Tales from North Platte

Every now and than I get a question on what North Platte is like. This is a difficult question for me to answer. Every time I come home to see the family most everything I see reminds me of how much time I wasted here, wheels churning in the most boring mud possible. My God, at least I could have been a degenerate in someplace where it would have been interesting, Detroit, Atlanta, oh but anyway...

Let's start with a physical description, that's nice and objective. North Platte is a market town of 24,000 sitting at the forks of the Platte river. The nearest major cities are Denver, 250 miles to the southwest, and Omaha, 270 miles to the east. The town airport, Lee Bird Field, offers four or five commuter planes to both these places every day. The nearest towns of similar size are Kearney and Grand Island to the east and Scottsbluff and Cheyenne to the west. North Platte is home to a daily newspaper, five different radio stations, and an NBC affiliate, KNOP-TV, which officialy makes the town a "media market". The 212th largest in the country out of 214.

Interstate 80 is the major road into town from the east or west, U.S. highway 83 is the major route to town from the north and south. There are two interchanges into town from the interstate. Exit 179 provides access to the airport and the industrial area at the town's extreme southeast corner. Exit 177 connects I-80 to U.S. 83/Jeffers Street and is the most direct route into downtown.

Like I said, U.S. 83 is known as Jeffers street inside North Platte and serves as the town's main drag. From the interstate to downtown, traffic is routed along a one-way pair, Jeffers and Dewey, where one will find the bulk of our fast food joints and hotels. Downtown itself consists of the courthouse, city hall, and various specalty shops. Despite the rise of Wal-mart and shopping malls, downtown is still home to some of the our most iconic busineses carrying our most powerful names. Hoover's jewlers, Whitiker's furniture, etc. There is even something of an embryonic underground living in the studio apartments above the storefronts, but they're nothing worth mentioning.

Major north/south streets besides Jeffers are as follows.

E. of Jeffers.

Cottonwood: (6 blocks E. of Jeffers)
Poplar: (7 bloks E. of Jeffers)
Bryan: (12 blocks E. of Jeffers)
Welch: (18 blocks E. of Jeffers)
Bicentenial (25 blocks E. of Jeffers)
Newberry access (2 miles E. of Jeffers E. bypass, access to I-80)

W. of Jeffers.

Willow: (4 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Oak: (8 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Mc'Donald: (15 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Carr: (20 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Buffalo Bill: (25 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Bare: (33 blocks W. of Jeffers)
Lakeview: (41 blocks W. of Jeffers, western limits of town)

It is the extreme western edge of town, by the way, where one will find the Union Pacific railroad yards, North Platte's biggest employer for as long as anybody can remember. Twenty years of train diesel fumes nearly killed my asthmatic uncle. They were kind enough to pay his medical bills after he sued them three or four times. He and my aunt are in Arizona now and better off than they've ever been, but anyway...

Highway 30 is historically the main east/west route through town. (U.S. 30 is also the "Lincoln Highway" the main cross-country route through these parts before they built the interstate) Historically, U.S. 30 entered town from the east along 4th street. Joined Jeffers downtown, followed U.S. 83 over the railroad to 12th street/Rodeo Road, and headed west through the north side past Bufalo Bill's ranch and the fairgrounds and out of town.

Major E/W streets: South of tracks
Front: (right along the tracks, downtown to trainyards, you will find my parent's house and, at the moment, me, one block south of Front along Lincoln Ave.)
4th St.
A/B St.
E St: (St. Patricks High School is located in the eastern half of town along E)
Phillip Ave.
Francis St:
Leota St:

South of South Platte River:
Halligan Dr.
I-80
Eugene Ave: (My grandparents' house is the green one with the cornfield in back)
Walker Rd:
State Farm Road: (Home of Mid-Plains Community College. They're fucking hacks. I got straight A's. I thank them.)

North of tracks:
8th St.
9th St.
Rodeo Rd/12thSt/U.S. 30*

(* The northeast quadrant of town has historically been the ghetto. Until recently, 12th street ended as a dirt track by an abandoned slughterhouse. As teenagers, we naturally took it on faith that this slughterhouse was haunted. Recently, U.S. 30 was bypassed around downtown and 12th street is now a nice 3-lane road. This is also the part of town where I found my first true love. Occasionally, when she needs to dry out, one can find her there still. Road improvements have done nothing to improve the character of the neighborhood. Watch what you say about Ted Nugent.)

Tomarrow, or perhaps later tonight, we shall go into detail about some of North Platte's points of interest. Until then, I urge my personal friends to look down upon O Street traffic and be thankful for what you have.

I shall return, oh yes.