Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello everyone, my wife and I are really considering moving to Cheyenne within the next year. I was born at FE Warren, but I was really young when we moved, so I don't remember everything. My parents spent over ten years in Cheyenne before we packed up, they loved it. I've always wanted to move back to Wyoming and my wife and I are planning a trip soon. We love everything that Cheyenne has to offer (according to the Internet), but we are looking to hear it from current Wyominites.
How is Cheyenne now, are there opportunities, how has the oil boom effected the territory? If anyone can help paint a picture or just provide some insist that would be greatly appreciated.
Also, just some background on my family. My wife is finishing up her RN degree next August (which we plan on moving afterwards), she currently has her LPN and has been working for the past seven months while going to school. I graduated in May with a Finance degree, and am currently working in Enterprise Rent A Car's Management trainee program. We are both from small towns and we have lived in the country all our lives. The only problem I think I will have convincing my wife to move to Wyoming deals with the climate. We have lived in Florida most of our lives. I know it gets really cold and the winters can be harsh, but my mom and dad always told me after the first year you get acclimated, is this true?
Once again if anyone can provide some insist that would be greatly appreciated.
While you have had some experience awhile back with Wyoming, it would be worthwhile for you to come visit it as it appears you've spent most of your life in an entirely different area of the country. Your wonderful memories of being connected to this place create a paradigm which you may ... or may not ... find to be here now.
I'll disagree with your folks observation that one can be acclimated to the climate here in a year's time; some folk will find it entirely to their liking very quickly, and some folk ... especially ones who have acclimated and enjoyed temperate riparian climates ... will never be comfortable in the winter months. It's not just dealing with the logistics of getting around, it's the entirety of how much the climate can affect (perhaps, interfere with) your life ... recreation, entertainment, family events/schooling, shopping, work, or many of your normal activities. Folk from climates where the weather is something that is easy to deal with and can be nothing more than a minor inconvenience to their activities don't appreciate the difference when the climate can be the overiding factor as to what/when you can do things until they move here.
You need to honestly assess what things you value to do with your time, what your activities are, and how you would react when the weather closes in to restrict you from the things you currently like to do. "Cabin Fever" is a real phenomenon here, and being stuck at home when the roads are closed or travel is difficult, combined with propsective power outages ... call for true adaptability and ingenuity in the frame of self-reliance. For some folks, the inability to make a short trip to the local pizza joint when they're looking for a quick dinner to bring home is a minor inconvenience ... OK, we'll make something at home tonight. For others, it's a traumatizing experience that they can't satisfy their whims because the travel is difficult. Such are the realities; consider this to another level: What if you have a social engagement that needs to be postponed? how about a school sports activity? what about that shopping trip you wanted to do for something that wasn't an essential item but you wanted to go shopping? What about getting to that doctor's appointment that now looks to be a real chore just to get there today? and so forth ... think about how your life revolves today around your activities away from home and how important these aspects of your happiness are to you now in your current environment. What's your access to all the things that bring you pleasure, the things that you "need to do"? How far do you have to travel now to satisfy these requirements? Will Cheyenne's local businesses be able to satisfy your requirements or will you need to travel to Fort Collins or Denver or ?
I've watched many people come here with a paradigm of what this type of living presents and they've moved out very quickly once they experienced how they how to re-order their priorities in life to deal with living here. If this had happened once or twice, I'd say that the people were just not adaptable, it isn't that tough a transition. But the fact is I've seen it happen repeatedly so many times that it's apparent to me that it's a more daunting proposition to live and be happy here than most folk are willing to deal with. Especially if you have kids in school, medical issues, or enjoy being entertained (as opposed to recreation yourself).
I get a kick out of this topic of discussion, which has been on the C-D forum threads for awhile. I've been taken to task by a number of regular posters here that I'm too hard about the climate, and several have asserted that they had no difficulty moving here (for that matter, neither did I, but I'd had many decades of living in the Rocky Mountain areas and own houses at higher altitudes in very small communities) ... in following discussions, they revealed that they are perfectly content to "stay inside during the winter months" at home. That's how they deal with the climate conditions, and for them it works out very well. I've got neighbors who look forward to riding their horses around their track in their pastures (about 2 mile loop) in some of the nastiest weather conditions I've seen ... sub-zero and whiteouts ... hey, they're happy to do that for their outdoor activity in the winter. But for others ... it may not their "cup of tea"; it's a very personal set of lifestyle choices that must be made to be happy here.
