Teacher & retired husband need advice on move to Wyoming (Cheyenne: sales, real estate)

[Longing4Home]

We presently live in Brazil--yep, the one in South America--where I teach middle school math and science at an American school. After 3 years, we are ready to come home. We own a simple, cabin-style home on 40 acres in very rural NE Arizona (off 7 miles of dirt road), but teaching opportunities are very limited with a very long commute. As much as we love the quiet, the wildlife, and our gorgeous 80-foot mesa, the disadvantages along with the poor fiscal health of Arizona (They just passed an 11% sales tax!) have caused us to look elsewhere for our relocation to the U.S.

Having studied the best states to retire in, Wyoming comes out #1 on its tax treatment of older folks. The conservative political climate suits us perfectly, and we LOVE the mountains, hiking, birding, and Geocaching. During those winter months, we will do lots of reading, movie watching, and I'll be canning tomatoes and the like. When it comes to narrowing down our choices for area of the state, we could really use some input from those of you who live there.

In our order of preference, these are our priorities in finding a town/city:
1. Scenery/views are a MUST! The closer the mountains are, the better! Lots of green and trees would be great as opposed to the high desert we came from with only Rocky Mountain Juniper and thousands of tumbleweeds that were impossible to eliminate.
2. We know that overall Wyoming is dry, but we love rain. Does anyone know which cities and towns get the most rain and the least wind? I grew up in NH with 60 inches of snow per year, but since Wyoming is drier, the cold is probably not quite so "bone-chilling", right? In Wyoming, does more rain always mean more snow, too?
3. Nearby recreational opportunities would be great! We want to learn to flyfish (or is it fly fish??), and we'll undoubtedly deer or elk hunt. Hiking and biking are definites, too. I sure would like a gym so I can work out during those long Wyoming winters. A few decent restaurant choices would be great, and we don't need lots of fastfood choices.
4. Reasonable proximity to a hospital/ urgent care clinic (30 minute drive or less).
5. Reasonable proximity to Denver or Salt Lake City (6 hours maximum drive, but less is better).

So, Wyoming experts, does such a community exist in your great state? I have to land a middle or high school teaching job too, but would like to be able to prioritize the school districts according to these parameters. Many thanks for whatever advice you can give us!

[BennyPhoenix]

I'd say your best bet would be Sheridan or Buffalo.
But I think they are more than 6 hour drive from SLC and certainly more than that to Denver.

[WyoNewk]

You'd like Lander.
Jackson would be good, but real estate is quite expensive.
Pinedale might work
Buffalo and Sheridan are nice towns, but neither are within 6 hours of Denver or Salt Lake. Billings, MT, however, is only a couple hours away on I-90.
Saratoga might work.

None of the above get much rain and all get a fair bit of wind but not bad for Wyoming.

[Elizabeth60]

I agree with WyoNewk about Lander. I've lived here almost three years, and love it. It's a small town (7,000), with a great sense of community. It's right at the base of the Wind River Mountains, so there's beautiful scenery, hunting, fishing, etc.

I'm from New England originally, so can tell you, that the winters aren't as bone chilling cold here, but they are longer, which gets a little tedious the last couple of months, but that's the only drawback, in my opinion.

Wherever you decide to live, welcome back to America!

[Elizabeth60]

Forgot to mention, although Lander definitely has its windy days, it's not nearly as windy as other parts of Wyoming.

[jody_wy]

Star Valley-Afton with about 10 other small town located thru 2 long long vallies on the Wyoming Idaho border. we still green here, with irrigated hay meadows and side hills of green alfalfa and golden barley, The sage is green as are the fir trees on the 3 National forest that suround the valley I in Auburn it is about 90 mintues to Idaho Falls ID 2 hours to Logan 3 1/4 -4 hours to SLC. 4 grade schools a good sized Jr high and a nice new high School. Not really any wind here but snow can last from Late Oct to 1st of May but that extream. winter lows can get into the -30 but usually can count on one had day below -20. Snow and clouds during the winter are the warmer days. Fall we have great color good hunting warm days cool nights no bugs and alot of hunters.
Got a good hospital in Afton plus clinics in Alpine and Thayne, with life flight that will fly out to IF or SLC.

[susansolin]

Might want to investigate Cody too! The town is green with desert all around and Yellowstone is only 50 miles from town and is very green. Lots and lots of wildlife and the views NEVER end. We lived in Washington State near the Puget sound for a while and while it was green and beautiful there were so many trees that you never got a distant view, the views here are amazing, and the night sky is awe inspiring! There are some pretty good restaurants and Red Lodge MT is only an hour away, is green and has some nice restaurants and shops too. Billings is the largest close city (a 2 hour drive) and there is no sales tax in Montana.

I'm not sure how far SLC and Denver are, SLC is closer but there is an airport here and they fly daily to both.

[sunsprit]

Looking through your list of requirements, I think you have the selection process backwards. Start with a school district that has a teaching job for you, then adjust your parameters in accordance with what may be found in the area.

If you requirement for access to Denver/SLC is in light of the access to air travel, you're essentially looking at SW/Western Wyoming, or the SE/SCentral radius from the respective cities. Regional air commuter travel from smaller cities simply is terribly expensive, not reliable, and likely to lose much of the current fed subsidies with the current operating shortages and fed budget.


