a real view of Casper (Gillette, Sheridan: real estate, lofts, crime)

[patnrat]

Hello Room,


I am posting this to get an honest view of the Casper Area. I am 30 years old, married, and have 3 kids (ages 12, 7, and 10 months). Anyway, if all goes to plan I will be relocating to the Casper area in July for employment with the IRS, and would love to learn about Casper and small towns near Casper...Please let me know about weather, schools, housing, crime, cultural activities, and just any other information relevant to living in Casper Wyoming. If anyone can recommend good areas to raise a family and have a wonderful start, please let me know. Thanks,

Pat

[CptnRn]

It bothered me that non one else had responded to your request so I decide that I would offer what I can.

I grew up in other parts of Wyoming 1951-1970 but don't live there anymore. I have visited Casper many times, Casper is in a very arid part of the state, but has a nice string of lakes nearby. I used to love going fishing in the reservoirs south of Casper, great rainbow trout, even after moving away I sometimes returned just to fish there. I understand one of the reservoirs has a marina but I could not see it on Google maps.

Casper has a lot more going for it then many other communities because of the size and the college there. I recall that we had to drive to Casper to find a movie theater showing 2001 Space Odessy and Woodstock around 1969. I can't offer any advice regarding the best parts of town to live in. Casper has its own ski area and golf course. If you are coming from a cold climate with snow, it may not be to much of an adaptation. Otherwise the winters may shock you. One of the biggest things that sticks in my mind about Casper is that its very windy there, turning a corner downtown sometimes can bring you to a dead stop the wind hits you so strong. If you were standing on an icy patch of sidewalk it would blow you down the walk. But that is true of many of the plains areas of the state.

You can learn an enormous amount about the demographics of an area using the City-Data webpages that a lot of people have not yet discovered.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Casper-Wyoming.html

More information about Casper Casper, Wyoming - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm a very visual person so I love photos:

Photos from PBase.com http://search.pbase.com/search?q=cas...ch+Photos&c=sp

Casper from above WSU http://www.pbase.com/image/21524132

Photos of the Casper area from the Official Wyoming Picture Thread

http://www.city-data.com/forum/wyomi...er#post3805037

http://www.city-data.com/forum/wyomi...er#post3524999

http://www.city-data.com/forum/wyomi...er#post3459565

http://www.city-data.com/forum/wyomi...er#post3336120

photo from the wiki "public domain"

[WyoNewk]

I don't think we get many posters from Casper, hence the lack of replies. Being from Gillette, I don't know Casper too well either. We visit a few times each year for some reason or another and watch the Casper news/weather on TV each morning. Other than that... weather is similar to typical midwest weather except it's a little dryer and windier. It's slightly over 5000 feet in elevation, so the wind comes into play more often than not. And it's semi-arid, so sunshine is the norm. The combination of high elevation and northern latitude makes for long winters and late springs. I think summer falls on a Tuesday this year.

Schools in Wyoming are generally pretty good. The state's energy industry keeps money in the coffers (normally), so school districts pay decent salaries and have good buildings, etc. Casper has two high schools.

I'd guess crime isn't a huge problem, but it's not a crime-free city. I've not heard of any gang activity, but like most of the country, drug and alcohol abuse is a problem -- particularly alcohol. Most crimes probably involve drugs or alcohol in Casper, but that too is likely true everywhere. (I've only had one thing stolen from my residence in the last 38 years in Gillette -- a case of beer from the refrigerator in the garage. That was last summer. As a result, I finally started locking my doors, which I never did before, even while on vacations, etc.)

By cultural activities, do you mean high school sports or rock concerts? Casper has its cultural events, but Wyomingites have a different idea of what culture is.

I'd start reading the Casper Star-Tribune online.

Welcome to Wyoming!

[Darrow]

I have an uncle in casper that is retired police - he has stories, but has lived there 30+ years and has no plans of leaving. My husband & I were there in March for an overnite and ended up seeing a movie at the mall. I truly was appalled at the majority that were out that night. It looked like thug city meets deliverance! It set the tone for dirty, rundown city. That is probably not a fair assumption because we were only at the one place, but nevertheless it was disappointing...the mall seems pretty nice otherwise.

I've lived in Wyoming my whole life and have no desire to live in or near Casper.

