Town choices for young family.....

[juneaubound]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

It has been that way in Cody and Powell for a very long time. It was too expensive for my family of five back in 1970, that I finally found one in Meeteetse, biut it didn't last long. Had to finally move to Riverton to be closer to my work adding two more children along the way. I much preferred Riverton to Cody & Powell. Didn't need to drive to Billings for better medical care.

It took us 9 months of non-stop looking to find the right home for the right price. We looked all over Big Horn County and Park County before finally realizing that Cody was really where we wanted to live, we didn't want to compromise on that, and if it meant renting for years until we found what we wanted (and could afford), that's what we would do. When the right one came along it came along fast, and every day we're grateful for getting into a home of a quality and location that we never imaged we would get. It was worth the effort.

I'm glad that Riverton worked for you. It's not a town I would want to buy a home in but everyone has different criteria (in your case being closer to work) that drives their home buying decisions. In our case it was proximity to outdoor recreation and access to quality indoor recreation, and a market for a small business that I wanted to start (that has now been established for a few years).

I will say this about health care - anything beyond basic health care maintenance, I would also go to Billings. I always say that Cody is a wonderful town to live in as long as you don't need anyTHING from anyBODY. A good doctor, good mechanic, good contractor, good hairdresser, good whatever can be hard to find, in this isolated small town. I don't believe that Cody is exceptional in that regard though.

[juneaubound]

One more thought about home prices in Cody. I've gotten to know a realtor fairly well over the past couple of years and she told me a couple of interesting things.

1. Home prices are so artificially inflated right now because desperate c......o......vi.....d refugees, government overreach refugees, high tax refugees, violent city refugees are bugging out of their cities and states as fast as they can and view WY as a panacea. They're not thinking. They're just running. Escaping.

2. Some houses are going back onto the market because they are contingent on out-of-state home buyers visiting the area and liking what they see. Some come - and don't like what they see. This place is not for everyone. Not this town and not this state.

3. Some realtors are quietly embarrassed about the asking prices of some of the homes on the market. Not surprising once you start researching. But as with my previous post, that's not exceptional to Cody.

The town we lived in, in middle TN has seen a sharp rise in home prices. It's small town BFE TN - not 50 miles from the east gate of Yellowstone National Park and I still cannot fathom just how much home prices have increased over the past few years.

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by Mister Torgue

How long would you say its been that way? Before 1970?
We briefly looked at Powell, the prices are definitely high but not as high as places like Bozeman/Missoula and Coeur d'Alene these days. Cody was about as high as those aforementioned cities last time I poked around. Still having said that I would rather pay the premium to live outside of any of those areas then be stuck in the sweaty armpit southern part of the country or *shudders* the east coast. Haha.

Probably so. That would around the time of the oil drilling near Green River Prices were outrageous. Im surprised Cody is near 10000 pop. When they did the last census (that we participated) 82414 was just about half of the county. Wapiti had its own post office. Old Tom at the Cody office complained the census people used the zip instead of the actual town boundaries for the count. That screws everything up.

I moved to Nuuk after my son Brett died last year. Thats about as far east as you can go in North America. Judging by the latest polar vortex we are actually balmy by comparison. The fiord out the front door still hasn't frozen solid. Small bergie bits about the size of a VW are bobbing around. This is in Greenland and no mandare here. In fact Denmark banned them

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by juneaubound

I will say this about health care - anything beyond basic health care maintenance, I would also go to Billings. I always say that Cody is a wonderful town to live in as long as you don't need anyTHING from anyBODY. A good doctor, good mechanic, good contractor, good hairdresser, good whatever can be hard to find, in this isolated small town. I don't believe that Cody is exceptional in that regard though.

From experience it has two exceptional doctors in Barry Welch and Jimmy Biles. But otherwise up to Billings

[Mister Torgue]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Probably so. That would around the time of the oil drilling near Green River Prices were outrageous. Im surprised Cody is near 10000 pop. When they did the last census (that we participated) 82414 was just about half of the county. Wapiti had its own post office. Old Tom at the Cody office complained the census people used the zip instead of the actual town boundaries for the count. That screws everything up.

I moved to Nuuk after my son Brett died last year. Thats about as far east as you can go in North America. Judging by the latest polar vortex we are actually balmy by comparison. The fiord out the front door still hasn't frozen solid. Small bergie bits about the size of a VW are bobbing around. This is in Greenland and no mandare here. In fact Denmark banned them

I would love to see pictures of your area. It sounds beautiful.

It is crazy to think about the population growth. I know in Texas all the little towns I grew up near or in with 500~3,000 population are all well over 50,000~250,000 today. It blows my mind thinking about it.

[Wytempest]

I was in Harahan, La last April and there is absolutely no way I'd raise a family in that kind of environment. We sold our home in Johnson county for considerably higher than i think it's worth but compared to what else was on the market, it was a great deal. It was fairly new home. We had 4 full price offers and sold in 5 days. That being said, we are building a new home and prices are high enough to justify home prices easily. Buffalo is probably the most cliquish place we've ever lived no big deal though as we keep extremely to ourselves. The buffalo side of the bighorns is way better than the Sheridan side.

[NW Crow]

Assume you have or will but ask spouse and kids what they want, "need" - can't imagine living without. They might adapt to without but consider their input.

Have heard people say they can't live without Costco, or a swim team or a "decent clothes store" and other things. What, no Mall? Do they have my specific preference for dance class? Are we getting a horse or horse riding lessons? How many times per year are we going back to see other family & friends? Are they coming out to see us too? Once or regularly?

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by Mister Torgue

I recommend Buffalo and Sheridan. You picked a good area! This area is 3rd on our list of relocation destinations when we leave Texas.

[DAXhound]

Look at Gillette...very family oriented..housing much more affordable..for now..and big demand for workers of most types. I sub for CCSD and get 150 per day....did manage to make it to Mexico for 8 weeks or so.