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Old 09-13-2013, 07:10 AM
 
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Hi, I'm new to the forum. My husband is considering a job in Wyoming. We live in Georgia now so I'm looking for any advice on costs of living, residential regulations, schools, or just anything that will help with the possible "culture shock" Mostly the Hot Springs County area, and north along the Big Horn River. Anything would be appreciated.
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Old 09-13-2013, 09:13 AM
 
Location: Idaho
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Sounds like you are moving to Thermopolis or Worland. I am not there yet, as I have a few more years before I retire, but when I do, I'll be settling in Thermopolis.

The schools all over Wyoming are excellent. The state places a great emphasis on the education of their youth. The teacher/student ratio is one of the best in the nation. The funds expended per student are among the highest in the nation. You need not fear anything in that regard.

The costs-of-living are very low nationally. It is higher is some areas, (e.g., Jackson). Towns in the southern Big Horn Basin seem to have one of the lowest costs-of-living in the state. Not sure why this is so. Most of the state cycles through boom-bust periods. A large portion of the economy is driven by the resource extraction industry. As a retiree, that wouldn't be my biggest concern. I want to go to Thermopolis because not only is it quite affordable, but it, and the surrounding area, is extremely beautiful. A mix of high desert steppe, mountains, and river. Somewhat remote, but that could be a quality some seek.

Not sure what you mean by "residential regulations".

Others will surely contribute their thoughts. Others who are more qualified to answer your questions.

p.s. The Thermop Chamber of Commerce has been very helpful to me. On their web site, you can request a "relocation package" and they will send you a packet of all kinds of good stuff. It will give you a lot of basic, and important information. The city's web site also has good, basic information. That will answer a whole lot more questions.
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Old 09-13-2013, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Idaho
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Oh, about the biggest culture shock will be the climate. It is a whole world apart from what you have in Georgia.
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Old 09-13-2013, 09:55 AM
 
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In addition to many threads about your questions on C-D which you may find beneficial if you'll take the time to research them ...

I'd urge you to come visit WY in the areas of interest to you before making any further plans.

In my experiences with folk from the SE USA who haven't been out to this area before, culture shock will be far more extensive than just the climate. Many aspects of your daily life which you've come to take for granted will not be the same here. For example, I have a cousin who lives in Valdosta GA and has a 2nd home (the 100 acre remains of a large family farm dating back to the 1840's) just over the border in FL ... and has ready access to the shopping, medical, entertainment, recreation, businesses, restaurants, services, int'l air travel that is virtually on her doorstep. The population density and close distances between towns, even in the relatively rural areas deliver access to things that simply aren't matched at all in WY. Especially with remote towns like Thermopolis, you will find that many aspects of life simply aren't there, but must be accessed by significant travel distances/time to other places; complicating that access will be the seasonal severity of the winter months and inclement driving conditions. In your current frame of reference, getting someplace is simply a matter of getting into your vehicle and driving over a few miles; here in WY, you'll need to make travel plans. In time, you may get acclimated to driving a hundred or two miles to access what you need to do, but that's all part of the "culture shock" acclimation process and recognizing that transportation will be a larger part of your budget expenses than you now experience. My cousin visits us and is staggered by the distances and amount of effort it takes to do things compared to "back home".

IMO, you need to do a very careful assesment of what you now do, what you find important in your lives, and how not having ready access to things you take for granted today will affect you. You may find that the lifestyle here is a perfect fit for you, or it may be something that takes getting used to, or it may be a very miserable experience. Some folk simply can't live without having ready access to restaurant delivery service, like a pizza at late night hours a phone call away ... and, at that, a "real" pizza instead of the cardboard coated with generic toppings from a national franchise indifferently prepared. Or maybe you have needs for ongoing medical services, which simply aren't locally available in Thermop or in the local towns in the area. Again, it's a matter of population density and economics of scale for many goods and services, and WY simply does not have that density to support a lot of stuff.

