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Old 12-04-2015, 06:57 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,374 times
Reputation: 10

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Hi. Recently divorced and moved from the SF bay area back to Colorado, where I was born and raised.

Don't mind big cities, don't remember how it was living in small towns... born and raised in NE Colorado until eight or so, then moved to Denver area.

Want a simpler life than what SF offered.... loved the experience, and the diversity, but the cost and busy-ness of it is not conducive to raising a tween daughter on my own.

I have a great opportunity making a lot of money in Sterling. The money would be good even for SF. I think I can pretty much live anywhere, but have concerns with how my daughter will take it.

Are there many recreation activities available for children in this area? Youth sports outside of school, perhaps? What about hang outs, like bowling alleys, etc?

Not that I am currently "looking" but what is the singles scene in Sterling? I have heard that if you are a young (married) family or retired, that the town is a good fit, but not so much for the newly divorced, single parent or children who have grown up with amenities at their disposal. By the way, amenities that they hardly ever want.... and, in my opinion, not having everything available to a child is not necessarily a bad thing......

Just looking for some honest and more updated opinions than what I have found on the subject in previous threads. Thank you for your time in responding to my inquiries.
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Old 12-04-2015, 09:48 AM
 
6,807 posts, read 10,456,505 times
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My experience with Sterling is only a week-long conference I had there two years ago. It is indeed a small town and it is kind of far from any larger towns. So yes, there are definitely limited things to do. There is a junior college there that may help with some activities for the younger set a bit. It was very quiet out there!
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Old 12-04-2015, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ
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The nice thing is, only 2 hours away from Denver so you don't feel too isolated.
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Old 12-06-2015, 09:46 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,639 posts, read 57,683,287 times
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Age of kid?

You will be fine if you 'integrate' into small town life. If your child / young adult is determined to raise a fuss for not having LOTS to do / friends / venues, then you are gonna fight it.

so... Get active into church / local sports / 4H, gardening (ag centric stuff) and you will be fine.

My kids survived. and are well adjusted (10 yrs beyond college).(no TV, no Nintendo, No VCR/ (DVD's...) No internet, living in the country. There are other things to life (, camping, hiking travel, reading, teaching, libraries, relationships, eating / cooking together, milking / caring for livestock. (or the elderly in the neighborhood ... then there is always W-O-R-K (plenty of that in an Ag Centric community.)

I would venture to understand your daughter and engage into something you can embrace together, serve others, and grow skills for a future. (i.e. 4H served my nieces WELL - great scholarships, one in Fashion, one in Psych!). There will certainly be some challenges and you will be spending a LOT of time together in the car!. (Cruising to Ft Collins / Black Hills / Yellowstone / Snowy Range / Lake McCaughny http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/parks/...campground.asp Lake Ogallala http://www.reserveamerica.com/campin...&parkId=230100, Paxton, http://olesbiggame.com/

And of course Car Henge (Alliance, NE).http://carhenge.com/

Do be careful on the downhill side of Pawnee Pass (headed home to Sterling from Stoneham / New Raymer ). BAD place to get a speeding ticket... BTDT.

Then there was the night the CSP cornered a Bank Robber near Stoneham... shot that car ALL up! (Bonnie and Clyde style!)

I ran a truck home from Rapid City / Sidney,NE through Sterling to Ft Collins 3 nights / week (during 7 yrs 'extended' College degree program) It was 'sometimes' snowy and windy

(I Love the prairie! especially on a moonlit snowcovered night...My roots are in Haxtun, CO.)

BTW: my spouse moved with a family of 4 HS girls from Urban CA to the Colorado prairie....it was pretty traumatic for teenage girls. Hopefully you will have a lot of time to consul her, and help her see the beauty of the people and the prairie (and the cows...).

'De-Programming' after 'CA visitations' will be a challenge. Don't fight it; stay firm, confident, understanding, CONSISTENT, and secure. Fly her friends out and show them a good time! Frontier was running $49 flights to Bay Area last month

Last edited by StealthRabbit; 12-06-2015 at 11:02 PM..
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Old 12-10-2015, 08:35 PM
 
14 posts, read 68,918 times
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Coming from San Francisco to here is going to be a HUGE shock to your daughter. There is very little for kids to do in this town. Yes, there are sports through the recreation department as well as the school system. There is no real hangout for kids though. No central location anyway. Most of the kids I see hang out in the Walmart parking lot. On Friday nights, the main hangout seems to be the movie theatre.

There are many churches with church groups, 4-H, a bowling alley and a library. That is pretty much it. In the summer there is the reservoir and a few other state parks but unless your daughter is old enough to drive, there's no real way of getting out there. The recipient center has a real nice outdoor pool in my opinion.

The junior college has a variety of clinics they do through out the year and more in the summer. Other than that there really isn't much else to do.

Housing has skyrocketed over the past 4 years, as well as the utilities. It use to be an affordable town to live in but not so much anymore. I honestly don't know how people live here and make a living other than living paycheck to paycheck.

Social life out here is pretty much non existent unless you already know someone or are active in church.
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