Confused about Sheridan?? (Gillette, Cody: apartment complexes, rentals, low crime)

[wyom4me]

Hi there!
I am planning to relocate to Sheridan from NJ next August. I'm trying to do as much research as possible beforehand. I'm going to go out in June for 2 weeks to job/ apartment hunt (of course setting up appts & talking to realtors pre-trip). Is that enough time in advance? I have been reading other threads and I'm getting confused. I keep reading that there are no jobs and no places to live but I look at the Sheridan Media or Sheridan Press sites and there are both jobs & apts. I also have read that there is no "affordable" apartments/housing but I see several apartments for $500-600/month. I'm hoping you can help me. I really want this to work I cannot take the lack of humanity and savage attitude of NJ anymore... On that note, I also am confused about the "cowboy up" mentality. In another thread it seemed that it wasn't a "buck up & deal with a support network of friends & neighbors" but more of a "deal with your own life & don't bother anyone else with it". I'm not saying I'm a drama queen... quite the opposite but I'm going to need some neighborly help acclimating. Is that possible? Maybe I'm over worrying....all the help I got from my previous thread seems to refute that assumption... Please help!

[ElkHunter]

You are not ensane. Although you might think you are on the brink. hahaha

First, you need to realize the people here. We are a close net crop of people that demand that you wear boots and have a copenhagen ring in your shorts.

We love people. Better yet, we love neighbors. I don't want a neighbor that brings new york with them. I want a neighbor. I want a person that is from here and is willing to be here.

I can appreciate your exasperation, it was mine 20 years ago. But we didn't have internet then.

Sheridan is a really nice place to live. I love it. But I'm biased. It's a town of 15,000 or so and yet it's got a feeling of less then that. You can't go wrong. What are your fears?

[wyom4me]

Ha-ha! After living in NJ for 32 years you may be right about the insane thing. I already have the boots and several hats (best one bought at Corral West btw). I guess my fears are mostly about job and place to live. I'm a very outgoing and friendly person, sincere trustworthy and honest. I'm a hard worker who as never balked at a challenge. This challenge is just one that I have not done before so I'm very concerned with getting all of the information. Some of the questions floating through my head are...


Is going out in June to do apt/job hunting for a August move too close? Should I go earlier?
I have a Pontiac Sunfire (little sportscar) I assume that will not handle WY winters well and I will need a truck, yes?
Is there some sort of community center so I can become involved in Sheridan life?
Is it safe to live by myself as a single woman? (and this is really just because of the NJ lifestyle where it is NOT safe and you have to be on your toes all of the time.... I can't imagine another way but that's just because I've lived in it for so long)

ok thats the main ones! haha! Thank you so very much for all the help! I love this forum b/c it reminds me how wonderfully kind people are and gives me hope!

[wyoquilter]

Originally Posted by wyom4me

Ha-ha! After living in NJ for 32 years you may be right about the insane thing. I already have the boots and several hats (best one bought at Corral West btw). I guess my fears are mostly about job and place to live. I'm a very outgoing and friendly person, sincere trustworthy and honest. I'm a hard worker who as never balked at a challenge. This challenge is just one that I have not done before so I'm very concerned with getting all of the information. Some of the questions floating through my head are...


Is going out in June to do apt/job hunting for a August move too close? Should I go earlier? Coming out in June to look for housing for an August move should be fine. There is usually more places available in the summer months as a lot of folks who went to college here have left after college let out. If you are looking into apt. complexes you might want to call in April and see if they have a waiting list and if so how long. Some apts. here in town do have waiting lists. As far as looking for a job, well if you are not planning to move until August looking for a job in June might be a little too early as most folks who are looking to hire want someone right away, but it still wouldn't hurt to get a resume in and talk to possible employers while you are here. Even if it's a bit early for when you can start, if they like you they will put your resume and application on the top of the pile and may even try and find you something to do when you get here.
I have a Pontiac Sunfire (little sportscar) I assume that will not handle WY winters well and I will need a truck, yes? You don't neccassarily need a truck to live in WY or even a 4 wheel drive unless you plan on living way in the country. A good front wheel drive will get you around just fine most of the time. The only time it may not is if it's not even passable for a 4 wheel drive to get around which is very few and far between. Maybe twice a winter season you may hear no un-necassary travel advisories.

Is there some sort of community center so I can become involved in Sheridan life? There is no real community center to speak of here in Sheridan, but we do have theater guilds, rec dept. senior citizen center, various church groups like quilters and folks who make and send goodies to our soldiers, college for kids in the summer months (which they like having people who can share different things with children from art, to math, to crafting, to science just to name a few things)

Is it safe to live by myself as a single woman? (and this is really just because of the NJ lifestyle where it is NOT safe and you have to be on your toes all of the time.... I can't imagine another way but that's just because I've lived in it for so long) Sheridan is a really safe place to live. The last murder in Sheridan that I remember hearing about was about 5 years ago. Boy was that a sad situation and the guy was caught within 12 hours of the crime. There was a couple of rapes within the last 5 years as well. We have the occasional drug busts maybe one big bust every couple of years. We had a hold up at a local convenient store within this past year, but it was the first one in ages. I think our biggest crimes you read about in the police reports are DUIs, dog at large, and some domestic disputes. Sheridan has the largest police force per capita in the state, which baffles me because we hardly have any crimes to warrant such a police presence. But maybe that is why we have so little crime.

ok thats the main ones! haha! Thank you so very much for all the help! I love this forum b/c it reminds me how wonderfully kind people are and gives me hope!

