Why Wyoming??? (Cheyenne, Laramie, Gillette: real estate, low crime, job market)

[Dean Trails]

I just read that Wyoming seems to be a destination state for those leaving California and Florida. Those states have lost their luster due to high crime, taxes and over-crowding.

What makes Wyoming so good? Is there some undefinable quality that people are looking for???

[girlonaglide]

Where did you read this info? I am a Floridian looking to relo out of state, but it's been on our list of things to do for a few years. Why? For a number of reasons, really. We want elevation, seasons, a dryer climate, less population, less keeping-up-with-the-Jones', less crime, cleaner air, more peace of mind. WY is on our list of YES states and I was there this past week for an interview.

[Kristynwy]

Well many people from many states were coming out to Wyoming, not just Cali and Florida, but Michigan and a few other states. However that has slowed down a bit, now that things have slowed down in our state. We still have some of the lowest unemployment in the country. But in the state itself there are people getting laid off and some industries slowing down. Methane has slowed down pretty good as well, now you only need so many people to maintain it, not many general laborers needed as much in that industry. Plus I hear it is starting to slow a bit in North Dakota? Where a lot of them went to. Don't quote me on that, but I hear that from someone that I know that was working over there for a bit.

Wyoming is a very tax friendly state, very low crime in most communities, and laid bad small town atmosphere, so that is attractive to families and people retiring.

But like I said, it is getting harder for newcomers to find jobs, because they are already taken and not hiring. I am sure the medical industry and teaching as well as the skilled trades may have some openings here and there. But it varies town to town...

Just gotta come out here and check things out... or http://www.wyomingatwork.com is another good tool to check out jobs as well...

[Griffis]

I lived in Wyo two different times in my life. When I was 3-5 years old I lived in Cheyenne.

After I got married, my wife and son and I moved there from about 1996-1998, when we lived in Laramie.

There's an awful lot to recommend Wyoming. The people are salt of the earth types, it's gorgeous, it's spacious, it's (still) sparsely populated...it's just cool.

I really enjoyed living there, and would & could again.

The winters are harsh indeed--or they can be--and it's not the easiest state to make a lot of money in, but it has an awful lot of charm and goodness.

[wyolady]

Wyoming is one of the few states still hiring state jobs. Here's the link to search for WY state jobs:

https://statejobs.state.wy.us/JobSearch.aspx

There are also many federal jobs in our state:

Wyoming Federal Jobs - Wyoming Government Jobs

[CptnRn]

All the newspaper hype has been focused on Metroplexes, but many rural areas have lower unemployment rates.

In the Austin Forum we hear all the time how Austin is one of the top preforming job markets in the country (refering to metroplexes).

Austin is at 7.2% unemployment for the month of August 2009, and we came down slightly from the month before (which was 7.3%). The US national average is 9.6%, down from 9.7%.

But I offer for comparison:

The Gillette News-Record: Today (http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/articles/2009/09/25/news/today/news06.txt - broken link)

CAMPBELL COUNTY, Wyoming - Unemployment Rate: 5.4 percent

WYOMING - Unemployment Rate: 6.6 percent

COUNTIES - Highest rates:

✔ Big Horn and Fremont counties with 7.7 percent

✔ Natrona and Uinta counties with 6.9 percent

- Lowest rates:

✔ Albany County with 4.1 percent

✔ Teton County with 4.2 percent

✔ 4 Sublette County with 4.4 percent

[letsgobucks!]

Here's the article and FWIW, our family has been looking at Wyoming for various, largely political, reasons. Don't think that just because of the above reasons listed are the reason(s) for this change in real estate. The scenery, dry weather, etc. has always been there.

Our country is falling apart at the seams in the eyes of many conservatives and Libertarians and Wyoming has an image of being a nice big red square state. Therefore, IMO it is beginning to draw people who want to live like them. A few even go the extreme of believing that if things continue the way they are going (especially over issues such as gun control) in our country, states like Wyoming and Montana will be at the heart of conflict in terms of actually standing up to an overly liberal federal government. Some predict you in Wyoming (and Montana) could someday in the near or distant future attempt to keep their freedoms and secede...and perhaps succeed.

