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Hello! We are considering relocating to Cheyenne and had a few questions.
My husband travels for his job and has to leave out of the Denver airport once per week. I'll be honest, we're not interested in moving to Colorado because of the dope-smoking laws. Also, we currently live in a state that does not have income taxes, so it would be nice to continue with that cadence.
I'm wondering how often I-25 closes down due to white-out conditions. And is it typically due to blowing snow or other reasons like not being plowed (volume).
Where to buy a house? Are there any places where we could get acreage....say 20 acres with a nice house already built? We're not interested in building. What side of town should we look for something like this?
I can see how the schools rank nationally, but would like "real people" experiences. How are the high schools and is one better than another? Are there private schools worth looking at and are there people who homeschool?
Clearly, we're just in the initial stages of researching. We are planning on coming out next week to look around. What are some things we should see while there? I used to go to Cheyenne Frontier Days when I was a kid and am so excited to bring my kids some day! Appreciate any help that anyone has!
I can comment a little bit on the homeschool experience in Cheyenne. (This was 6-9 years ago, so the “rules” may have changed some.) We were stationed with the Air Force in Cheyenne from 2008-2011. We had a high school aged daughter and son that we homeschooled, not for any religious reason, but since we moved every 2-3 years, homeschooling fit perfectly with our “nomadic” military lifestyle. The state had a program that allowed homeschool kids to participate with the high school of their choice in athletics and music related programs. I think there was a fee of $50-100 per school year to do this. It worked great, and there was never any “discrimination” we encountered because we homeschooled. In fact, my daughter was voted onto the All-State soccer team during her senior year by the Wyoming High School Athletic Association. We had a great time homeschooling in Cheyenne. And we were also happy with what we saw of the 2 high schools (Central and East) and now I think there is a 3rd high school (South), but they were just building that school as we left Cheyenne. If we had not been military, we would have been fine enrolling the kids in Central or East High School.
Acreage and existing homes are available in the area.
Are you seeking an HOA community development or independent acreage out in the county? Is equine important to you?
Other amenities desired?
Price range you're considering will be a big factor in what and where you can be located. Can't help you much with areas without knowing your budget.
I-25 can have numerous closures during the winter season, very difficult to forecast from year to year. WYDOT is much more aggressive in recent years about closures due to obscured roads/vision, slick surfaces, or other factors than years past due to the burdens upon first responders/higher traffic densities than years past, etc.
Keep in mind that just because the highway has not been closed does not mean that the driving conditions will be a pleasant journey. I've been on I-25 many a day returning from the Front Range of Colorado where there were extended patches of black ice (1-2-10 miles) on the road, visibility down to a few yards in front of the vehicle, the road "disappeared" due to blown drifting snow, and the ongoing limited visibility due to heavy truck traffic kicking up a moving wall of obscuration as they pass you or you pass them. There may be "travel advisories" posted, such as "no unnecessary travel", or simply warning advisories, or none posted at all ... yet the drive can be problematic all the way south from Cheyenne to Fort Collins before road conditions moderate.
Don't forget that I-25 south of Fort Collins can also present difficult driving conditions, obscuration, black ice, and in recent years ... a lot more traffic density which aggravates the driving difficulties. I lived near Exit 235 for years and that stretch down to Denver was less than a pleasure on many days. Now, more than ever, traffic is backed up in both directions twice a day that far North of Denver on an average weekday in fair weather.
If your husband must be at DIA on a given schedule, then it's always best during the inclement weather months to plan ahead by following the weather forecasts and road condition reports. There may be times when it would be best to leave Cheyenne a day or two earlier than the DIA travel time. We've gotten in the habit of getting a stay/fly motel room the day before our DIA flights so that we can make the trip south without the pressures of the I-25 traffic parade that starts in the Fort Collins area in the AM and can frequently persist (and get worse as you approach Denver's North environs) until the evening. The advantage to the stay/fly program is that we can park our cars "for free" at the motel parking lot up to 14 days and get a shuttle to/from the terminal from the motel. We just did this for a two-week trip and the motel cost was comparable to what we could park our car at the outlying DIA lots for the time. We had a more pleasant journey and nice meal in Denver as the staging point for our vacation trip (and I've done this for my business travel, too).
Schools? again, much depends upon your point of view/perspective. I've numerous families around me that home school because they don't like the programs taught in Cheyenne's High Schools. They do have their children in the athletics programs and they apparently do well with that ... but there's a lot of shuttling kids around for practices, meets, etc.
As well, I have a lot of neighbors that home school due to religious concerns and want no contact with the public school system. Part of what I've heard from them is that they don't like the "liberal" bias of subjects that they have heard taught to their children ... or other aspects of the school environment in the public schools. They are members of an old order sect, so minimizing their children's contact with what they consider "bad influences" is a high priority for their families.
OTOH, I've friends in town with children that have done well in their G&T programs and are headed off to college prep career tracks. So it appears that they're very satisfied with the public school system here which is fairly well funded, has good teacher/student ratios, etc. I think you'd do best to interview the schools of your potential choices and get their take on the issues of concern to you.
Good luck in your relocation.
PS: I've been told by some folk that there are significant differences in the "strengths" of the Cheyenne HS's for various academic subject areas. And then there's the issue of school sports teams which can be a big deal for some families ... especially with children that are thinking about college athletic scholarships.
