Potential move to North Platte region in June... (York, Ogallala: real estate, rental market)

[Artiste]

Greetings!
My husband currently works for a trucking company; his main terminal being located in North Platte. Presently we live in New York, so he is only able to be home every 4 weeks or so.
Obviously this arrangement is not working well for our family, so we plan to move to the North Platte area in June '08. I am very much looking forward to the move. Not only will we be close, physically, as a family more often, but I grew up in Colorado and I do not like living on the East coast. I welcome the change for many reasons.

Our dilemma is whether to concentrate on finding a house (rental first, then we plan to purchase a home...) within the North Platte city itself, or to look into areas near North Platte. As long as we stay within a 60-80 mile range of NP, he will be able to be home several times per week. This is our main purpose for moving to Nebraska.
We are not opposed to living in a small town, but we do need some resources because we also run a business form home. Being too isolated may negatively affect shipping time for our customers, our ability to stock and receive supplies and inventory, etc. We also have two young children, one of school age, and I hope to live in a town that at least has its own school system.

Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. My husband likes what he knows of North Platte, but we are curious about other options in the area and what the potential advantages/disadvantages of other areas may be from the opinions of other Nebraska residents.
I thank you in advance!

[tpabes]

Personally, I would just stick to North Platte. You will have a lot more options for housing and then you would be right there for supplies for your business. North Platte has a school system (large for Nebraska, North Platte has around 25,000 people) and also a catholic system (not sure if it is just middle-high school or not). For small towns I would look into Hershey, Brady, Paxton, Maxwell, or Sutherland. There is also Ogalalla (5,000 people) and Gothenburg (3,000 people) that would be within your 60-80 mile range and also be a little larger town to live in but are futher down the interstate. I just listed places along the interstate for communting purposes. Any ?'s just ask!

[Gunluvver2]

Welcome to Nebraska Artiste. I drove over the road for many years and can understand why your hubby wants to get home more often. You mentioned a business that you might want to operate from your home? Might I ask what kind?

N. Platte is a major center for both the trucking industry and the railroad. Real estate prices go up and down depending on the business cycles in those two businesses. I would advise renting for a year or two before deciding whether to buy. Study the market before deciding. You can make a ton or lose your shirt in N. Platte real estate.

N. Platte is right in the middle of some of the best hunting, fishing and water related recreation in the Midwest. Big Mac, the largest lake in Nebraska is just an hours drive from N. Platte (Ogallala) and there are several other great Lakes just minutes from N. Platte. I would stay away from the small towns that have large packinghouses because of the turmoil that the illegal situation has caused in the local economies and school systems. Some will call me a racist for making that statement but most of my Hispanic friends that are here legally seem to agree with me.

The smaller towns around N.Platte are dependent on farming for the most part but often times their schools are better than N. Platte. Each city has something unique that sets it apart from others around it. Find a rental and do some exploring for a year or two before making a big decision like purchasing a home.

Good Luck,
GL2

[Rumblebelly]

Artiste,

What part of NY do you live? I grew up in Hershey which is 13 miles west of North Platte. Then I went to school and lived in Fort Collins for 10 years. Now I live just outside of Saratoga Springs, NY.

I actually like it out east; the New England vibe, forests, lakes, architecture, food.

[itsMeFred]

And speaking as an online retailer, you're going to have to try really hard to get remote enough to negatively impact business. It's not possible within 80 miles of NP.

I live 12 miles from pavement. My "town" is 100-some people. I'm 90 miles from a Walmart, 150 from a small mall (North Platte's actually).

I still have DSL and daily UPS delivery. He'd do ship-outs too, if I didn't use USPS.

[Artiste]

Hello,
I apologize for taking such a long time to reply to this thread.
First of all, I VERY MUCH appreciate your responses. Each of you has shared good advice and insight.

We have solidified our plans, and we will definitely be moving to the North Platte area in May-June time frame.

tpabes: Thanks for the info. I look forward to getting to NP so I can take a look at some of the towns you mentioned.

Gunluvver2: Good advice about the renting. We will be renting at first, yes. It will take us some time to get familiar with the region and figure out where we would like to more permanently settle. He has a very good job position, so I know it will be somewhere within that 60-80 mile radius of NP. I remember Big MAc- I actually grew up in Colorado, and my father would make trips up to Northern Colo and Big Mac in Nebraska to do fishing and we would camp. Nice area.

