Small cities/medium towns = Good place to raise family (Cheyenne: sales, real estate)
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Hello All.
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but here goes:
My husband and I have been researching/touring a few states that are in our initial Interest List. He is finishing up with school, and will be applying at police departments throughout the nation (towards a future career as a Game Warden). We may end up moving to which ever city hires him, and offers enough money, but in trying to decide which states/cities/towns he should apply we have made an Interest List. So far on the list: Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Tennessee (where we currently live), Utah, Idaho, and Alaska. We have visited Alaska & Colorado thus far, with plans to visit Wyoming and east TN next.
We have a one yr old, and if all works out well we're hoping for a few more after we move. We like rural, but I'd like to be near-ish to a town/city (small city, large city, whatever). I'm looking for a place that is family oriented, and that has a comparable cost of living to TN (low-ish taxes).
Can you give me your thoughts on your state, and which cities/towns/areas would be your choice?
just a comment on game warden, have seen over 100 people take the test in Wyoming for Game warden even on years when there are no opening ....Lot of kids at college in Wildlife degrees. Probally better luck as a State Trooper, County Barney or a city cop.....Only 2 small cities in Wyoming Cheyenne and Casper, everything else is large to very very small towns.
just a comment on game warden, have seen over 100 people take the test in Wyoming for Game warden even on years when there are no opening ....Lot of kids at college in Wildlife degrees. Probally better luck as a State Trooper, County Barney or a city cop.....Only 2 small cities in Wyoming Cheyenne and Casper, everything else is large to very very small towns.
thanks for the insight. he had planned on putting some time in as a public servant, which may include becoming any of those options you listed. he understands game wardens are usually jobs filled for life, and as there isn't a growing expanse of land (what's there is what's there), there are only so many jobs opened per year... if any. regardless, something in that field: outdoors, public servant. also considered forestry jobs and the fire department.
lastly, if there are suburbs/outlying counties of cheyenne & casper that offer good school districts and activities, i'd love to hear about them. regardless, we really don't want to live WITHIN a city. large-small towns sounds ideal too. what are the names of some of the towns you're referring to? thats the kinda info i'm after.
some more about us: we're outdoorsy/mountain/hilly people. love to fish, hike, and camp. we went to alaska on our honeymoon, for goodness sakes. definitely not beach people.
What you will find is a state where 1/2 the land area is public lands, with much of the area surrounding a city or town to be rural and sparsely, if at all, populated. Once you get out of town, you are looking at the potential of significant distances and time to the next developed area. You can literally find places around Wyoming where it's the better part of 100 miles before the next development of any note is located, and between them, you can drive for an hour with virtually no developments. Suburban development isn't here with the cities themselves being only a bit over 50,000 each for population. Many other towns will be surrounded by open range, ranchlands, farmlands of very low population density and when you reach city limits, you're in town. Drive to the far end of town, perhaps a couple of minutes, and you're back into the undeveloped area.
There's a lot of towns here with population in the couple hundred range. Most of them do not offer much in the way of services, shopping, or retail. Some are little more than a wide spot in the road for a number of blocks with a residential area, and some have the remnants of a commercial "downtown" area from the days when transportation was not so easy. Most of those small town commercial areas are shut down; you'll find a lot of boarded up or derelict buildings in many of these places. Wyoming is far more rural than most folk can comprehend coming from out of the area with a population not much greater than 500,000 residents.
This works out to places such as Cheyenne and Casper having effectively a small surrounding area that is developed, which essentially creates a school district for the city. Cheyenne, for example, has only two districts .... LCSD#1 and #2. Within the city limits, there are a number of schools; in the surrounding county area, fewer schools and you rely upon school bus service to take children to school and back or for other activities. For all intents, the class sizes, funding, facilities are comparable due to the way schools are funded in Wyoming. It's not like some states where a high dollar residential area has better schools due to more funding, here it's a more level field.
In addition to being outdoorsy folk, I hope you like cold weather for much of the year. Wyoming is at a higher elevation than many other states further north, and it does get cold for a longer winter season than some of them.