Would love to hear some thoughts, especially from those in Wyoming and/or Montana.

Here's the article:

Americans Tame Their Wanderlust - Yahoo! Real Estate

[wyolady]

Originally Posted by letsgobucks!

Here's the article and FWIW, our family has been looking at Wyoming for various, largely political, reasons. Don't think that just because of the above reasons listed are the reason(s) for this change in real estate. The scenery, dry weather, etc. has always been there.

Our country is falling apart at the seams in the eyes of many conservatives and Libertarians and Wyoming has an image of being a nice big red square state. Therefore, IMO it is beginning to draw people who want to live like them. A few even go the extreme of believing that if things continue the way they are going (especially over issues such as gun control) in our country, states like Wyoming and Montana will be at the heart of conflict in terms of actually standing up to an overly liberal federal government. Some predict you in Wyoming (and Montana) could someday in the near or distant future attempt to keep their freedoms and secede...and perhaps succeed.

Would love to hear some thoughts, especially from those in Wyoming and/or Montana.

Here's the article:

Americans Tame Their Wanderlust - Yahoo! Real Estate

Please keep in mind nearly 1/3 of WY voted Democratic in the last election, so you will still find diverse political beliefs here. Although I believe those who have liberal or middle-of-the road views here are more conservative than similar in other states.

[NVDave]

One of the reasons why Wyoming attracts people from California (and other liberal meccas such as Michigan, etc) is that Wyoming is very friendly to small business.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are either leaving California or are moving their corporate domicile out of state for reasons of overbearing regulations, taxes, labor costs, litigation environment, etc.

Here's one guy's take on it:

A Serial Entrepreneur's Perspective (http://blog.inc.com/nolan-bushnell/2009/06/the_notsogolden_state_of_calif.html - broken link)

For those that don't know Nolan Bushnell, you could say that "he's started a few companies in his lifetime..."

And recently, the California Small Business Advocate's web site put up this little report:

http://www.sba.ca.gov/Cost%20of%20Regulation%20Study%20-%20Final.pdf (broken link)

The report's authors claim that the cost of regulation in California amounts to about 30% of the state's GDP. That might seem like an outlandish figure, but in talking to people who own businesses in California, this number rings true. I've known agribusiness and high tech small business people who have left California in the last 10 years because they said that the regulatory and legal environment was crushing them. It came down to "leave or close shop. Pick one."

What Wyoming has that other states don't have:

1. Low taxes for businesses.
2. Dependable power (not a trivial issue when you're a business). California's power grid is increasingly undependable, its power increasingly expensive and there is no common sense on the horizon for ratepayers. You think utility rates are expensive for you as a homeowner? Wait until you're a business. In Nevada, we paid utility bills for irrigation that looked like some people's annual salaries - and we counted ourselves lucky, because in California, we heard of farmers and ranchers buckling under the utility rates and switching their power sources to natural gas instead of electrical power, or buying huge gensets and generating their own electrical power.
3. Easy business formation, sound business law. Wyoming invented the LLC formation here in the US; there are similar formations to the LLC elsewhere in the world. Wyoming obviously had foresight, because now LLC's are the fastest growing class of business formation in the US.
4. Good access to shipping via interstates and rails.
5. Wyoming is a right-to-work state.
6. Low crime; crime against both persons and property is much lower in Wyoming than in much of the nation, especially coastal urban centers.

There's much in favor of Wyoming as a business domicile, if not physical location.

[NVDave]

Originally Posted by wyolady

Please keep in mind nearly 1/3 of WY voted Democratic in the last election, so you will still find diverse political beliefs here. Although I believe those who have liberal or middle-of-the road views here are more conservative than similar in other states.

"more conservative than ... in other states?"

Heh.

I listen to people from California rant all the time about Governor Dave and his stance on wolves, bears and so on. They get absolutely frothing at the mouth about Governor Dave.

And then they slip up -- they say something like, "What is it, can't you Rethuglicans elect someone who doesn't like shooting animals? Your governor and Palin are a matched set!"

Then I tell them that Governor Dave is a (psst) Democrat. And that Gov. Dave is very popular in our state with both Republicans and Democrats.

You can see their brain just vapor lock. The look that comes across their faces is priceless.