[Trouthead]

Casper is OK. It is the buisness center for central Wyoming, with a Sam's Club, a Costco (I think) big grocery stores, a mall, lots of movie screens, car dealers, and many chain resutrant, (Outback) along with some local ones.

It is windy, windy, windy. COld in the winter and hot in the summer. Lots of oilfield (down somewhat) jobs, a good school system, and nice new subdivisions.

All in all not a bad place to live and if you are coming from the big city a good comprimise.

[Casperwy]

Well, I think some corrections are needed here. There are far more cultural things to do than high school football and rock concerts. (Although there are certainly those). The Nicolayasen (the Nic) art museum is very nice. It's downtown, an easy walk from anywhere on the "Rails to Trails" project that turned the downtown tracks to a brick covered walkway. One of the best things about the Nic is their children's museum - painting, sculputre, magnets, tracing, drawing, puppet shows, and any other kind of crafty thing you can imagine - all in a very kid friendly room with dinosaurs on the wall and an actual tipi.
The College also offers a wide variety of film festivals, free to the public lectures, and music and drama events.
The Casper Events Center brings in it's fair share of rock concerts, blues and jazz, sports events, etc...
I've never been to the mall theatres (in fact I think they might be closed) because someone bought up all the old single screen theatres downtown and they are great fun to visit - I think it is awesome that they are still up and running. There are also a couple multiplexes downtown on 2nd.
The Great Outdoors:
The mountain has a groomed cross country skiing course as well as a downhill ski "resort" (it has lifts, so we don't complain).
There are three golf courses in town (if you're in to that sort of thing :-)
There is a trail that follows the North Platte River - largest river in WY - as it winds back and forth through town.
Casper also has a great parks system, there is a kid friendly park (or two) for every conceivable neighborhood.

We moved here from Buffalo (a small town of about 3,000) and I miss my small town life. But before that we lived in Houston, TX so it doesn't seem like a big place to me. I have two young children and I've heard nothing but good things about the schools here. Our two highschools often face up for state sporting titles, which is always kind of fun.

If you live out of town on top of a hill somewhere the wind will drive you insane. Look to live in an older neighborhood, lower elevation, lots of trees, and you'll get used to it in no time.

Best of luck!

[Threestep]

Well folks - it is my turn now.

I thought we had the almost perfect nest in Alabama. My Better Half is getting antsy and he has a pretty decent job offer in Casper. Winter, hunting, shooting ... I have no issue with these facts of life and also no kids to take care of.

My problem is finding a decent real estate agent. Please no offense!!! What I have seen through the one agent I connected with on line is straight out of the 70s. Jewel toned upholstery, brass plated fire place surrounds, wallpaper borders, oak trim everywhere, stove tops with heating coils. There has to be something with small perks such as gas stove, walk in shower, high ceilings ... At this point housing may be a real issue.

[OomCurt]

Well....I mean no offense by what I am about to say.....but perhaps what you are looking for is not necessarily what most folks that move to Wyoming may want. What I am getting at is from what I have seen of homes in WY...at least that relatives or friends of mine have...are fairly conservative or as some would say "old fashioned". Granted, there may be some homes such as what you are looking for....and certainly I would think one like that could be built....but again....I don't think many would go for it. For one thing...high ceilings...winter in Wyoming is a far cry from what it is where you live...high ceilings = higher fuel costs. Plus...the kind of home you are looking for....I would think would definetly not be a cheap one. Again...this is just my opinion....to each their own on this.

[Trouthead]

Go up in price and you will find more up to date features. In my part of Wyoming there appears to be very few gas stove. I am 1.5 miles from Lander's Main street and we have no gas line.

High ceilings are just starting to catch on. I have a retired friend who just built a house with 9 footers. His (actually theirs) is the first I have seen. There is modern "fancy" stuff in Casper, it is there, just at a price.

I might be wrong but I would bet housing values are lower in Alabama, than Casper.

[ElkHunter]

Most older homes were built with energy conservation in mind. Some had gas but most relied on coal or wood for heat. High ceilings were out of the question as they wasted too much energy to heat a space that you didn't live in, just looked at. Plus, that space was used for lofts or upstairs so you had more room for the kids or guests.

Here in Sheridan, we have gas line running to most all of the town and a few outside of town. Most folks outside of town have propane pigs. But propane can get costly.

But there are a few modern homes being built with high ceilings.