Is your husband studying game biology or something similar? To be eligible for a game warden job in Wyoming you need a degree in biology, natural resources, etc. Also, if I remember correctly, current Wyoming game wardens and biologists get first dibs on any openings in the state, so the choicest jobs go to those wardens throughout the state in lesser desirable locations. At least that's the way it used to be years ago, and I doubt it's changed.
I think you'll find most areas of Wyoming to be "family oriented" and friendly places, but most do not really have a low cost of living, quite the opposite. Compared to the midwest, home prices (whether buying or renting) are high, as are food prices. If not, as in some of the small, remote towns with no industry, you'll also find income low. If you get offers, look at income vs. cost of living. All towns and cities of any size will have a cost of living index as compared to the national average, and it should be broken down by category, such as housing, food, clothing, entertainment, transportation, etc.
Taxes are fairly low in Wyoming. There's no state income tax, no personal property tax for individuals, sales tax is 4-6 percent with groceries exempt, and real estate property taxes are pretty reasonable. The state gets a large percentage of its income from mineral extraction -- oil, gas, coal, trona, etc., so individuals have it relatively easy.
I'd not rule out any towns or cities without looking into them closely. When I was first offered a job in Gillette 40+ years ago, I took a quick look at the town and turned it down. Six months later, when the offer was increased, I looked again and accepted the job. A decade later I left the job but didn't leave town. It has advantages that I'd overlooked initially. I'd wanted something in/near the mountains, and it sits on the prairie. But it's only an hour or so from one of the nicest mountain ranges anywhere, and it's also only an hour or so from the Black Hills. We like that option when we go camping. Heck, it usually takes me longer to hook up the camper and load it with food and clothing than it does to travel to either. And most prairie towns in Wyoming are like that -- within an hour or so of mountains.
Hello All.
I'm sure this question has been asked before, but here goes:
My husband and I have been researching/touring a few states that are in our initial Interest List. He is finishing up with school, and will be applying at police departments throughout the nation (towards a future career as a Game Warden). We may end up moving to which ever city hires him, and offers enough money, but in trying to decide which states/cities/towns he should apply we have made an Interest List. So far on the list: Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Tennessee (where we currently live), Utah, Idaho, and Alaska. We have visited Alaska & Colorado thus far, with plans to visit Wyoming and east TN next.
We have a one yr old, and if all works out well we're hoping for a few more after we move. We like rural, but I'd like to be near-ish to a town/city (small city, large city, whatever). I'm looking for a place that is family oriented, and that has a comparable cost of living to TN (low-ish taxes).
Can you give me your thoughts on your state, and which cities/towns/areas would be your choice?
TIA!
We moved from Tennessee (as did a couple of other posters on this site). Wyoming is a wonderful place to raise a family. Towns are small, clean and safe. Good schools. There is abundant wildlife and opportunities for outdoor activities. And there is just a little over 500,000 people in the entire state compared to the almost 6 1/2 million in Tennessee. You can find privacy and quiet very easily here. The enormity and expanse of Wyoming is still stunning to me.
Home prices will shock you though. Do some research on this aspect of your potential move. Both home sales and rentals are much more expensive than they are back in TN and truthfully I don't know how people can afford to buy because (to me) salaries don't seem to be in line with the home prices. I have a home back in Tennessee and I miss it, but love living in Wyoming. Just do the research and try and come out for a look-see before you make any hard and fast decisions.
Jackson, WY
Kemmerer, WY
Green River, WY
Laramie, WY
Lander, WY
Gillette, WY
Rock Springs, WY
Evanston, WY
Cheyenne, WY
What do you think of this list? Is it missing a great town?
We're considering moving out west within 1-2 years (husband to graduate with a Biology degree, minoring in criminal justice) and would like to be near a small town. In the meantime we're trying to compile a list of at least 3 towns we can visit. Thanks in advance for your help!
Is your husband studying game biology or something similar? To be eligible for a game warden job in Wyoming you need a degree in biology, natural resources, etc. Also, if I remember correctly, current Wyoming game wardens and biologists get first dibs on any openings in the state, so the choicest jobs go to those wardens throughout the state in lesser desirable locations. At least that's the way it used to be years ago, and I doubt it's changed.