After that, your other priorities direct you to larger communities ... if you desire to be within 30 minutes commute to the gym, restaurants, medical facilities, etc. You'll simply not find this stuff in the smaller rural communities, so it's a trade-off between the levels of retail/commercial/medical that you can live with vs the ready access to the outdoor activities that you desire.

Overall, no place in Wyoming is going to provide you with a "rainy" climate. Most of the moisture that falls annually here is in seasonal snow. You have merely to look at the nature of the vegetation and trees that grow here to see that it's far from being a riparian climate. If you need dense hardwood forests with lots of undergrowth such as found at lower elevations in wet climates, this area will not satisfy that requirement.

You need to look at your commute to Denver/SLC requirement in light of winter time driving. While a place like Lander, which is at the extreme of your 6 hour radius, and otherwise meets many of your desires ... it's going to be a different situation in 4-5-6 months of a given year. The driving trip may be impossible, it may be very slow for most of the trip, or it may be slightly longer due to road conditions. You've ruled out places in N/NCentral/Central Wyoming ....

IMO, your better options for access, commerce, hospitals will be to look at Laramie, Cheyenne, or the SW corner of the state along the I-80 corridor, with places like Rock Springs being a contender ... except that these areas don't have great mountain views of heavily wooded terrain, can be rather windy even by Wyoming standards, with long winters.

If you can compromise on a few issues ... having been able to locate a teaching job as the #1 priority ... then a lot more of Wyoming presents as a viable option.

Also, most of Wyoming's restaurants will be franchise restaurants/fast food chains. You'll need a town that has a lot of tourist activity to support a selection of decent independent restaurants. Many of Wyoming's smaller towns don't even support a local coffee shop anymore ....

Given your 30 minute commute requirement, I'd suggest that you will need to live rather close to your teaching job. Once out in the country, out of a small town, you'll find that commuting can be a whole 'nother matter during the winter months if you must be to work on a schedule.

Just to give you some examples of access in Wyoming: Cody is just about equidistant driving to either Denver or SLC at around 7 1/2 hours in good weather/road conditions. Yes, you can get commuter flights from Cody to Denver, or even a direct flight these days on a regional air carrier. Be prepared for an advance (14 day or more) booking round-trip of $375-$450! Even Cheyenne to DIA on a Beech 1900 regional turbo-prop is well in excess of $200, and the service is not always flown, even though it is scheduled and you've bought a ticket; you can show up in Cheyenne only to find out that you're taking a bus to DIA, which may or may not get you there in time for your connecting flight. In any event, you can figure on these round-trip connecting flight charges in addition to your main air fare from either DIA or SLC.

[Elizabeth60]

Sunsprit, I think she and her husband are looking for a place to retire. Lander has very few fast food restaurants, and many more great, independently owned restaurants. It's 366 miles to Denver. It has a regional hospital. For critical illnesses, people go to Casper. I'm telling ya, it's a great little town!

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth60

Sunsprit, I think she and her husband are looking for a place to retire. Lander has very few fast food restaurants, and many more great, independently owned restaurants. It's 366 miles to Denver. It has a regional hospital. For critical illnesses, people go to Casper. I'm telling ya, it's a great little town!

I agree, Lander is a great little town ... but it's also at the extreme radius of access per the OP's wish list. It's close to Slivar's, and I could eat there a few times per month. And it does have a few other restaurants ... IIRC, there's Cow-Fish ($$$$), worth a visit now and then. For the most part, however, the other restaurants I've visited along the main commercial district are pretty poor ... especially when several have posted signs that if you are expecting good service, don't bother them because they are unable to attract/retain adequate help. During the winter months, access through the basin South to I-80 can be pretty limiting. Lander has a wonderful seasonal nursery/greenhouses, and some other local businesses of interest. Although it's certainly not heavily wooded as desired by the OP, either, at least it doesn't have as much wind as much of Southern Wyoming.

But a key issue that the OP raised is that she needs to secure gainful employment in the teaching field ...

So they may be looking for a place to settle down in the long term, but retirement apparently isn't the main priority in being able to settle into Wyoming. Being able to afford it via gainful employment apparently is.

What the OP didn't mention is their price range for a property. Lander isn't inexpensive by Wyoming standards for a town of it's size ... nor, for that matter, is most of Wyoming that has the scenery and close-by access to outdoor recreation along with big town features ... medical, good restaurants, jobs, access to Denver or SLC.

Heck, I could add Dubois to the list of favorite desirable places in Wyoming ... but it doesn't come close to the requirements listed by the OP. Evanston, Cheyenne, Laramie ... places along the southern corridor of Wyoming ... do to some extent. The Star Valley corridor is gorgeous, too ... but not very affordable on teaching wages.

OP, don't take my word for it re Lander's location, topography, climate, access, etc. If nothing else, locate it on a map by the Wind River Indian Reservation ... or do an on-line search of the travel times you are concerned about. You can also do a google earth search and check out the surroundings ... it's got a lot of plains around it, with minimal trees/woods, and a lot of scrub ground cover.