Sidney, NE

[kennic]

Yes, must be the newcomer that is screwed up. Can't possibly be the person making the false accusations.

[Charlie69162]

I am looking to accept a job in Sidney NE but coming from a big city like Southern California(Los Angeles County)I am not sure what I am getting myself into. Can anyone tell me about Sidney or places around there that are good & safe for kids, schools and life.

Any help would be appreciated.[/quote]
Let me tell you something, if you move here with a negative attitude you will end up hating it and wanting to move away. I was raised here and I moved away for 10 years, I was just like any teenager from a small town couldn’t wait to leave. I did I moved and look I am back 10 years later with a family. Why? Because I felt that Sidney was a better place to raise my children rather then a big city. I wanted them to have more one on one with the teachers and actually be someone and not just a number. For me personally I don’t socialize with very many of the people in the town and the reason is because yes they get involved in everyone’s business. It’s a small town everyone knows everyone what do you expect. In order to solve the problem I keep to myself and do very little socializing with people from here. Yes I have all my old buddies but still I see them once in awhile and talk about sports and not who is doing what and what is doing what. That is an easy way to solve the problem. You have two grocery stores and a Wal-Mart and a Movie theater (they keep up for the most part) and a bowling alley several different ma and pa restaurants and fast food places. If you want to shop or hit a mall the nearest is Cheyenne Wyoming or North Platte NE or Scottsbluff NE or even Denver Colorado (only 2 ½ -3 hours away). Really the internet will become your new best friend for shopping. I would of never of thought that but sometimes it is cheaper. Give Sidney a chance really it’s what you make of it like anywhere else. Best of luck

[mj103]

I'm a Sidney native, and used to being asked "Where are you from?" "Sidney." "Sydney, Australia?" That's usually when I walk away. Point being, it made me laugh when this was the first post I saw when I opened up my very first forum after joining the site. Hilarious.

Anyway, the point of what I seem to be gathering from everyone, and my opinion is the same, is that you have to be ready for what you get yourself into. People are nosy. People are conservative. It's small-town, Western Nebraska. If you didn't have at least SOME idea that's how it would be before you considered the job then you're REALLY not ready for the move.

That said, the schools are good (I did just fine, anyway, as did most of my classmates that decided to leave town at some point), and they are building a new high school that should be done in the next couple years. You do get more amenities than most other towns that size due to the Cabela's tourism, but it's not big-city service and it never will be.

As far as your kids, I don't know what the schools in SoCal are like, but they will be able to pursue their interests with a great deal of community/school support. If they want to play sports, they will play. Drama, speech, etc.? They can join and participate immediately.

As far as being "in the middle of nowhere?" Yeah, I'll grant you that. But I will be moving to Boston during the summer and will probably have a commute to work of around 1.5 hours. That gets you to Cheyenne, almost to Ft. Collins, and just another hour to the major city of Denver. After you get used to not being a jaunt from the nearest shopping mall, it's not so bad.

I guess, all in all, it had it's upsides and downsides like anything. I suppose the question to ask yourself is "Am I ready to give up big-city life?" If you want night clubs, concerts, art shows, museums, etc., Sidney isn't the place. If you want a small town with plenty of opportunities for community involvement and a quiet, safe place to raise your kids, it might be worth a shot. Plenty of my friends in school were originally from big coastal cities and their families are still there today.

Good luck with your decision!

[sidneynative]

hello, i would like to state my opinionon sidney. i had lived there nearly all my life.i move away and always seem to end up moving back. not that i really like it because it is fairly cheap to live there. i move back thinking i would go to college.did not happen. i moved back because i was homeless once couldn't stand it. too far from anywhere. no good fishing for 40 miles. the winters are cold summer is hot. newcomers get a cold shoulder. once you earn trust from some the right people you start to fit in. good paying jobs dont exist there. the scenery sucks FLAT!!!!! make sure you dont break any laws because once you get known on that road you are branded and they will never let you go. I was with the wrong crowd and got busted for accomplice, took me 18 months to get off of a 3 month probation sentence. they just kept giving me more" did not think i was ready to be free" P O said to judge.