Are you ready to deal with a 6-month winter season? Are you ready to deal with a desert climate compared to a riparian climate? Are you ready to deal with an oft-times windy outdoors environment? much of WY has average winds that are far in excess of what you have in the SE USA except in major storms.
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Old 09-13-2013, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Cabin Creek
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Wyoming has 11,069 farms and ranches which average 2,745 acres in size, that takes in a lot of the small 40s that people call farms, and the 250,000 acre ranches that are 4/5th BLM .
Very Dry here even in the mountains, our skiing is known for deep powder snow.
there are hours between towns , lots of wide open spaces , mountains up to 13,000 ft. the USA largest moving sand dune area, High sage brush desert, , flat top buttes, rolling high parries , Farmed river basins and mountain valleys.
But if you get your kids involved in FFA and 4-H and they go to county state fair then participate in High School activities and go to other Schools and district and State functions , when the go to UW on a Hathaway scholarship ( usually pays tuition , and book and then some room and board)that almost every high school graduate qualifies for, they will have friends at UW from all over the state when they get there.

Last edited by jody_wy; 09-13-2013 at 10:15 AM..
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Old 09-13-2013, 10:26 AM
 
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Thanks everyone, some really good suggestions. Have been researching for a few days. Just looking to get a personal prospective. We're fairly secluded here and, I grew up on a dirt road off a dirt road. Seems like it will still take some getting used to. My main concern I think, would be the short vegetable gardening weather, as we do a lot of canning. Feel free to keep it coming, we can use all the info we can get.

Last edited by rpopebirdz; 09-13-2013 at 10:27 AM.. Reason: spelling
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Old 09-13-2013, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Idaho
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Are you planning to be in town, or out somewhere off a dirt road?
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Old 09-13-2013, 01:59 PM
 
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Could be a mixture, we're not really town folks....No plans yet, just getting informed before making a Big decision. We have a high school aged child so that's a big consideration.
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Old 09-13-2013, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Idaho
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Thermopolis and Worland have high schools. Not sure about the smaller communities. I have no idea how kids who live on the ranches get to school. Someone else will have to inform us about that.
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Old 09-13-2013, 10:04 PM
 
11,550 posts, read 53,049,707 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rpopebirdz View Post
(snip) My main concern I think, would be the short vegetable gardening weather, as we do a lot of canning. Feel free to keep it coming, we can use all the info we can get.
Greenhouse structures ... such as the tunnels you can see in the FarmTek catalogue ... extend the growing season and give you much more control of the growing environment.

We use drip tape watering systems on timers to maximize the beneficial delivery of water to the plants.

As well, there are vegetable varieties that do better in Zone 4 gardening than others. You'll do well to consult with your local county extension office for their advice re varieties and soil conditions.

We use seed trays to start our plants in our cellar, than slowly move the seedlings out for a short time each day to harden them. Our target is to have hardy seedlings ready to plant as early as possible in each year. Given the nature of the Wyoming winter each year, sometimes we have an abundance of seedlings ... sometimes we're ready before the season is in the greenhouse and see plants become root bound before we can transplant them.

Our experience has been that a bigger tunnel structure is better than being too small. We have several because we started out small, thinking it would be adequate space, but quickly outgrew the smaller structures. Our main tunnel is 24' x 96', and we wished we'd built even larger than that.


School Transport: the school districts have bus systems which service the districts. Oft times you'll see vehicles parked by the edge of a property where the school bus route runs; the school kids drive from their house to the road bus stop pick-up point. Not uncommon to see 12 yr olds driving a car or pick-up truck for that use, or even younger kids driving an ATV from house to school bus pick-up point. Wyoming may issue limited driver's licenses to 14 yr olds for the purpose of driving to/from school in rural areas; these are under a "hardship license" provision where the school is at least 5 miles from the student's residence. Used only for sole transport back and forth to school, or may be issued to the 14 year old if they are needed in a family business where a car is the only way to reasonably get to work.

Last edited by sunsprit; 09-13-2013 at 11:21 PM..
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