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Powell has a community college. That might give a little bustle, at least compared to places with 1,000 or 100 people.
There can be some hassles in small towns. Early close of most or all stores / restaurants. Waiting for days for parts to be delivered instead of pulled from highly stocked shelves. Some services not available without drive to bigger town or charge for the drive time to you. Lots of stuff with one or few sources. Pay their price (perhaps high) or drive for it or wait for it to be mailed.
National name stores in Powell? True Value, Radio Shack (if still open), a couple of fast food places, a Toyota dealership, parcel delivery companies and a few others. Not much.
The lowest population is in Buford with 1 person. Powell has over 6k which is big by Wyoming standards. And slow pace of life is EVERYWHERE in Wyoming. Hurry is not in most Wyomingite's vocabularies.
YES!!!! THANKS!!!!
6,000 people is fine by me. It's still under 10,000.
Where I am now used to be 5,500 in 1989 but now is 20,000+ with cities back to back to each other with populations from 40,000 to over 100,000+.
As long as it is rural with no traffic, no traffic signals so I don't have to deal with stop and go driving like I do here for every 100 feet or so I have to stop the car because of congestion. No to mention wear and tear on vehicle.
PARKING; Need close parking don't want to drive 20 minutes to find a parking spot.
NO more long lines at places I must drive to and be there in person like businesses, stores, banks or medical and dental offices which are about 2 week to a 1 month wait period because of the overpopulation problem here.
No more rush, no more hurrying, no more waiting in line at gas station at 5:00 AM
6,000 people is fine by me. It's still under 10,000.
Where I am now used to be 5,500 in 1989 but now is 20,000+ with cities back to back to each other with populations from 40,000 to over 100,000+.
As long as it is rural with no traffic, no traffic signals so I don't have to deal with stop and go driving like I do here for every 100 feet or so I have to stop the car because of congestion. No to mention wear and tear on vehicle.
PARKING; Need close parking don't want to drive 20 minutes to find a parking spot.
NO more long lines at places I must drive to and be there in person like businesses, stores, banks or medical and dental offices which are about 2 week to a 1 month wait period because of the overpopulation problem here.
No more rush, no more hurrying, no more waiting in line at gas station at 5:00 AM
Just be aware slow pace of life is taken VERY literally. It's good not to be in the rat race and I'd hate to live like you mentioned, but I have seen turtles move faster than some people in Wyoming and I'm not exaggerating. A happy medium between the two extremes is what I prefer.
So if you need anything beyond what the local stores of Powell can provide, you can go online or drive into Cody or Billings and get their level of service and their degrees of stop lights, traffic and store bustle.
60 miles roundtrip from Powell every time you go to Walmart. Want dealership auto service? Probably would need to go that 60 miles, wait all day or rent a car. Costco? 160 miles roundtrip to Billings. And given that both stores draw shoppers from 50-100 miles in every direction, there may be some bustle.
Small towns work best if all you need are the basics.
Restaurants in Powell? One site says there are 16. Mostly fast food. For specialty food maybe try the BBQ place, the fancier pizza place or the one Chinese restaurant. Or try the couple of sports bars or the one or two somewhat more upscale sit down casual restaurants. Or make that short 60 miles roundtrip or the 160 miler for different.
Men's clothes? You may have half dozen or more options in town. But hopefully you are looking for work clothes or western casual. Or look outside town.
Grocery stores? Powell has a handful. Local / local small chain. Want a national name grocery store? Drive to Cody. Pick between Albertsons or Walmart. Or hit the Powell Family Dollar store.
I am very familiar with this general level of shopping options. I get along. It may not be enough for some.
NWCrow, above post … nails it re "small town and slow pace" found in so many WY small towns.
While a lot of folk move here from "rat race" cities thinking that they wish to truly escape from that environment, they don't appreciate the paradigm shift that presents here in Wyoming.
For many, they've done a very superficial assessment of the daily conveniences and access to goods, shopping, recreation, entertainment, medical, and resources that they do value and take for granted as part of their daily lives.
Only to discover that most, if not all, of the things they rely upon and value simply don't present in that "small town" slow pace of life. A reality is that the small local population base simply cannot support all of the resources that they'd still want to enjoy.
For example, that late-night pizza delivery? not very likely. National level grocery stores with volume pricing and the wide selection of foods, fresh fruits and vege's, and so many other items that they take for granted … it simply doesn't exist in so many of these smaller communities. And at 6,000 population … this area isn't a "small town" by Wyoming standards.
