Nervousness in moving.... (Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie: trip , rental, work)

[BABsMom]

We have moved from Missouri to New Mexico, and now to Arkansas, to be closer to family. We loved MO, hated NM, and don't care too much for AR, and decided the family thing is best at a distance. My husband and I have always liked the idea of Wyoming, but after reading some posts, it makes me nervous.

We have been looking into the Laramie and Casper areas, and have three children 4, 3 and 1. We are go to church almost every Sunday and want to find someplace where we can make friends, but not feel like outsiders. We love the outdoors and want someplace that is affordable, but in a decent community because of our children. We are friendly people and want to stay someplace where we can feel comfortable, because we don't want to move anymore.

What things should we be nervous about, or should we truly be nervous at all? Thanks.

[Heit]

I would vote for not being nervous at all. There is always a sense of nervousness when making a move to a new state. My wife and I did it for 20yrs. with the USAF and with moving every three years we had to learn to embrace change and actually looked forward to a new place to hang our hat. We had a "limited" choice as to where we would move next. Regardless of where we went we had faith that it would all work out for good. We would always end up doing the one thing we knew would calm our nerves...........pray to the Good Lord. You mentioned you are a woman of faith. Take your thoughts about moving to WYO to The Lord. HE will give you your answer. I hope the answer is yes. You would be hard pressed to find a better place to live. We could have moved anywhere after the USAF and we(HE) chose Cheyenne and enjoy the people, place and even the wind!

[tekape]

Originally Posted by BABsMom

We have moved from Missouri to New Mexico, and now to Arkansas, to be closer to family. We loved MO, hated NM, and don't care too much for AR, and decided the family thing is best at a distance. My husband and I have always liked the idea of Wyoming, but after reading some posts, it makes me nervous.

We have been looking into the Laramie and Casper areas, and have three children 4, 3 and 1. We are go to church almost every Sunday and want to find someplace where we can make friends, but not feel like outsiders. We love the outdoors and want someplace that is affordable, but in a decent community because of our children. We are friendly people and want to stay someplace where we can feel comfortable, because we don't want to move anymore.

What things should we be nervous about, or should we truly be nervous at all? Thanks.

Honestly, I would choose Casper over Laramie (and not because that's where I live....but because Laramie is a college town).

There are over 60 churches (of all faiths) in Casper (we're about 60K people).....and I would say most of the city is pretty conservative (compared to some other Wyoming towns....Laramie and Jackson Hole come to mind).

I think it comes down to how you portray yourself upon moving as to how you get along with neighbors. If you stay in the house all the time and don't say "Hi", well then, no one is gonna bring you a fresh-baked apple pie....

But if you're friendly yourself and keep up your house/yard (not leaving trash and junk cars everywhere), then I'd have to say you won't have any problems making friends here. There are a LOT of families just like you in my neighborhood....(as I'm sure a lot of neighborhoods)....so making friends is easy when your kids are running over to the neighbor's house naked! (they're like greased monkeys after their baths aren't they? and quick, too!)

I would actually take a trip to both towns and drive all over...look at houses, spend an afternoon in a neighborhood you like (sometimes a nice looking neighborhood is loud or some other undesireable attribute).....

Good luck

[BABsMom]

Thank you for your information! Something I didn't ask about Laramie, I read on another post someone talking about "thugs" and blaring radios and things like that from our experience in NM, our daughter is scared at night b/c of people doing that and doesn't sleep well anymore. Is that something that we would have to worry with in Casper? I assume Laramie, b/c it's a college town, but I could be wrong.

Also, you said that Casper is pretty conservative, which I think is great but what about the other two? Can you get any more descriptive on it? Reason being, we only have a week where we can take a trip out and we can't really afford to waste much time while we're there, and it's too far to make too many trips. It would be much appreciated!!!

Being as you also have children, what do you know about the preschools in your area, and how good do you think the schools are?

Thank you again!

