Scottsbluff questions

[jeepejeep]

Thank you tpabes. Yes, she's doing very well but as I said she needs to be tested twice a year. The link is great. I'll let her see it.

[Adventurer Rich]

Originally Posted by PattiAnn

My husband and I are considering moving to the Scottsbluff area. I saw some pictures that were several years old of how low the rivers and lakes were in that end of the state. How bad is the drought? Is the water coming back up?

Also does anyone have an opinion of medical care in the area? I was told that we might want to go to Denver for medical care which seemed extreme.

First of all... I hope you and your husband came to your senses and avoided the Black Hole of western Nebraska. This year (2009) the drought seems to be over and we've received a lot of rain. Medical Care at RWMC is acceptable for minor maladies, but according to local lore, sounds like you have about a 30% chance of getting a staff infection every time you are admitted there.

Western Nebraska is... uh... a little different. If you like fishing and hunting (and can get in good with the private landowners who own the majority of the good hunting and fishing land and charge an arm and a leg for you to have access unless you were born and raised here or have the appropriate social connections), I suppose western Nebraska might be for you. If you like enormous amounts of wind almost daily, you'll feel right at home here. If lack of social activities and a very cliquish population (country club clique, YMCA clique, Walmart clique, trailer park clique) are what you are looking for... come on home!

Western Nebraska is a retirement/agricultural community. If you are not in agriculture or retired, you have about a 95% chance of getting a job in a service or retail (read: "low pay"). This number varies according to the website you visit to get the information, but the average household income is right around $30,000/year (i.e. you had better be into gardening... because you won't be able to afford leaving your home to do any more than work ((thus... the Black Hole of western Nebraska)); you move here you may get stuck here).

For someone looking to move to the middle-of-nowhere, I would suggest Cheyenne, WY... or maybe even North Platte or Grand Island, NE. Housing is no more expensive in those communities than it is in Scottsbluff or Gering, you can make more money in those communities, and there is more to do in those communities. Cheyenne has Frontier Days every summer. Even North Platte had the band Lifehouse at their fair last summer. Guess who we have coming to the big summer shin-dig for Oregon Trail Days: Terri Clark. I don't know who Terri Clark is and have no interest in seeing her, but I'm assuming the retired people and the farmers/ranchers in the area may know who she is... and they are the classes that are catered to in this area. So, if you're planning to move to the Black Hole, pull on your poop-kickers and get ready to squaredance to Terri Clark

[RobotWizard]

Originally Posted by Adventurer Rich

First of all... I hope you and your husband came to your senses and avoided the Black Hole of western Nebraska. This year (2009) the drought seems to be over and we've received a lot of rain. Medical Care at RWMC is acceptable for minor maladies, but according to local lore, sounds like you have about a 30% chance of getting a staff infection every time you are admitted there.

Western Nebraska is... uh... a little different. If you like fishing and hunting (and can get in good with the private landowners who own the majority of the good hunting and fishing land and charge an arm and a leg for you to have access unless you were born and raised here or have the appropriate social connections), I suppose western Nebraska might be for you. If you like enormous amounts of wind almost daily, you'll feel right at home here. If lack of social activities and a very cliquish population (country club clique, YMCA clique, Walmart clique, trailer park clique) are what you are looking for... come on home!

Western Nebraska is a retirement/agricultural community. If you are not in agriculture or retired, you have about a 95% chance of getting a job in a service or retail (read: "low pay"). This number varies according to the website you visit to get the information, but the average household income is right around $30,000/year (i.e. you had better be into gardening... because you won't be able to afford leaving your home to do any more than work ((thus... the Black Hole of western Nebraska)); you move here you may get stuck here).

For someone looking to move to the middle-of-nowhere, I would suggest Cheyenne, WY... or maybe even North Platte or Grand Island, NE. Housing is no more expensive in those communities than it is in Scottsbluff or Gering, you can make more money in those communities, and there is more to do in those communities. Cheyenne has Frontier Days every summer. Even North Platte had the band Lifehouse at their fair last summer. Guess who we have coming to the big summer shin-dig for Oregon Trail Days: Terri Clark. I don't know who Terri Clark is and have no interest in seeing her, but I'm assuming the retired people and the farmers/ranchers in the area may know who she is... and they are the classes that are catered to in this area. So, if you're planning to move to the Black Hole, pull on your poop-kickers and get ready to squaredance to Terri Clark

Yeah, it's good to hear someone actually being honest. So many times when people ask for advice about a place they get some descriptions of the weather. Well, let me tell you there's a a lot more to a place then the weather. I could be happy in Barrow, Alaska if I had good, kind, supportive friends.

I lived around the west for a number of years in small communities like Scottsbluff, and I spent some time there as well. I will tell you that you need to be very well informed before you move out there. I think a lot of people see some photos and have this romantic vision of living out on the plains. Forget that. I lived for a number of years in Dickinson, ND, Havre, MT and Casper, WY, and these western communities are pretty insular. I wouldn't say people are actually unfriendly, but if you aren't from there they keep their distance. It takes forever to break in. I consider myself pretty outgoing and friendly, but the only friends I ever really had living in these places were other transplants.

Some select few people can move to the plains and fit right in, but most can't. If you deviate from the status quo one little bit, you are on your own. I don't know...people out there have this inordinate fear that outsiders are going to come in and change the way they do things. I understand this to a point, but shutting yourself off never did anybody any good. Plus, if the way they are doing things is so great why is the population consistently declining with the kids chompin' on the bit to leave and move to Denver or Minneapolis.

And as for the weather. That scenery make look nice in a photo, but when it's 105 F with a 50 mph wind blowing grit into every little crevice in you body you may think differently, but hey if you are into that more power to you.

I live and farm in rural Wisconsin now and I'm so much happier here. Everybody on here seems to say that people in the west are so friendly, but they can say that until they are blue in the face and it won't make it true. In general people here in WI are ACTUALLY friendly.

Oh, btw. Just read that Scottsbluff is the 7th fattest city in America. Keep on reachin' Scottsbluff, you'll make it!