Small towns here are truly that: many with under a few hundred residents.
Travel to larger economic base areas is a necessity to access all the trappings of convenience, options, and selection.
What I've seen over the decades is many folk who have moved here suddenly realize that they're not prepared to adjust, adapt, or tolerate the extreme lack of the "stuff they take for granted". Hence, for many, the "gone in 2 (years)" … to return to the things they must have even though they're accompanied by the "rat race" hustle and bustle and traffic and population density which they claim they don't want to have. Pollyanna is but a dream ….
PS: as well, the realities of the restaurant biz … and small economic base to operate from limit decent restaurant choices in most of Wyoming, even in "tourist" based economy towns. If you're a "foodie", this area is quite the desert. You'll be relying upon franchise fast foods, and/or Sysco or other purveyors to the industry with their pre-pack "heat 'n serve" commissary foods to the restaurant industry. I've seen more than a few quality restaurant operators here fold their tent in short order when they realize they cannot get enough seats filled each day and/or charge the prices they need to get to make a profit at the end of a long day and pay their help and overhead expenses. And that includes everywhere from Cheyenne, Casper, Cody … to Dubois and other small towns. Yes, there are a few exceptions … but few and far between, they're on the order of destination trips. So many people confuse/conflate a wide menu of offerings … such as their favorite Chinese buffet …. with quality food ingredients, prep, and cooking; nothing further from the truth. I've made sales calls in many Wyoming towns where the somewhat obligatory "take your client to lunch (or dinner) offer" is met with a "thanks, but no thanks. No place worth going to here, no place we'd like you to treat us to lunch" response … and that includes major tourist towns such as Cody (ah, remember the Irma? uck, says my clients there … and the Mexican restaurants down the street from there are abysmal).
Even the larger base of Cheyenne doesn't support good restaurants … we've seen a couple of the better ones, such as Morris House Bistro … close recently. Steamboats? closed recently when the property owner tried to raise the lease rate on the restaurant. That's pretty telling when a restaurant would rather close it's doors than try to meet the marginal increase in rent each month. The restaurant biz is tough enough to gain a following and foothold in a marketplace … but to be worthwhile to the operators, they've still got to make a ROI and sufficient cash flow to justify their business. At this point, a decent Cheyenne area restaurant is accessible by the cost of travel to Fort Collins … which so many people do rather than deal with the convenience of a place in Cheyenne that's not worth the price of admission.
I tend to think of towns in the following size blocks: under 500, 500-2,000, 2,000 to maybe 6 or 8 thousand, that to maybe 25k, then on up. They have some similarities.
Under 500, you probably have a bank or two, couple of gas stations, a couple of food outlets (small grocery and quick mart), probably a hardware store, maybe a Family Dollar. Probably 0-1 doctor, pharmacy. Couple of restaurants (usually about one per 500-700 people but usually a couple even if that small). One or more general auto repair shops.
2-8,000 you'll get more food choices (including at least one Asian), more than 1 doctor, pharmacy for sure. More restaurants. National name grocery store, maybe at 2k, likely at 4-6k. At upper end maybe a Walmart. Maybe a Shopko instead. An auto parts store. Maybe a tire store. Maybe a new car dealership or two.
In between the smallest and third smallest what you get will vary by how big the commercial service area is and how close the next biggest town is. 4th tier small town, similar story. It depends whether it will look and feel more like tier 3 or 5. When get above 15k, you might get some combo of Sears, JC Penny, KMart. National name pharmacy likely. Maybe an Office Max / Office Depot. If it is a rich community it might have a Home Depot or Lowes but they are unlikely most places til you get to 50k. Target and Costco needs 50k metro or sometimes it might happen in a rich suburb of a nearby bigger town. Sushi, Thai you can get at small resort towns but regular towns it will be hit or miss til you get above 5-10k.
Hospitals tend to begin around 2,000 people with size increasing with town size. Specialists? Not many til you get to 10-25k and then still not many and not all specialities.
Rec center, some under 5k have one but not all. Some towns the school is the rec center. Senior center, probably tiny until you get over 5-10k.
Organized clubs, not many if a town under 2k. Still not that many til you get to 10-25k.
It can vary state to state and specific areas but that is intended to give some general guidance. I could probably do a better job if I wasn't on my phone and had more time but I think I'll stop there for now.
So if you need anything beyond what the local stores of Powell can provide, you can go online or drive into Cody or Billings and get their level of service and their degrees of stop lights, traffic and store bustle.