Originally Posted by tekape

Honestly, I would choose Casper over Laramie (and not because that's where I live....but because Laramie is a college town).

There are over 60 churches (of all faiths) in Casper (we're about 60K people).....and I would say most of the city is pretty conservative (compared to some other Wyoming towns....Laramie and Jackson Hole come to mind).

I think it comes down to how you portray yourself upon moving as to how you get along with neighbors. If you stay in the house all the time and don't say "Hi", well then, no one is gonna bring you a fresh-baked apple pie....

But if you're friendly yourself and keep up your house/yard (not leaving trash and junk cars everywhere), then I'd have to say you won't have any problems making friends here. There are a LOT of families just like you in my neighborhood....(as I'm sure a lot of neighborhoods)....so making friends is easy when your kids are running over to the neighbor's house naked! (they're like greased monkeys after their baths aren't they? and quick, too!)

I would actually take a trip to both towns and drive all over...look at houses, spend an afternoon in a neighborhood you like (sometimes a nice looking neighborhood is loud or some other undesireable attribute).....

Good luck

[ElkHunter]

Blaring radios is not a "Casper, Laramie" problem. It is a neighbor problem. I've found that if I go over and talk to them, they turn it down. Don't blame a community for 1 or 2 individuals. Deal with them by talking to them.

[BABsMom]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Blaring radios is not a "Casper, Laramie" problem. It is a neighbor problem. I've found that if I go over and talk to them, they turn it down. Don't blame a community for 1 or 2 individuals. Deal with them by talking to them.

Thanks, but maybe I should've been more specific. When our neighbors did it in NM (which was only one) we went and talked to him, and he was fine. I am definitely not one to blame a community b/c of 1 to 2 people, it was definitely more than a couple of people there, and I was speaking more within stereos in cars as they drive by, things like that, but you can never actually speak with them. We live in a town with 1 university and 3 colleges, and it's better here than there, but still somewhat of an issue. I know that there's always going to be at least a couple of people who do that, but is it considered a problem???

Thanks

[ElkHunter]

Not that I know of. I live in Sheridan and we have a college here and there has not been a problem with that crowd. Like I say, an individual here and there but when you talk to them it generally takes care of it.

Up where I live we do have a guy that comes home from work every day with "Thump thump thump" and drives by my place. One of these days I'll stop him and talk with him.

[Kristynwy]

Well just thought I would give my 2 cents on being nervous.... My husband and I moved to Sheridan in February 2007. I am not as familiar with Casper as I am Buffalo, Sheridan and Gillette. But I remember being a little nervous when we moved.
We were excited and felt very fortunate to move to the area, especially because of the rental crisis then and now that continues to go on in Sheridan and other boom areas. It has slightly gotten better, but only slightly and will take time to adjust. Anyways, we have met a couple soreheads here and there, but the majority of people who live in Wyoming would seriously give you the shirts off their backs.

In just my short time here so far I have experienced more hospitality than my entire childhood/a few adult years growing up in Oregon. I have had people invite me into their homes & chat, I one time went to a neighbor's house and she and her husband told us to stay made dinner and we had a nice time. Our current landlord is not so peachy, and we have had a few run in's and get treated unfairly at times, but we try to make the best of it till we can buy our own place. That is really the only downside here in Sheridan, is property management is not always so kind and sympathetic when money is to be made. But the boom/housing is softening. I don't think in Casper it is nearly as bad as here either because they are more capable of handling increased population than Sheridan, I think; don't quote me on that though

We left everything we know, and everyone. We have no family or previous friends here. So everyone we have met has been from a completely clean slate. We are still getting to know people and sometimes it is hard being a young mom, but there are all kinds of things in the community you can get involved in to meet other moms.

I will admit I was sad/scared at first, even though I never want to go back to where I was raised ever, don't miss that place at all . Just was sad cause of the "change" everything was new. But as time has gone on I really love it here in Wyoming and up in Montana. It is a great place to raise a family and conservative. Not perfect here, but no place is.