Jobs? There are some resources to look at the jobs offered right now ... wyoming at work, or the Tribune-Eagle Classifieds. The typical want ads in the paper run to less than a half page these days, with a smattering of truck drivers wanted and some tradesmen, some medical office help, some sales jobs. For the most part, the oil play in the region has brought in outside drilling and service companies with their own mainstay workers from out of the area. They mainly live in temporary housing or rent places in town, and they know that their time here is only as transients before moving on. Overall, this is but a temporary boom in local workers, but not many long-term oil field service jobs hiring locally that will remain after the drilling is done; it takes far fewer workers to service than it does to drill. All the truck driving jobs hauling water for the drilling and fracking will go away once the wells are completed drilling. RN jobs seem to have a active market with the recent expansion of the medical facilities in town, but a lot depends upon experience and specialties, too. The medical marketplace started hiring expansion in the 2002 era, and a lot of people have been hired, moved in, and are filling the jobs already.
Overall, Cheyenne's economy is relatively flat ... with little construction going on. The few big projects ... the two regional distribution centers, and some research facilities ... have now been completed and are operating with smaller crews. With the decline in tax revenues of late, the Gov has ordered 8% reduction in budgets (not funny money accounting reduction of projected expansions, but actual dollar cuts from present day department budgets). Cheyenne's boosters are pushing for a 6th penny tax (discretionary additional 1% sales tax) for a lot of projects on this fall's election as the current projects have been completed and the 1% tax suspended for now. They just can't wait to get their hands on more taxpayer money for grandiose schemes that will typically benefit very few people ... while they are proposing some necessary new construction for state offices and some smaller projects for local towns in the county ... they are demanding grand projects like $33 mil for a new recreation center in Cheyenne. Location, membership/use fees, and operations will restrict the use of this to a relatively few people ... folk in the county surrounding cannot justify heading to town for a rec center workout, and the location most likely to be chosen in Cheyenne will mainly serve the North side of town at the expense of everyone else. Sorry, but IMO ... these schemes are in competition with private groups (such as YMCA or The Boy's Club) or for-profit businesses that provide these functions more efficiently and economically to those who desire to use these facilities. Similarly, the Botanic Gardens does need substantial renovation and expansion to serve it's clients and tourism, but the request comes at a time when finances are tight and I don't support spending the money when we have more basic priorities to be addressed with the limited resources available. Ah, and some of the business boosters for Cheyenne want to spend $multi-millions on a new airport terminal because the old one is a bit awkward to utilize due to being designed before the advent of TSA operations ... we have but several commercial flights per day with regional turbo prop aircraft and very limited passenger boardings; it simply does not make any economic sense to replace a fully functional airport terminal even if it's not perfect and when serving so few people.
Retail activity is flat, with a significant number of business closures/empty storefronts in the Cheyenne area. Even the DellRange mall has had a fair number of turnovers/closures ... most recently, the Country Buffet restaurant failed and was closed without notice one evening. That place was a big draw in the dining trade in Cheyenne, and they couldn't make it even with being a self-serve type of dining place requiring lower staffing levels than a conventional restaurant.
Keep in mind that Cheyenne is still a military town (WAFB), which brings in a sizable community of temporary residents who have spouses seeking jobs to supplement their incomes. We see a lot of service people ... cashiers, tellers, stockers, maintenance, etc. ... turn over in this area because they are able and willing to work for minimal wages. As well, we have a sizable military retired community here, which again provides a sizable labor/employee pool for a wide range of jobs ... service workers, sales people, etc ... all willing and able to work for a relatively low wage because they have an assured income/medical benefits/commissary privileges to help their retirement cash flow requirements. Absent some specialized technical training required job for which you qualify, you are competing against some very well trained people willing to work for what amounts to less than a livable income in this local job market.
I'll also mention that I know a lot of locals who have successful businesses, mostly in the service/trades industries ... but most operate as a one-two man shop and all mention that finding employees willing to work as hard as they do just doesn't seem to happen. So they don't have any more employees as absolutely necessary, and the employees aren't making much more than low end wages without benefits. Gov't jobs (state and fed) tend to be the most reliable for finding a livable wage with benefits package in the area.