60 miles roundtrip from Powell every time you go to Walmart. Want dealership auto service? Probably would need to go that 60 miles, wait all day or rent a car. Costco? 160 miles roundtrip to Billings. And given that both stores draw shoppers from 50-100 miles in every direction, there may be some bustle.
Small towns work best if all you need are the basics.
Restaurants in Powell? One site says there are 16. Mostly fast food. For specialty food maybe try the BBQ place, the fancier pizza place or the one Chinese restaurant. Or try the couple of sports bars or the one or two somewhat more upscale sit down casual restaurants. Or make that short 60 miles roundtrip or the 160 miler for different.
Men's clothes? You may have half dozen or more options in town. But hopefully you are looking for work clothes or western casual. Or look outside town.
Grocery stores? Powell has a handful. Local / local small chain. Want a national name grocery store? Drive to Cody. Pick between Albertsons or Walmart. Or hit the Powell Family Dollar store.
I am very familiar with this general level of shopping options. I get along. It may not be enough for some.
Seems to me that Powell, Cody and Sheridan which is the closest to Montana state that has Costco and no sales tax. The above towns/cities would be good locations with the least snowfall in WyomingThe town of Sheridan and location are appealing to me.
I do all of my shopping primarily at Costco for food, clothes, electronics tires and medicines etc.
Sam's Club
Wal-Mart.
Costco is my main place for shopping.
I believe there are a few Costco's in Montana perhaps in Billings and Kallispell?
Dealership would be a Chevrolet dealership and or a good independent mechanic.
For the FORD I would go to an independent mechanic as that car is easier to work on as an older vehicle.
The Corvette will require a Corvette Tech or a really good mechanic that knows how to work on these complicated cars with little or no space in the engine bay or interior for the computers and electronics involved. Many times you have to take out a few parts to get to the main part that needs service or replacement. Like when I had the transmission drained and changed fluid and filter they had to drop the dual exhaust system to the ground and lift up the rear end to get to the transmission pan out.
I tend to think of towns in the following size blocks: under 500, 500-2,000, 2,000 to maybe 6 or 8 thousand, that to maybe 25k, then on up. They have some similarities.
Under 500, you probably have a bank or two, couple of gas stations, a couple of food outlets (small grocery and quick mart), probably a hardware store, maybe a Family Dollar. Probably 0-1 doctor, pharmacy. Couple of restaurants (usually about one per 500-700 people but usually a couple even if that small). One or more general auto repair shops.
2-8,000 you'll get more food choices (including at least one Asian), more than 1 doctor, pharmacy for sure. More restaurants. National name grocery store, maybe at 2k, likely at 4-6k. At upper end maybe a Walmart. Maybe a Shopko instead. An auto parts store. Maybe a tire store. Maybe a new car dealership or two.
In between the smallest and third smallest what you get will vary by how big the commercial service area is and how close the next biggest town is. 4th tier small town, similar story. It depends whether it will look and feel more like tier 3 or 5. When get above 15k, you might get some combo of Sears, JC Penny, KMart. National name pharmacy likely. Maybe an Office Max / Office Depot. If it is a rich community it might have a Home Depot or Lowes but they are unlikely most places til you get to 50k. Target and Costco needs 50k metro or sometimes it might happen in a rich suburb of a nearby bigger town. Sushi, Thai you can get at small resort towns but regular towns it will be hit or miss til you get above 5-10k.
Hospitals tend to begin around 2,000 people with size increasing with town size. Specialists? Not many til you get to 10-25k and then still not many and not all specialities.
Rec center, some under 5k have one but not all. Some towns the school is the rec center. Senior center, probably tiny until you get over 5-10k.
Organized clubs, not many if a town under 2k. Still not that many til you get to 10-25k.
It can vary state to state and specific areas but that is intended to give some general guidance. I could probably do a better job if I wasn't on my phone and had more time but I think I'll stop there for now.
Thanks for that info
Right now i don't eat out at restaurants much because it's too $$expensive$$ for me here. Unless you count the Costco Food Court. If anything I prefer Asian food the best, Filipino and BBQ. There is plenty of excellent high end Asian food of all types here from Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese,Japanese and even Ranch 99 which is good for lower cost.
Costco (Ft Collins) is <2 hrs from Wheatland, but you will be paying sales tax... (which you won't in MT)
You mean there is a Costco in the State of Wyoming? Where exactly is FT. Collins?
Sales tax is 5%?
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YES!!!! THANKS!!!!
It's still under 10,000. 
The town of Sheridan and location are appealing to me.