Rumblebelly: We live now in Binghamton, Ny area... actually between Ithaca and Binghamton.
There are certainly things to like about NY and the Northeast in general, sure. It is pretty here. At first I really liked it; I have been out here for 8 years now. New England does have a charm to it. I like Vermont and New Hampshire very much. I am glad I have lived out here, really. But I miss the West very much, and I think my husband and I will enjoy living there. I have not quite felt at "home" since leaving Colorado. I like the open space... though I do admit that the thick forests out here ARE very beautiful. I am glad you are happy in NY. Saratoga is nice.
I actually lived in Fort Collins for a while, too. I grew up in Manitou Springs, Colo. I lived in Ft Collins in 1997-98.

itsMeFred
Thank you for the info regarding the shipping times. Very good to know. I do usually use USPS also, but we offer several shipping/delivery options. One of the good things about running a business form home is that you CAN go virtually anywhere. I just was not certain whether living rurally, VERY rurally would affect the shipping times for customers.

Again- I truly appreciate the relies. I am very excited to move to Nebraska- I have always liked Nebraska, but I am also just so relieved that my husband, children and I will be close again. We'll get to see him every few days rather than every 4+ weeks. I very much look forward to getting to North Platte, and then taking the time to look around and see the surrounding areas.

Thank you!

[tpabes]

Welcome to Nebraska, we are excited to have you. Best of luck with your move!

[undertheironsea]

North Platte isn't too bad. I moved there in my Junior year of high school and graduated in 2004.

Small, remote. Most people live in town, hence why the school doesn't have buses (although for us kids that lived in subdivisions out near the lake, like I did, you're SOL if there's a lot of snow and school isn't cancelled or work isn't cancelled)

You should probably live in or within ten miles of North Platte. I wouldn't live really far away, NP is nice enough of a town to stay around.

Being from New York, you shouldn't have problems. There were some great people, and I loved the cold weather and the scenery, but I wouldn't live in North Platte again. As a Southerner I caught the proverbial smartelic comment every time I would open my mouth in a public place. If it weren't for the really wonderful people I met, the other group of people would've driven me nuts. I think it's all a matter of being isolated and not used to something so different--I may have been the first Southerner in town in about 20 years, haha, especially one that was well-off income wise and didn't fit any of the stereotypes that seem to make it to television.

All in all, you should enjoy it. Housing is cheaper than what you're used to, and the weather isn't too terrible (although the summers are dry hot and it seemed to hail every time it rained when I was there, haha).

[Rumblebelly]

Originally Posted by Artiste

Rumblebelly: We live now in Binghamton, Ny area... actually between Ithaca and Binghamton.
There are certainly things to like about NY and the Northeast in general, sure. It is pretty here. At first I really liked it; I have been out here for 8 years now. New England does have a charm to it. I like Vermont and New Hampshire very much. I am glad I have lived out here, really. But I miss the West very much, and I think my husband and I will enjoy living there. I have not quite felt at "home" since leaving Colorado. I like the open space... though I do admit that the thick forests out here ARE very beautiful. I am glad you are happy in NY. Saratoga is nice.
I actually lived in Fort Collins for a while, too. I grew up in Manitou Springs, Colo. I lived in Ft Collins in 1997-98.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the west either, the "frontier", the open spaces, the tons of color in the landscape. When I first moved east I felt claustrophobic. We moved to be closer to either my wife's family which are in Old Forge, NY or my family which now live in eastern Nebraska. My wife thought Nebraska wasn't very scenic and I fell in love with the Adirondacks. That settled it! Actually, I think I'd be happy anywhere in this country. Just as long as it's not the SE or SW. Part of the reason I like it here in NY is the town we live in. We are within walking distance of a cute little downtown and everyone is really nice.

We stayed at a B&B in Manitou a couple of times. Cute town.

[JewelsnTools]

My family and I moved here from back east, too, and I'm in LOVE with the natural beauty of this place!!
I drive for a local company (hint, hint), too, and that's why we moved here. We haven't regretted it one bit!
Where we're from, though, the rental market was cheaper. It was a total shock to pay almost $700 rent!! But it was a safe, decent place in a really quiet, pleasant neighborhood, so I couldn't complain.
I wish you all the best with coming on out. I know he misses you a lot!!
Jewels