Western Nebraska - Scottsbluff area (Omaha, Kearney: fit in, transplants, apartments)

[Wakyco]

I'm seriously considering a move to the Scottsbluff area in the near future. I use to live in Colorado and really enjoyed driving out to Western Nebraska. I was told of a couple of places in the area that were "always hiring" so, if that's true I'll have to check them out but it doesn't sound as it would be dificult for me to get a job.

The situation is, I am a single guy...in my 40's. I'm a bit of a loner and prefer the small town/country environment but I would want to meet some people and not be treated like an "outcast". Would the Western Nebraska area be a difficult place for me to do so? I guess what I don't want is a place that is too "family friendly" where everybody that is there has kids. I don't mind if the people in the area are married (or not) but, I would like to meet people at the bars, through bowling, pool leagues etc.

Also, rent as compared to buying. Eventually I may want to buy a house but as I have no money saved up now to do so...I would have to rent first. How easy is it to find a "pet friendly" rental?

[Wakyco]

Doesn't anyone have insight?

Sure....I don't know where you all live but I imagine somebody somewhere is from, or at least knows somebody in western Nebraska.

[spin23]

We lived there for 25 years. Scottsbluff is a good community and you will not be treated poorly. Make some connections by joining an organization or two and you'll be fine.

[Wakyco]

A REPLY, A REPLY, A REPLY. . After almost 300 views I got a reply

[DOUBLE H]

Western Colo. guy checking in here. I visit friends in Omaha/Council Bluffs twice a year. A construction acquaintance of mine who recently passed away moved to Gering years ago, he loved it and the Scottsbluff area (Gering is just a few miles from Scottsbluff). When I've spent the night after knocking out 500-600 miles on the road, be it Ogalalla, North Platte, or Kearney, I've always run into friendly people, always. Scottsbluff should work fine!

[NativeDetroiter73]

A bit late on the reply but I had the opportunity to work in Scottsbluff for 4 months in 08. Very nice people. Smallest town I ever called home. Between Gering and Scottsbluff, it's like 20K residents I think? The hospital is the biggest employer, and walmart is probably second. They are big enough to get their own super walmart!. Big republican terrain. I was there when Obama was elected and I swear everyone had tears of sorrow on wednesday! Not much to do in the area. A few local bars but you'll have to travel about 1.5 to 2 hours on any given weekend. I fouind myself in fort collins, CO anytime I wanted to do something. I think it's a bit small for my taste.

[Wakyco]

Don't worry about being a bit late ND73. I'm still talking a few months out as I sure have a hard time with making decisions.

I keep hearing about how Western Nebraska is losing population but when I think about the towns in Western Nebraska, as well as Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado that are losing population I keep thinking of the real small towns such as, oh IDK.....Anthony? (I think there is an Anthony, NE...pop 100)

I'm not sure about the towns of "decent size" such as Scottsbluff, North Platte, Ogallala, Alliance etc.

[stacy.nelson]

My husband and I moved to Scottsbluff from Wisconsin in 2005 after he was offered a job there, and Scottsbluff was definitely not for us. It's very conservative (we are moderate to left-leaning), and rather isolated geographically. The closest city of any decent size is Cheyenne, about 90 minutes away. I'm from a mid-sized city a bit larger than Cheyenne, and it was a difficult adjustment to go from having a wide variety of stores, restaurants, et cetera, to choose from to having to drive an hour and a half just to get to someplace that does have some variety. There isn't much in the way of restaurant choices. There are a ton of Mexican and fast food places, a few Perkins-type places, a few other miscellaneous restaurants, and that's about it. I think they were building a Chili's right before we moved out of state (in 2008). I wouldn't expect there to be a huge array of restaurant options in an area with Scottsbluff's population, so I can't fault the city for that, but it was just an adjustment for us to not have as many options as we were used to.

I have a bachelor's degree and had a very difficult time finding a job, any job, so I'm sort of curious as to the places that are "always hiring" that you were told about. I interviewed at Aurora and was not hired even though I had call center experience, and I found out after the fact from a friend that it was likely because I was new to the area. I ended up taking a minimum wage job just to have something (after leaving a slightly higher-paying job because the women who worked there were so incredibly cruel to me). As for friendliness, with the exception of our amazing neighbors, we actually found many of the locals to not be very welcoming to "outsiders" at all, especially when they found out we were unmarried (at the time), living together and had no plans of attending whatever church they were trying to get us to attend. We did make many friends there; however, none of them were locals. All of our friends were transplants, as well, all from other states/countries. It's not that any of the locals were outright rude to us, per se, it just felt as if they weren't particularly interested in associating with people who didn't conform to their personal world view. We also encountered a large amount of homophobic dialogue, which was upsetting to me as I have many gay friends and a few relatives.

I will say that for the area, the community college, WNCC, is very, very good. There are a lot of excellent instructors (and some not-so-excellent ones, but you get that anywhere), and they offer a good variety of courses and degree programs, or even just continuing education classes to take for fun.

Other than our friends, the one thing we miss about Scottsbluff the most is the amazing Mexican food (which can also be found in Colorado). Like I mentioned before, there isn't a huge variety in types of restaurants, but there are definitely a ton of them. We just can't get Mexican food like that back here in Wisconsin. And Shari's...Shari's was yummy!

I'm definitely not down on living in small towns at all. In fact, I prefer living in smaller towns; I just prefer said towns to be in closer proximity to larger areas to have access to a greater amount of resources, entertainment options, etc. I know some of our friends who moved to Scottsbluff love it, and others who hated it (the ones who love it tend to be more conservative politically, among other reasons). It just depends on what your preferences are, what your job skills are, and partially on your personal/political views (at least, if you want to fit in and not be considered an outsider).

If you do decide to move to the area, we have some friends who live in pet-friendly apartments and I can find out the name of the complex if you're interested (it's been a while and I can't remember). I don't want to do it in the forums just for safety reasons. Also feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Good luck with your decision!

[nosyneighbors]

I was there when Obama was elected and I swear everyone had tears of sorrow on wednesday!

I couldn't live in a place like this: too extreme and one-sided.

[sholomar]

I always find myself gravitating towards this town because of the warm mountain winds in the winter and it's location between denver and the black hills.

How's the mosquitoes in the summer? How's the scenery? I know you have some bluffs nearby but it's hard to get a good judge as to how hilly the terrain is by looking at google maps. Looks like it's hilly in all directions from google maps but moreso to the north west and south.

How's that one lake nearby Lake minatare? Is it an algae filled mess like the lakes around here tend to be?

I assume the terrain is pretty dry and dusty looking similar to western south dakota and not green.

So many places I'd love to live it would be hard to choose. haha. How much for an apartment there? Something in a low crime area as small as a studio? Doesn't need to be new or anything.