Possible move to Casper. Any words of advice? (Gillette, Sheridan: fit in, transplants)

[allsaints]

We might be offered a job in Casper. We haven't heard much good about the place. Any ideas?? Why do they hate outsiders so much??

[molon labe]

We just went through Casper earlier today..... it's a beautiful area. I don't know anything about the locals as we only spent any real time in Gillette, but if you can snag one of the places outside town on the Platte you'll never want to leave. I wouldn't care about ANYTHING the locals thought if I got one of those places!

Fishing from the back porch.......

[sunsprit]

Don't know where you're getting the false premise "hate outsiders" attitude from.

I spend enough time in the Casper area to know that they're like the rest of Wyoming; come here to work, enjoy and be productive, don't try to make it just like where you came from ... and you'll have lots of opportunities to enjoy a really nice place if you're into outdoor activities, and lots of nice folks to spend your time with.

Like much of Wyoming, too ... you'd best be independent and self-reliant to a great degree to survive here. The climate is pretty harsh, especially in the winter months.

I'd be more concerned about locating acceptable housing at your anticipated income level before relocating here than anything else.

Casper is an energy/extractive industry "boom town" right now. Housing is in short supply unless you're willing and able to pay top dollar. You should get a weekend copy of the Star-Tribune and check out the real estate listings ...there's been a lot of listings lately with the area market going up so much. This is the "prime" active selling/buying season now in the area.

[allsaints]

Ive read posts to a newspaper article on why you left Casper and hundreds of people said one of the factors was that unless you were born in wyoming you will never be accepted.

We have looked at homes and the homes that are like the one we live in are maybe 100,00 more then what we got this house for...but the property taxes are WAY lower...We pay over 5,000 a yr. in property...husband made lots of money in the airlines now does not make enough...moving to casper if we took the job we would make more money...just trying to weigh the pros and cons...Hate to move again with 3 little ones...

D

[ruggedindividual]

Originally Posted by allsaints

unless you were born in wyoming you will never be accepted.

Well if that was the case I'd say most of the population of Wyoming will never be accepted. At least the majority of the work force anyway. I didn't meet very many native Wyomingites on my last couple of trips there.

[shadowwalker]

I lived in wyoming over 35 years. I think most people that are in the state are transplants. It'll make a difference if you don't constantly put down the state when you get there. I garauntee, it will be like no place you have been before. I lived with people saying how they hated it for that many years. Most were moved in with their companies. And every one of them betterded themselves monitarily. None were forced or kidnapped to get them there.
In the early 1980's. It was a mass exodus to leave the state when the oil bust came, that was after the unrainum bust. We lived with alot of wyoming as living ghost towns. For a long, long time.
Out of staters bring their idea of how living there should be done, and want to make the state just like what they left. So far it hasn't happened. But I see it coming.
Like the old saying. Wyoming is, like America was. And it still is, for a while. People stay in wyoming because they want to. You have to want to live there.

[ElkHunter]

"Run Forest, run!!!" No, just kidding.

Casper is a nice place. Friendly people, lots of things to do. I live in Sheridan because I have to have my mountains. You know, bears and mountain lions, moose, deer, etc. But if I didn't live in Sheridan, Casper would be my next choice.

[Wyomiles]

I Agree with Shadow walker, You will fit in anywhere in Wyoming as long as you don't continually talk about how you did it back in XYZ. Or try to bring in more rules /laws etc. Most "outsiders" are just that. When they get to Wyoming they complain or try to change things instead of trying to fit in. I think I know about a dozen natives, most everyone else is from somewhere else. I have known many people who couldn't stand Wyoming and left as soon as they could.

You don't choose Wyoming it chooses you.

[LarryNWyo]

Born and raised here in Casper! It took me 22 years to get out of here and another 20 to get back! I have learned that it was a mistake to leave here in the first place! Wyoming has always been home for me! In reading the above posts, there were mentions that Wyomingites do not like outsiders. Lies all lies, but we do have a saying, "Welcome to Wyoming, we do not care how you did it back home, you are now in Wyoming, get over it!"

Wyoming natives are proud, and proud of our state and all that it has to offer! We are proud that we are the 9th largest state in the Union and the least populated! We are proud that we have our Countries first National Park and Monument. Sure the winters can be cold an miserable, the Summers hot, oh and the wind, if you have long hair, EXPECT a bad hair day!

Since I have moved back people ask me what I missed the most about Casper? The wind! Growing up, my mother, sister and I would sleep outside and Mom would tell us "to close our eyes and listen for the ocean!" To this day, I can still hear the ocean break! My second choice, the beauty of the mountains! All four seasons they offer beauty and fun! My third choice are the people! Lock your car, ha! My keys are on the floor board! Lock my house to run around town. forget that, my neighbors will watch my place as I do for them!

I hate the idea of Casper getting bi again, Casper has been a boom and bust town since the Pregon Trail came through here in the 1800s, but the boom we are experiencing now, well the company that I work for, builds natural gas plants and we have contract past 2016. Now is the time to work here, bad timing on a home or rental though, but if a person has the ambition and does not mind a short drive (Any place in Wyoming is a short drive) but a person can get a good deal on 40+ acres, put a manufactured home and have themselves a little piece of Heven!

[sixofone]

Originally Posted by allsaints

We might be offered a job in Casper. We haven't heard much good about the place. Any ideas?? Why do they hate outsiders so much??

I'm a Wyoming new-comer and have been accepted just fine. Most of the people I've met who complain of non-acceptance hadn't tried very hard to fit in. They arrive, and immediately start to complain about how much better things were "back home"--- No shopping, too cold, too windy, too isolated, smells funny etc., etc. How would you feel if I were a guest in your home and told you how bad your house sucked?

The folks here don't hate outsiders, but they do hate whining, complaining know-it-alls. In fact, I've seen bumper stickers that say "This is Wyoming. We don't care how you did things back home."

You simply need to accept Wyoming the way it is.