I can put another indicator out as to how the local economy is faring at this time: even the law firms are cutting back staffers, some lawyers are leaving town, and others are just hanging on with minimal activity ... keep in mind that Cheyenne is the state capital and as a result, a lot of professional legal billable hours in this area. There's also been some other restaurant closures, with only two that I know of that have come back with new operations that remain to be seen if they will survive ... there's at least four vacant restaurant buildings/operations I can think of off the top of my head. That's a big deal in Cheyenne to see those empty storefronts in the core commercial districts of Cheyenne.
I'll be happy to answer your questions about Cheyenne ... but:
You really need to come visit here, especially during the winter months, to see for yourself if what you envision to be here is what you want. Come visit. Line up a couple of job interviews in advance so you can get an idea of what potential income level you may have here, so you can put that into the perspective of what housing you can afford, etc.
Now that we have thought a little more about the move, I'm even more excited. I was wondering if there are any large companies in Cheyenne? I'm not expecting a huge skyline, but I was wondering what companies are doing business in Cheyenne. Just trying to see some more options.
Thanks
Now that we have thought a little more about the move, I'm even more excited. I was wondering if there are any large companies in Cheyenne? I'm not expecting a huge skyline, but I was wondering what companies are doing business in Cheyenne. Just trying to see some more options.
Thanks
Large companies in Cheyenne with a view toward possible employment for you?
The biggest employers in the area would be the UP railroad or it's suppliers (Nortrak, for example), gov't agencies, Dyno-Nobel, national branches of oil drilling companies, Lowes or WalMart warehouses, national banks or securities companies, a few construction outfits (Simon Contractors, etc), the school district, or national retailer branches (Sears, Wal-Mart, etc), or the grocery chains (King Soopers, Safeway, Albertson's), or the medical industry (hospitals, clinics).
Generally speaking, there isn't much of a manufacturing presence in Cheyenne. Most of the downtown was built before anything taller than a 3-story building was architecturally feasible, and there's very few buildings taller than that ... primarily the hospital/clinics & parking structure, or some office buildings. Effectively, there is no city "skyline" to Cheyenne.
I'll again suggest that you need to visit here before making any decision about relocating here.
I really appreciate everything you have helped me with and I would like you to know that my wife and I have started planning our trip to Wyoming. I would like to know some more information on the businesses in the area. If you could just name some of the major companies in the area or give me a website to take a look at that would be great. My background consists of finance, management, and customer service jobs. I'm just trying to see what's out there for me specifically. Can't wait to hear from you.
Thanks
I really appreciate everything you have helped me with and I would like you to know that my wife and I have started planning our trip to Wyoming. I would like to know some more information on the businesses in the area. If you could just name some of the major companies in the area or give me a website to take a look at that would be great. My background consists of finance, management, and customer service jobs. I'm just trying to see what's out there for me specifically. Can't wait to hear from you.
Thanks
wyoming at work website may be a place to look for current job openings.
major banks may have openings, try Wells Fargo or USBank or Bank of the West.
Otherwise, try the major box store chains ... Home Depot, Lowes, Sam's or WalMart, Target, KMart.
You'll not find many good paying general "management" jobs in this area; as previously explained, there's a host of retired military here with top-notch skills/training that have filled many of these positions in the area. Due to their circumstances, they don't need to demand top salaries of other marketplaces because many were paid to relocate here (for their last posting), found suitable housing, and are happy simply to have something to do with a reasonable compensation to supplement their incomes. Plus, they get preference points for gov't jobs hiring due to their service, so all other things being equal ... you are not on a level playing field without those points.
You may find an opening in the chain fast food industry or tire service businesses for a "manager trainee" with a fast track to higher responsibilities ... but don't expect a living wage from such jobs. I've known folk to take these types of jobs for less than $15/hour with minimal benefits.
I don't know what the compensation scales are where you are now, but many folk coming to Cheyenne that I've visited with were astounded at how low the prevailing compensation is here for many jobs. Without a good 2nd income from your wife, Cheyenne may not be easily affordable.
I cannot overemphasize the need to be here to see what job opportunities present. There's a sizable labor pool here already that can do what you do and have the ability to leave their present jobs to take on better jobs should the companies be hiring.
Glad to hear that you are planning on visiting.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