On the schooling issues, in addition to what the other posters have already said, I can confirm that there is an active home schooling 'community' in Cheyenne. I am not sure what % of students are homeschooled here but the laws in Wyoming appear to be fairly simple to comply with: https://edu.wyoming.gov/beyond-the-c.../home-schools/
In my nearly 5 years in Wyoming I have met people who homeschool, those who use one of the above hybrid programs, as well as those whose children attend the public schools. In all cases I have known people who are happy with their choice, as well as those who find that they need to try one of the other options.
As far as the Cheyenne high schools I have no personal experience. I generally hear them 'ranked' in this order: Central, East, South. This is based solely on what I have heard various parents say, so take it for what it is worth.
There's actually one additional high school. The biggies are Central, East, and South.
But there is also a new school called Triumph on College Av. About 200 students, but
I don't know if it is a magnet or alternative or ? Nice campus, been by it many times.
On getting to the airport: I don't like I-25, so I will usually go down Hwy 85. I like to
leave 85 at Pierce, Colorado and go over to a Weld Cnty. Rd. (40 something) go south
on it thru Kersey to Hudson, Colorado. Then I-76 for a few miles to Bromley Ln, Tower
Rd into the airport. Paved two lane with little traffic. 55 speed limit, but might be just
as fast, if I-25 is stop and go or the greenies are playing bumper cars again. In going
to Colorado Springs, I have found the road conditions to be worse south of Denver-the notorious Monument Hill-not as bad north of Denver, but I only go once/twice a month.
If you live out by Altvan-Carpenter-Burns, there is also a highway south to Greeley.
Acreage in most directions. North between town and Hwy 85 is popular. East as well.
Today in eastern WY, a chinook is passing thru-apparently it didn't get below 50 all
night. Cheyenne is windy in the winter. Think cast iron patio furniture, or looking at
boat anchors in Cabela's and wondering if one would work for the BBQ grill. Good to
give the cat a tag with your name/number so they can call you from Scottsbluff after
he touches down. We tend to watch the weather, and as sunsprit said, sometimes just
go a day ahead.
Today in eastern WY, a chinook is passing thru-apparently it didn't get below 50 all
night. Cheyenne is windy in the winter. Think cast iron patio furniture, or looking at
boat anchors in Cabela's and wondering if one would work for the BBQ grill. Good to
give the cat a tag with your name/number so they can call you from Scottsbluff after
he touches down. We tend to watch the weather, and as sunsprit said, sometimes just
go a day ahead.
we've done this recently several times over the last few months using the different routes.
The "back way" from Carpenter to Hereford/Briggsdale/Hwy 14 to Fort Collins, then South on I-25 doesn't gain any time compared to Cheyenne/I-25. The county roads are a more pleasant, less traffic'ed, but slower drive compared to the interstate travel distance and speed. As well, taking the county roads down to Kersey and then over to Hwy 85 down to Brighton are a slow slog these days ... between oft-times not sequenced traffic lights on 85, traffic density, and construction now going on to upgrade the roads on the north side of the Denver metro area.
Which brings us to the major reconstruction of I-70 now in progress. I understand that this is a multi-year project which has the Denver metro area in snarls right now.
Case in point: 3 weeks ago, we made the trip to DIA from Carpenter and took the Kersey-Hwy 85-270-70 to the DIA area just a mile south of I-70 for our stay/fly motel. Left Carpenter at Noon for a leisurely drive to check-in and await our travel companions for a nice evening/dinner. The drive was over 3 hours due to stop 'n go traffic starting 5 miles North of Brighton and all the way south from there. Early afternoon on a Monday, this was normal daily traffic in the area.
Our return on a Tuesday afternoon was just as problematic. We cleared were back at the motel via their shuttle around 1:30 PM. Traffic on I-70 was stop 'n go but we intended to make a sales call and shop on our way home in Fort Collins, so we headed for I-25. It took us over 30 minutes in the traffic to make the Vasquez Blvd exit ... it would have taken longer, we were stopped about 1 mile East of that I-70 exit (this is the exit to access Hwy 85 northbound) after miles of crawling west from Pena Blvd on I-70. Recognizing that I-25 was a long way ahead, we gave up on the Fort Collins stops for the day and I drove on the right shoulder (in a parade of other cars) the last 1/2 mile to the Vasquez exit and departed I-70. We were driving 5-ish mph and passing everybody in the I-70 lanes to reach that exit.
But once on Vasquez, the traffic again was mostly stop 'n go through the construction zones and/or the unsynchronized lights. We waited 3-4 light cycles to get through each intersection due to traffic density/left turning vehicles from one lane of traffic at construction zones, and so forth. It wasn't until we passed Brighton that traffic loosened up and we finally got back up to a 55-ish cruise speed. Let me repeat that time frame: a Tuesday mid-afternoon in clear sunshine dry road weather. We were listening to the Denver traffic reports on the radio and I-25 was a parking lot north of Denver due to several fender-bender traffic accidents all the way to north of the Erie exits, alternative routes advised.
Mrs Sun had made the trip I-25/E470 (toll road)/Pena Blvd to DIA trip a few weeks before that. She encountered much better traffic conditions and was at the passenger terminal pick-up area in "only" 2.5 hours. Traffic was flowing much better that day and the traffic reports were favorable. E 470 is oft times a much less traffic road and worth the tolls, IMO.
PS: ah, the winds of the Cheyenne east side plains area ... I've got a worksite heavy steel job box for the larger items to be delivered. I had to chain it to my mailbox post to keep it from being blown away in the gusts around here.
Last edited by sunsprit; 11-01-2017 at 10:35 AM..
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Well put! ... and only barely an exaggeration.
