What do you love about Wyoming? (Cheyenne, Laramie: fit in, low crime, taxes)

[emeraldsky]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience Highlandlady. Very remarkable and impressive... especially as you began your journey at 16.

[molon labe]

What I love about WY:

Low population- It's very nice to no longer have to battle thousands of other vehicles wherever I go.

Low taxes- No state income tax, very few others.

No "gun-control"- I don't trust politicians and LE that think they should have things the people don't. The point of the 2A was a balance of power; a politician's desire to disarm the people is a very good indicator of their perspective of the people. Are they serfs or peers.... gun-grabbing takes the serf approach.

Very few "nanny" laws- You don't have to consult a law book every time you leave you home. The laws are basic and generally legit in WY.... not a lot of "bans" or other legislation telling you what you can and can't do. I haven't found that WY has the "we're here to protect you from yourself" attitude that places like CA have.

Rugged and diverse landscape- If you don't like what you're looking at in WY you can probably drive 20 miles and see something else. Rocky crags, rolling grasslands, sagebrush valleys, mountains, pine-covered hills... it's all here.

Western lifestyle- It's nice to have a slower pace of life than other places. People here work hard and play hard, but it's not a rat-race like you'll find in many places. I enjoy the fairs, rodeos, hunting, fishing, and other Rocky Mountain/prairie pastimes. There is an attitude of self-reliance here that has been lost in most other places.

Abundant wildlife- On any given day you will see wildlife... antelope are most common followed by deer. One day a week I head about 50 miles south of town and chances are I'll see several dozen deer, a few hundred antelope and a mix of varmints. On a good day there will be a couple of bald eagles, countless hawks, foxes, several hundred to a thousand deer and antelope, and a couple elk if you're in the right place. If you're really in the right place you'll catch elk herds ranging from a few to a hundred animals.

There are many other things, and there are a few things I don't care for. I wish this state would not be so complacent with the federal government; with our energy resources we can afford to stand up to them... we don't need their money if we don't allow them to steal it from us first. The ceding of much of our water rights to other states and our giving land away kind of steams me.... put the state in a bad spot in some areas.

[jeanie missouri]

I haven't heard anyone speak of turkey? are there very many?

[molon labe]

Originally Posted by jeanie missouri

I haven't heard anyone speak of turkey? are there very many?

Yes. There are tons of them in the NE area where we're at. I've seen flocks numbering 100 or more just east of here. Here are a couple shots of a small group we saw just north of town last month:

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t313/laksupply/Gillettenortharea024.jpg (broken link)

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t313/laksupply/Gillettenortharea023.jpg (broken link)

[jeanie missouri]

This would be my husbands heaven!
He's been clucking and gobbling with the box calls he makes in preparation for Spring Turkey season in Mo. I'm GOING NUTS!
I'm glad he is an avid hunter but cluck cluck gobble gobble!

[HighlandLady]

It sounds like the bull and cow calls that go on in our home come Autumn. There are also usually an abundant grouping of turkeys in the Medicine Bow Nat. Forest.

[kq6ee55]

HI: I am going to retire in August; hi, hi. I can go everything, BUT I will settle in WY. First of all, I live in Southern CA. now. You can't image how the traffic and the air quality are. I went to Casper and the capital many times. I like Casper better, but I will finally stay in Lararmie because I like to go to university there. I like the campus of Casper College ( in the hilly area ). OLD MAN STILL GO TO SCHOOL. All my relatives, co-workers and everybody think I am a nut to move to WY specially my MOM. They didn't know what the wildyness and air quality over there. Many statistics (EPA) have described WY, Montana and SD are best air quality states in the US. Also, I am a hiker. I can go to Colorado to hike those 14ers. Those are my goal and I am looking forward to it.

[loudyk]

I don't love anything about Casper. But I must say, there are some beautiful places in Wyoming. Casper isn't one of them, although it's nice up on Casper Mountain.

[case44]

Since I haven't been there yet, mostly the pictures.

In all seriousness, I've seen some very fantastic pics of the vast mountains and rangeland, as well as Yellowstone. It's a really good slice of Americana.

[Simple Living]

After reading this thread, I don't understand Wyoming is as sparsely populated as it is - I'm just glad it is! I'm looking to relocate there in one year, after I'm completely debt free and have a good amount of savings built up. The problem is, I can't decide where because most of the towns seem to have what I'm looking for. I've researched several places I thought I wanted to live in, but none have compared to what I'm learning about Wyoming. Just heaven.