I think you'll find most areas of Wyoming to be "family oriented" and friendly places, but most do not really have a low cost of living, quite the opposite. Compared to the midwest, home prices (whether buying or renting) are high, as are food prices. If not, as in some of the small, remote towns with no industry, you'll also find income low. If you get offers, look at income vs. cost of living. All towns and cities of any size will have a cost of living index as compared to the national average, and it should be broken down by category, such as housing, food, clothing, entertainment, transportation, etc.
Taxes are fairly low in Wyoming. There's no state income tax, no personal property tax for individuals, sales tax is 4-6 percent with groceries exempt, and real estate property taxes are pretty reasonable. The state gets a large percentage of its income from mineral extraction -- oil, gas, coal, trona, etc., so individuals have it relatively easy.
I'd not rule out any towns or cities without looking into them closely. When I was first offered a job in Gillette 40+ years ago, I took a quick look at the town and turned it down. Six months later, when the offer was increased, I looked again and accepted the job. A decade later I left the job but didn't leave town. It has advantages that I'd overlooked initially. I'd wanted something in/near the mountains, and it sits on the prairie. But it's only an hour or so from one of the nicest mountain ranges anywhere, and it's also only an hour or so from the Black Hills. We like that option when we go camping. Heck, it usually takes me longer to hook up the camper and load it with food and clothing than it does to travel to either. And most prairie towns in Wyoming are like that -- within an hour or so of mountains.
You've posted: "What do you think of this list? Is it missing a great town?"
absent knowing your criteria for what consitutes a "great town" ... and the list apparent wide range of locales/price points/jobs market/costs of living/surrounding recreational lands/medical and services access, really all over the board on that list ...
my opinion is that the "list" is meaningless.
"We're considering moving out west within 1-2 years (husband to graduate with a Biology degree, minoring in criminal justice) and would like to be near a small town. In the meantime we're trying to compile a list of at least 3 towns we can visit. Thanks in advance for your help!"
The good news is that Wyoming is primarily all "small towns". Cheyenne & Casper are the two biggest that are considered "cities", but at slightly over 50,000 pop each, aren't even a small suburb size community compared to most city population centers of the USA. There are a very few other communities in Wyoming of any appreciable size, with Gillette probably being the next tier and Laramie below that ....
IMO, you'll get more meaningful responses from the C-D community by posting what your interests, job requirements, housing desired, access to entertainment and recreation priorities may be. As well, some guidance as to your economic situation ... single or two earner family, what you husband wants to do with his education for employment, and so forth. While it sounds nice to suggest that he'll go into public service with an eye toward game warden or some similar position, understand that there are many folk already established here with credentials and hiring preference points seeking those same jobs. It's more than just a tight marketplace, with the hiring freezes in some communities and the looming prospect (and reality on some accounts) of hundreds of milliions of fed dollars now gone from the WY state economy, it's a shrinking job market here for living wage jobs for many people.
Sorry, getting a big laugh here when somebody puts Jackson and Rock Springs and Cheyenne on the same list as equally desirable ... you simply cannot equate apples and oranges and carrots.
You've essentially revisited your thread from last year without posting any more information about your situation. But since that last thread, I've seen a lot more economic distress throughout WY ... more droughts, more development cutbacks, more assaults by the current administration upon the extractive industries curtailing jobs and development, more drought conditions affecting ranching and farming, etc. But along with this, there's not been a corresponding reduction in the costs of living/housing in many areas ... I've visited businesses across WY where they cannot afford to pay prevailing wages that can be earned out of the area, and so their employees have left for jobs elsewhere, yet return to their WY home on their breaks.
If there can be a parallel drawn between the costs of living and access to recreation/entertainment/services between a place like Conway Arkansas and your place in TN (I've no personal experience with either, so you'll have to assess the validity of the comparison) ... I've friends that left WY (due to family requirements/retirement) to Arkansas and they tell me that it's much less expensive to live there. As well, the job market there doesn't pay any better than they were earning in WY, but their dollars go further now.
Last edited by sunsprit; 07-09-2013 at 12:44 PM..
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Smaller towns, good to raise family, Pinedale?
