah been to Denver - oncet." That was enough.
Rapid City SD and North Platte are considerably closer (and smaller) with the amenities I need. Denver and Omaha are pretty much equidistant for us, and too far to be pleasureable; the drive is pretty, though... as long as there is no ice on the Interstate!

Granny that is one of the nicest parts for me, the drive to get there. Sit back and set my cruise control to 75 if on the interstate or set it at 60-65 in between towns and stop off for lunch somewhere and look at all the towns and the countryside in between them. To me its often just the drive to get there that I enjoy rather than even the final destination. Particularly on the plains where you just look out at the sky and cottonwood and red cedar trees in the difference and the prairie grass and feel the immensity of space. I like driving so much I should probably be a trucker but then I think I would get to hating it!

itsMeFred · 10-10-2011, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCGranny

Rapid City SD and North Platte are considerably closer (and smaller) with the amenities I need.

For me, there's no comparison.
McCook is our "shopping town" 90% of the time.
North Platte is "the BIG shopping" (ie, Menards, the mall, Cain's, etc.) and Rapid, much as I love that city, means the in-laws.

But none of those are "vacation."