Laramie (Cheyenne, Medicine Bow: rent, houses, job market)

[lovethewest]

Hello. I will probably be moving to Laramie within the next couple of years. Could anyone tell me what kind of town it is? What is there to do? What does it look like? If you could also tell me where to find some pictures of the town, that would be great. Thanks

[TGM]

I just took some pics in Laramie a few weeks ago when I was up there. PM me with your email and I'll send them to you (if you have high speed internet).

[Griffis]

I lived there from 1997-1999 with my wife and son. Thought it was a very cool town. We only rented so I'm not sure about house availability or prices, but our rent was very reasonable and we knew a couple who bought a nice house for around $75K while we were there (again, close to 10 years ago.)

The town itself is quite pretty, lots of cool old buildings and residential areas. Outside the town there are swarms of mountains..Snowy Range, Medicine Bow Nat'l Park. It's easy to get out and feel remote and outdoorsy. The area between Laramie and Cheyenne (also a pretty cool town) has some neat parks too.

The main thing I can say to recommend the place is the people. Everyone we met was so nice and cool. Laid back but fun. It's a college town so there are some cool shops and things to do, but it's not like it's overrun with a bunch of punks or anything. It's the West. People are sturdy but warmhearted. They won't put up with a lot of a**h*le behavior. I met goth kids and cowboys. Everyone coexisted real well. The sort of town where people wave at you and slow down in traffic to let people walk by.

During the school year, it's a bit more hectic, with an influx of students (especially from Colorado) and the traffic on the main streets gets a little worse, but overall it's a pretty, friendly community.

Aside from the tragic Matthew Shepard case, I never heard anything about bad crime, gangs, hard drugs, etc. The school my son went to was good too.

It's probably grown some, and like everywhere else, gotten a little pricier. The only downside I felt to Laramie was that it was hard to make good money. Jobs were around, but the pay just wasn't that great.

I hope it's still as nice and hasn't been overrun by devlopers or gangbangers or meth labs. That would be a terrible thing.

[Griffis]

Oh-- PS, I don't know where you are coming from, but I grew up in Minnesota and STILL considered the winters in Wyo BRUTAL. Quite often highways get closed down and you cannot leave town or get from one town to another (all the towns in Wyo seem spread out from each other.) Just fair warning.

[MHT]

Originally Posted by lovethewest

Hello. I will probably be moving to Laramie within the next couple of years. Could anyone tell me what kind of town it is? What is there to do? What does it look like? If you could also tell me where to find some pictures of the town, that would be great. Thanks

Laramie is the home of the University of Wy. It is a typical college town. Lots of cultural things to do, also lots to do outdoors. It is at 7,000+ feet in elevation so be prepared for that. It gets very cold in the winter but not real hot in the summer. I love Laramie - nice town. Not very big but Fort Collins is close for more city things.

[snapperblue]

It is hard to reply to queries like yours without knowing more about why you are going there and what you are looking for in a town.

I endorse what the others have said. I lived in Laramie for 5 years, until a recent family medical emergency led me to return to my parents' town, and it was very hard to leave. The quality of life is high- though the standard of living is not for many people because the job market is not great. Laramie is the kind of place where you expect people to be honest, workmen to be thorough and reliable, service people to be friendly and helpful, etc. I almost never locked my door.

Property values (and rent) have greatly increased in the last 5 years (by almost 50%), but much new housing is proposed. Houses range from modest houses on tiny lots to McMansions. The large ranches in the area are intact so there is limited opportunity for the "mini-ranch horse property" that is available in much of the west. This also means there is little sprawl- the edge of town is the edge of town!

I love the climate. In summer, the air is fresh, dry, and cool almost all the time since the town is at 7,200 ft. Recent winters have been mild. Cold spells can be severe, but are very short- a day or 2. For much of the winter, the highs have been in the 40s and it is almost always sunny. The wind can be pretty noticeable on the prairie. I lived in town, where the trees sheltered us. (Though occasionally lawn furniture would tumble around and I couldn't keep a welcome mat!)

For outdoor recreation, you can drive to tundra (Snowy Range) from town in 45 minutes (great wildflowers and hiking), but the high mountain area is limited to this island (rather than having mountains in all directions). In winter, this area is totally overrun by snowmobiles. The forested part of this area offers hunting and camping, and there are a few lakes. In the other direction from town, there is public land about 10 miles to the east- lots of open country (with trees in hollows and on the higher elevation) for horseback riding, camping, walking, and cycling.

There are lots of really nice people. Because the University is in town there are lots of events- speakers, music- and the town has lots of groups of people with similar interests: astronomy, birds, books, motorized recreation, cross-country skiing, conservation, genealogy, local history... you name it! It is a diverse community.

[photomnt]

Why do you think the job market in Laramie isn't so good? And I noticed that the population has been declining? Why could this be? I thought that area of the west was booming?

[Griffis]

photomnt, I have no clue. As I said, I was there several years back. It wasn't really depressed, and my wife and I found jobs, they just didn't pay that great. Didn't seem like there was lots of room to move up.

I don't know what it's like now really, but I think it's probably more stagnant than in a downward spiral. Seems like there'd be opportunities for small business though. Sorry I'm not more informative.