As you can see I gave my answers in blue to your questions. I hope that they are of some help. I think you will find Sheridan to be a great place to live. As far as jobs go, things are tighter now than they were a couple of years ago because of the economy, but there are still jobs available if you have no specific job in mind. You will find the higher end, higher paying jobs are a little harder to find than a low end low paying job at least right now. As far as housing goes, rent prices and mortgage prices are high at least for us that live here and make the wages we do. $500 -$600 a month for rent may sound like a dream for someone who is used to paying in the $1000s for rent, but a lot of folks' wages around here find that rent to be to much.

[WyoNewk]

My late wife moved to Wyoming from NJ. She absolutely loved the west -- couldn't believe the blue sky, the stars at night, the moon during mid-day, the empty roads, the beautiful mountains and plentiful wildlife. I hope everything goes well for you and your move. I don't live in Sheridan (110 miles east in Gillette), but I agree with everyone that Sheridan is a nice town.

[Darrow]

Sheridan's a nice town. I live on the other side of the mountain in Cody, but have been to and thru Sheridan many times...always enjoyed it.

[ElkHunter]

I highly recommend that you contact some of the realtors in town. I kept watching the paper there just wasn't anything. I contacted a couple of the realtors and found they had many places available. People have went to listing through them to have them screen, run credit checks, etc...

I ultimately found my place via the paper but it was a fluke. When it came out in the paper I was the second person to call on it. But I was the first person to look at it. I grabbed it up as soon as I saw it. I'm actually about 15 miles out of Sheridan. But that's fine with me.

As far as your car. I think you'll be surprised that your car is just fine. Wyoming, like many other states, have starting closing roads to all travel if they have the least hint of bad conditions. In a way it's kind of a good thing because in years past, your employer expected you at work every day, regardless of weather. Now you have a built in excuse. Hey, the roads were closed. Unless you get a place that is well off the main roads, you'll be fine. Sheridan does an "OUTSTANDING" job of snow removal. Snow is removed on primary routes first (hospital, fire station, etc) and then they move onto secondary roads for schools and such.

The best bet would be to secure a job before you even come out. www.wyomingatwork.com is a good place to register and keep track of. It's free and shows all the jobs listed through job services throughout the state. Really handy website.

Sheridan, like everyplace in the country has been hit with unemployment. But there's always work for the willing. By that I mean that fast food, convienience store, etc is always looking for help.

Do you have any particular skills your bringing with you? If so, you can search that website for those fields.

wyoquilter has done an outstanding job of giving you info. Well done!

[CptnRn]

A pick up truck, unless it is 4 wheel drive, is one of the worst things you can drive in icy roads. With no weight in the back they have little traction and very poor control. Stick with a front wheel drive automobile unless you badly need the hauling capacity of a truck or high ground clearance.

[GEORGIAINMT]

Kind of a weird coincidence, but my family also relocated to Wyoming from New Jersey, but that was back in 1949!!! I was born 10 years after they moved, so I've always been a Wyoming native. I wanted to share that we just had our family reunion 2 weeks ago and my cousin and his wife came out from Hoboken. Wow, life is different there! Neither of them drive, walk everywhere or take public trans. to where it's too far to walk. They can't believe how quiet it is out here, how laid back life is, etc. They were in culture shock the first couple of days! He hadn't been here since he was 8 and she had never been here, although both have traveled extensively throughout the world. It's just that they haven't actually "lived the western, rural life" like they did with all of us crazy relatives the 10 days they were here! We learned a lot about life in the city, too, which was educational for us "hicks"!!! It was a fun time for all!

[Dinowy]

As everybody else has already said, you'll do fine. You don't have any pets do you? If you do that is something that will make finding any type of rental situation tougher as the vast majority of rentals will not allow pets of any sort. As long as you don't have pets though and don't smoke you should be able to find housing of some sort (we don't have any shortage of apartment complexes around town that's for sure).

As has already been mentioned Sheridan is a pretty low crime town for its size. We have our share of drunks and DUIs, domestics, and animal calls. Reading through the police reports about 1/2-3/4's of the calls are for dogs/cats at large, barking dogs, VIN checks, minor accidents, and welfare checks on any given day. This is the kind of place still that people leave their doors unlocked and even leave the keys in their outfits and their outfits running in the winter when they run into the store so the motor doesn't get cold.

The city does a great job keeping the streets clear in the winter (I should know, my dad is one you'll see in the winter driving one of the plows or dump trucks!). If there is a storm predicted they'll be getting the equipment up and going before the first flake even falls and they don't have any shortage of guys out in plow trucks keeping things cleared and sanded while it is snowing. Wydot is no different regarding the interstates and secondary roads. Even after big storms its not unusual for them to have the interstate back open in a few hours due to the fact they close them before it gets too bad so they can get the traffic off it so they're not trying to work around other motorists.

There is no "community hall" but Sheridan has no shortage of things to get involved in if you wish. TONS of volunteer oportunities doing pretty much anything you can think up.