Anyways I say come as you are, assimilate into the culture as it is and you will fit in fine Most people here in Wyoming try to enjoy the simple things in life.

[Dea13]

Since you're going to be a visitor and haven't actually lived in either place, I'll give you a visitor's perspective of the two places. We have 1 child, 8 yr old daughter so I was always on the lookout for 'safe, friendly, clean'.

Laramie seemed very nice. The people were friendly. I honestly did not have any bad experiences there. The college students we spoke with were polite and the college area itself seemed relatively quiet. I wouldn't live right by any college campus with a young child so that immediate area was more a drive-through kind of thing. Areas away from the campus appeared kept up and the area was clean. We stopped by a park (sorry, I don't remember where it was). My daughter was playing with other children and the parents (some dads and moms were there with their children), were very friendly. Asked if we were thinking of moving to the area and seemed very geniunely inviting.

Casper didn't make a great impression. No offense to anyone who lives there but there were a few people that were just downright horrible! One woman working at the visitor center nearly tore our heads off because we said we'd rather buy a home than a trailer (we didn't imply in any way that living in a trailer was a bad thing, we just don't like them). Then at a park, the parents just weren't as friendly. More cliqueish. Also, the city has more of that feel of a place that's grown too fast and is overwhelmed. The streets were not as clean and the homes didn't seem as kept up. We saw quite a few homes with a lot of rusting junk in their yards. I don't care how big someone's house or yard is, whether they have satellite tv, etc but leaving your home fall apart around you and having your yard look like a junkyard does leave an impression.

That trip was 2 yrs ago so maybe things have changed and my perceptions were based on only a few days in each location.

Dea

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Dea13

Since you're going to be a visitor and haven't actually lived in either place, I'll give you a visitor's perspective of the two places. We have 1 child, 8 yr old daughter so I was always on the lookout for 'safe, friendly, clean'.

Laramie seemed very nice. The people were friendly. I honestly did not have any bad experiences there. The college students we spoke with were polite and the college area itself seemed relatively quiet. I wouldn't live right by any college campus with a young child so that immediate area was more a drive-through kind of thing. Areas away from the campus appeared kept up and the area was clean. We stopped by a park (sorry, I don't remember where it was). My daughter was playing with other children and the parents (some dads and moms were there with their children), were very friendly. Asked if we were thinking of moving to the area and seemed very geniunely inviting.

Casper didn't make a great impression. No offense to anyone who lives there but there were a few people that were just downright horrible! One woman working at the visitor center nearly tore our heads off because we said we'd rather buy a home than a trailer (we didn't imply in any way that living in a trailer was a bad thing, we just don't like them). Then at a park, the parents just weren't as friendly. More cliqueish. Also, the city has more of that feel of a place that's grown too fast and is overwhelmed. The streets were not as clean and the homes didn't seem as kept up. We saw quite a few homes with a lot of rusting junk in their yards. I don't care how big someone's house or yard is, whether they have satellite tv, etc but leaving your home fall apart around you and having your yard look like a junkyard does leave an impression.

That trip was 2 yrs ago so maybe things have changed and my perceptions were based on only a few days in each location.

Dea

Cuddo's. An excellent, honest opinion for somebody not from there. You know, it's hard for some people to understand that we get complacent and comfortable in what we live in and what we know. It's because we don't look down the street and realize there's another life down there and they don't love and respect the things we do.

Great observation.

I've only visited Casper, never had the opportunity to live there. I have friends that do live there and I don't understand because they came from Sheridan and moved to Casper. I mean, they had the bull by the horns up here and decided to give Casper a try. But from what they've told me, they love it there. Wonderful people, good neighbors. So maybe it's something that you have to settle in for a bit to understand.

I worked construction and built this little ribbon called I-25. I lived in Chugwater, we brought it through. Lived in Wheatland, we brought it through. Lived in Glendo, we brought it through. Then because of rumors, I next moved to Kaycee and we brought it through. But they was rumors and now that I look back, probably unfounded.