Gillette, Wy??? (Laramie, Wright: transplants, real estate, rentals)

[Nada68]

Hi there. I was looking for some honest feedback and helpful answers. We currently reside in Texas. We are looking to relocate closer to the border as I am originally from Canada. Is there lots of work in this area? My husband is a Machinist/Programmer with 25+ yrs of experience, my son in law is a CDL driver and is looking for a job that does not involve long hauls ( home nightly if possible)and my daughter is a Real estate agent. There would be 8 of us relocating so we would need houses to rent also. How is the school system? I have a granddaughter that would be starting Kindergarten. I appreciate any replies. Thanks.

[WyoNewk]

IIRC the unemployment rate for Campbell Co. (Gillette area) is second lowest in the state now at around 4% or 5% so not bad. Those are all good careers for Gillette. Your husband should contact L&H Industrial first. It's a locally owned and based global company. When I moved to Gillette in 1971 it was a small welding shop. Good people own it, and I think the treat their employees well. There are several other machine shops in town, but that's the largest.

Experienced CDL drivers with clean records can pick up jobs easily.

I don't know how the exchange of Wyoming/Texas real estate licenses is. Your daughter can find that out easily enough. At worst she'll have to test again. I'd think she'd need to study Wyoming real estate laws a bit. Oh, and I think she'd have to be sponsored by a broker to test. (Not sure.) I don't think she'd have a problem getting "hired". (Salesmen work 100% on commissions earned.)

Wyoming public schools are excellent and well-funded, and Gillette's are no exception. Gillette offers k-12 plus a 2-year community college. Only Laramie has a 4-year college in the state (UW), but Wyoming's community colleges work with 4-year colleges to offer selected bachelor's degrees, and there's a 4-year college 90 miles east in Spearfish, SD.

I came here 42+ years ago thinking I'd stay for 4-5 years, but the place grew on me. It's a vibrant city with a lot going on. It welcomes transplants with open arms.

I'd say it's a renter's market in Gillette right now, as opposed to what it was only a few years ago. We had a severe shortage of rentals for awhile, and I think developers overbuilt that segment a bit, combined with an economic "slowdown." (Gillette's coal industry is slowing just a little now, thanks to Obama and the DEQ, gas drilling is down some too, but oil production is surging.)

[Nada68]

Thank you so much for the answer, it was very helpful!

[Froggie Legs]

If you've not visited the area, do so.. Also, if you have pets that will make renting harder (you didn't say)...
I interviewed a few years back for a teaching job in Wright, just south of Gillette..and I will say the schools in the Gillette area are top-notch (well Wyoming schools in general are). There is also an awesome community center in Gillette. If you want I can send a link to some photos I took while visiting there.

[Nada68]

Thank you, I would be interested in the link. I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan (45 miles from the Montana Border) I have been in Texas going on 11 yrs, time for a change. My kids are starting their families now so we want to move closer to the border and Wyoming looks like a beautiful State.

[georgiainwyo]

I have posted a lot of posts about Gillette. Just do a search for "Gillette" and you should be able to find them. I have gone into great detail about what it is like to live there! Best wishes in your endeavors