Return From Wyoming Trip (Cheyenne, Laramie: apartment complex, rent, how much)

[BabyBoomers2]

Stopped in Douglas for the night last Thursday evening. Drove in the dark for awhile, which is something we don't like doing and pretty much never do. On Friday morning the wind was blowing drastically! It was even blowing harder than when we've been in Cheyenne. Anyway, headed to Sheridan.

The best part of Sheridan, for us anyway, was eating at Wyoming Rib & Chop there. Best fillet steak I think I've ever had. Went downtown and got some photos of statues along the sidewalk. Stopped into Kings Saddlery. Nice store and museum in back (building behind store). Talked to some young folks that were pretty impressed over my former rodeo days. Found out that Sheridan just isn't our "cup of tea". However, great looking VA Hospital and city Hospital.

On Sunday, before leaving the next day, Monday, drove to Tongue River Reservoir. First time my wife has ever been anywhere in Montana. I've been in Billings and Bozeman before, many years ago. The Reservoir was pretty dried up in areas and boating season was coming to an end. Sure didn't expect to drive on a rough dirt road for a couple of miles to get to the boat ramp area.

Monday AM, left Sheridan, to never return, and headed for Laramie. In Laramie over night and part of next day, but Laramie isn't our "cup of tea" either. 1,000 plus, higher than we are now and they get quite a bit more snow than we do.

A highlight of our trip was meeting, at the Sheridan hotel during breakfast, a retired Full-Bird Army Colonel that was also a Chaplin. We must've talked to him for a couple of hours about different things.

So, now that Wyoming is a "no" for us, we are going to do online research into parts of Arizona, but not Phoenix or Albuquerque. Possibly Flagstaff, Tucson or (believe it or not) Prescott. In Nevada, Carson City.

So, to a point our trip was basically useless, but at least we visited. BUT, when it comes to visiting the cities I just mentioned, we just don't have the money to travel like that.

[jody_wy]

Wickenburg, lot of snowbird cowboys, and ranchers, other than that I bet Arizona not your "cup of Tea' either. lot and lots of people.

[NW Crow]

Tucson in the city, average age 5 years younger than national average. Twice as many between 18-34 years old as 65 & older. 65,000 college students total. Would expect young people to dominate city apartments outside those designated as senior only, as usual.

Tucson metro overall, average age climbs to national average. Young people edge falls from 2 to 1 to 1.5 to 1. So outside Tucson is older. Young vs senior outside city limits in close to 1 to 1 but probably varies a lot in different locations.

Loveland close to 1 to 1 on 18-34 to seniors, with a small edge to the young adults.

Flagstaff way way younger than Tucson or Loveland. Average age of 27. Many of the 30k college students at NAU from SoCal. I assume there is also a community college population. 6 to 1 young adults to seniors.

[NW Crow]

Green Valley AZ, seniors 10 to 1 over young adults. Average age of 68.5 years.

Here is one apartment complex there with 2 bed / 2 bath units:
https://www.apartmenthomeliving.com/...-85614-5888519 Probably other complex options.

Fwiw, this is a big list of 2 / 2s in Tucson area:
https://www.rent.com/arizona/green-v...oom_2-bathroom
.

Prescott and Payson will have plenty of choices too.

[BabyBoomers2]

Well, all of northern Colorado will be growing big-time with a new 600,000 sq. ft Amazon Logistics-Distribution Center being built next to the I-25 in north Loveland. This building is huge, with a number of construction cranes working on it. Plus, just south of this is two more Industrial buildings getting built. Unbelievable how much work is going on with the I-25 from Loveland thru Ft. Collins. NOCO is going to see a population explosion, and.............we sure don't want to be here for that!

We are going to check out Wickenburg. There is a guy, just south of us, that runs a Jackpot Roping Arena during the summer, that spends winters in Wickenburg. Will also check out Prescott (again) and Carson City.

NW Crow, young folks don't bother us as much as I portray they do. That is, the ones that would be young enough to be our daughters/sons, but when it comes to ages that would be grands, that can be very different.

[NW Crow]

Prescott to Wickenburg (or vice versa) about 1 hour 20 minutes in good weather. Not close, but doable if the other has something you want or need.

https://www.ci.wickenburg.az.us/1306/About-Wickenburg

Wickenburg generally has highs about 15 degrees above Prescott. 150 days go over 90. Prescott under 40. Loveland a bit over 30. Prescott and Loveland basically the same elevation. Local high peaks in 7-9 thousand foot range. Flagstaff has a peak up to 13k with a good high meadow viewpoint.

[BabyBoomers2]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Prescott to Wickenburg (or vice versa) about 1 hour 20 minutes in good weather. Not close, but doable if the other has something you want or need.

https://www.ci.wickenburg.az.us/1306/About-Wickenburg

Wickenburg generally has highs about 15 degrees above Prescott. 150 days go over 90. Prescott under 40. Loveland a bit over 30. Prescott and Loveland basically the same elevation. Local high peaks in 7-9 thousand foot range. Flagstaff has a peak up to 13k with a good high meadow viewpoint.

Thanks for your reply here. We are going to check out Wickenburg, Prescott and Carson City. Thing is, will have to do that "check-out" online, since we can't rent a vehicle and drive all over the place.

When we first moved to Colorado/Englewood then to Parker, we didn't visit there first. We simply left So. California and moved to south Englewood (by Fiddler's Green) in mid 2002. Then, when we sold our house in Parker and moved to North Carolina (Huntersville), again, we never visited, just moved.

Even though it is highly recommended to visit first, not everyone has the finances to do that.

[jody_wy]

Gillette is laid back lot of horse stuff and national rodeos at the Cam plex. Paved road to keyhole till you gets to the park, good, maintained gravel roads. Concrete boat ramps.

[SunGrins]

Albuquerque is in New Mexico, not Arizona. Northern NM is quite nice with a Goldilocks climate.

[NW Crow]

In general. I continue to recommend Google maps / street view option to get a feel of cities / towns related to a relocation search or just for free, curiosity "travel". If anyone is unaware (or just not a regular user), search "Google Maps", name a location, click the little man icon at bottom right corner, then click any spot with a highlighted line to "drop in" at spot and use arrows to spin in any direction and move. And / or click dots on map.

Apparently Google Maps has rolled out even more tools & features, at least for some spots. "Live views", "immersive experiences", finding specific things of interest, etc. Maybe I'll look into them sometime. Simple Streetview is a good start for me.

City/town feel and style is an ingredient to search; but, of course, it is also important to look at fundamentals and know which are most important to you.