Help needed picking an area to live (Laramie, Sheridan: sales, low crime)

[Dea13]

Hello! We're in SE Wisconsin and looking to move out west. Currently live in rural, farming area and not used to too many neighbors. We have 2 brittanys and my daughter would also like a horse (ok, I'll have a lot to learn since I've only been on a horse twice in my life). My allergies and breathing are so much better when we were visiting Wyoming, Colorado and Montana. Add that to the natural beauty and we were almost sold on moving to Wyoming. The wind I'm hearing about from people who have visited Wyoming is scaring me. That and the below zero temps I'm hearing about in WY and MT. Colorado is a little too expensive in the areas we like (Dillon - Kremmling area).

We had been considering areas around Laramie but I'm hearing about this wind issue and getting conflicting info about the winter temperatures. I can't afford to replace a roof on a house due to wind damage every year and I don't want to be driving and have wind topple my vehicle. Is the wind really that bad or is that just during storms, etc?

Are there any areas anyone would recommend based on the following?

- friendly, welcoming community
- low crime and not a lot of drug problems (generally increases crime)
- Good schools and access to healthcare (breast cancer survivor - cancer free now but taught me the importance of healthcare availability)
- Like snow but don’t like below 0 temps (from WI so I have to like snow)
- Like some trees and hills
- like to grow a small vegetable garden
- Within 2 hrs of mountains
- Like sunshine, wouldn’t want too many cloudy days but don't want to worry about losing my house to wildfires all the time
- Husband’s an avid hunter and fisherman
- Activities for my daughter (4H, dance, girl scouts, etc)
- High-speed internet connection (needed for work)

Thanks much! Dea

[Earniefan]

Hmmmm..... well the wind in Laramie isn't as bad as some areas, but still prominent. As far as cold, they have about nine months of winter, and it can snow in June and July if it feels like it. They have an outstanding hospital. And education as far as I know is very good. The growing season is so short you're going to need some kind of green house to grow veggies unless you are extremely dedicated to it, there are some locals who will be able to help you learn to grow there. We use higher rated shingles in Wyoming so you shouldn't have to worry about replacing shingles if you live in town. I don't know where else to suggest over Laramie except maybe Sheridan but Jgussler will be able to tell you better if it suits your needs or not. Have you thought about the Rapid City South Dakota area? They get the Chinook winds, so I'm told, which warms it up in the winter months. And someone wrote on that forum that they had an easier time of growing a garden there than they did in Denver.

[Dea13]

We were in Rapid City about 3 weeks ago. The area seemed very crowded. I also read that the taxes are pretty high even outside the city. I don't mind temps down to around 5-10 degrees occasional below zero. It's multiple days in a row below zero that wear on me. You get the chill in the bones that you just can't shake.

This morning a realtor in Laramie recommended Fort Collins, CO but that seemed a little pricey.

[ElkHunter]

Sheridan is a nice area. Yeah, we get snow, but for the last few years, we haven't gotten much.

Temps will occassionally drop to the below zero range. but this past winter, I don't think we had 10 days of it. And they were few and far apart. We might hit -6 one day and the next was 20 degrees.

Wind, we seldom get wind. It's been calm for about 7 or 8 days. We did have a storm roll through here a week ago saturday. But it was calm all day and it was calm an hour after the storm. Only windy while the storm moved through.

Sheridan is a friendly town. We have excellent medical facilities here. We have a college.

Sheridan is about 15,000 people. So it's a place that you wave or dip your head when you meet somebody on the road.

Land and housing tends to be a little expensive but that's kind of relative. It's cheaper then most of the country but the locals have watched housing prices almost double over the last 10 years so they think it's really expensive. You can get a new home that is around 2000 sq ft for around $150,000 to $175,000.

We're in the middle of the state on the Northern boundry. As such, must people will take a monthly trip up to Billings to pick up major items. Montana does not have sales tax. People tend to take advantage of that.

We have a Super Wal-Mart, a Home depot, several mom and pop lumber yards. 3 other grocery stores. Lot's of restaurants to pick from. Night life is pretty good but it's also pretty layed back in most places.

[ElkHunter]

Forgot to mention weather. I have a 4 wheel drive pickup. This last winter, I never even locked in the hubs. Drove all year in 2 wheel drive. We did get one blast on the 30th of March. 37 inches of snow. But the streets were bladed clean by 9 or 10 the next morning. And the snow melted off in about 3 days. It was a soup sandwich here for a few days. But boy did that moisture help. I haven't seen such a green spring in years.

Of course, with the last couple weeks bringing on temps in the triple digits, the ranches around town are pretty brown now.

But our mountains still have snow on them.

[bigreez]

north west wyoming or north central is the least windy in my experienc and I have lived all over any were around the big horns is nice but as for cold it does get cold usuly realy cold for 2 weeks at least in any winter our frost free hydrant froze last year, but that is the whole state 3 years ago in rocksprings they told us to run our water to keep the city lines from freezing. But I wouldent live any were else.

[texasblood_1836]

I love Wyoming due to the wide open spaces. I had the privelege of meeting many friendly people from all over the midwest. I relocated to Wyoming last year for a job in the oilfield. My only problem was, I was homesick for Texas, despite the overbearing population. Therefore, I decided to return to Austin, to finish my degree in social studies education, here at UT. Also, I could not handle the extreme wind and sub-zero temperatures in the Black Hills (-10 degree farenheit wind blowing at 40-70MPH on a bad day). I'll take the triple digits any day over that-burrr. Other than that, I'm sure you will fair better than I, seeing as you are from Wisconsin. Good luck to you.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Dea13

Are there any areas anyone would recommend based on the following?

- friendly, welcoming community
- low crime and not a lot of drug problems (generally increases crime)
- Good schools and access to healthcare (breast cancer survivor - cancer free now but taught me the importance of healthcare availability)
- Like snow but don’t like below 0 temps (from WI so I have to like snow)
- Like some trees and hills
- like to grow a small vegetable garden
- Within 2 hrs of mountains
- Like sunshine, wouldn’t want too many cloudy days but don't want to worry about losing my house to wildfires all the time
- Husband’s an avid hunter and fisherman
- Activities for my daughter (4H, dance, girl scouts, etc)
- High-speed internet connection (needed for work)

Thanks much! Dea

Like I said, Sheridan is a very friendly town. Crime is minimul Schools are excellent.
We have great medical care here and there is a cancer center. For major stuff, they'll send you to Billings. It's 140 miles north of here but has a large medical complex.
We're only about 45 minutes from the mountains.
Great hunting and fishing. Several lakes or dams around here. Lots of stream and river fishing.
4H, FFA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts are hot ticket items here. We couldn't live without them.
High speed internet. I'm on a plan with my phone company. They bring in a dedicated high speed connection so you can use your phone even while on the computer. That runs an extra $26 on the phone bill. And it's through MSN so you'd have a standard MSN email address.

[StealthRabbit]

I vote for Sheridan, for your objectives.
jguss... gave you the right info. You are a bit remote from 'large towns' (Ft Collins, Denver..., but that isn't such a bad thing)

It just requires the trip to Billings for (larger) airport, (Denver for most direct flights) and occasional shopping. But it is not crowded, and will probably not get spoiled in the near future. (unlike most of Colorado) It has great access to some beautiful and remote mountains and hunting.

The cold is dry, and usually the days are pretty sunny, I think it would be like Tahiti compared to WI... (well maybe more like Sacramento...much milder than WI, but a cold snap every so often). The winter days can be beautiful, but I like the moonlit evenings, and the stars are great!

[Dea13]

Thanks everyone. I'll add Sheridan to my list of places to visit.

Dea