Laramie, Wyoming vs. Flagstaff, Arizona (Basin, Boulder: crime rate, home, unemployment)

[danmcsmith]

Hello,

I am currently on the move and am looking at moving to Laramie, WY. I am a recent graduate from Northern Arizona University and love the town but also feel I need to move on PLUS am applying to University of Wyoming grad school.

Flagstaff has been my home for the past 5 years and it is a hard place to leave. I love the vibe the town has plus the friendly population of people. It has a lot of outdoor recreation, mainly skiing, that makes the place so lovable.

I love the small mountain town atmosphere and have a gut feeling that Laramie can provide that. If anyone has any insight who has lived in both Flagstaff and Laramie that could help paint a picture of the town, I would be greatly appreciative. Or, if there is another college mountain town that is similar (i.e. Pocatello, ID, Greeley, CO, etc.) that would help me out a lot in my decision.

Thanks,
~D

[MRVphotog]

Well, I'll start with any easy one, Greeley really isn't in the mountains but the stockyards don't smell as bad as they used to. I hear good things about the college there. Long drive to skiing.

I like Pokey, your thinking about Idaho State, I assume. A couple of small ski hills nearby, Grand Targhee about 2 hours, 2.5 to JH. About the same to the northern Utah ski hills.

Have you checked out Bozeman, MT for Montana State? Lots of great outdoor rec options. Nothing against the Arizona Snow Bowl but with Bridger Bowl, Moonlight Basin and Big Sky, YNP it's off the chart.

I went to grad school at UW, it was awesome and it's one of the best values around. Snowy Range Ski area is fun and Steamboat is a looooooong day trip from Laramie.

[wyoquilter]

It has been a long time since I was in Flagstaff. I used to live in Camp Verde, many moons ago and for a short while lived in old Happy Jack, not to far from Flagstaff. But from what I remember of Flagstaff, I think you will find a lot of it in Laramie. You might find more of the overall look of Flagstaff in either Boulder or Greeley, CO or even in ID, but you may not find the same sort of friendly, hometown atmosphere that is in Flagstaff.

From what I remember of Boulder, CO is it is straight up a college town and not a lot of hometownlyness there. I don't know much about Greeley, CO so I can't really comment on it to much. ID has it's good spots and it's not so good spots. I know more about the upper panhandle though and even though there are a lot of nice places to visit, I wouldn't recommend anyone to move there.

I have only been to Laramie actually only once as far as in the town and not just driving through. I went to the UW campus and I thought it was a pretty nice campus. It felt like a college without feeling like a college if you know what I mean. The folks in and around town were very friendly and helpful like much of WY. But as you can tell I am partial to WY. It's been the state where I have lived the longest and I feel like I can actually call it home because I feel at home here.

The best thing to do is to check out the areas you are interested in and see what you think of them. See which place gives you that "home" feeling.

[Brian_M]

MRVphotog nailed it as far as I'm concerned. Now, I haven't lived in Laramie or Flag, but I grew up just up the road in Wyoming and have spent 4 years on the Navajo Rez (Kayenta) where every weekend we made a break for Flag. I went to college in Bozeman (decades ago), the skiing was the reason I never graduated college.. :P As a married guy past traditional college age, I liked Flag better than I liked Bozeman as a young man, but things have exploded in Bozeman since I lived there too and it looks to be a lot different now. I suspect that downtown Flag has the Potential to be slightly more upscale than Bozeman... both are more than capable to tending to the typical drunk college student.

If you want to toss some sea in with your ski, Bellingham, WA is a favorite town of mine.

Brian

[norskmor]

I can't help you being in Virginia, but am hoping you can give advice on moving to Flagstaff in about a month. We have four kids and are looking for family friendly neighborhood. I'm glad to hear you like the area, because I know little and we are trying to decide if we want to live there.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by norskmor

I can't help you being in Virginia, but am hoping you can give advice on moving to Flagstaff in about a month. We have four kids and are looking for family friendly neighborhood. I'm glad to hear you like the area, because I know little and we are trying to decide if we want to live there.

You might get better answers in the Arizona discussion forum. http://www.city-data.com/city/Flagstaff-Arizona.html

Just glancing at the City-Data data page for Flagstaff a couple of things jumped out in comparison to Laramie:

Housing is VERY expensive. Median in 2007 $344,719
The population is less educated then Laramie.
There are more females.
Median income is $12,000 higher.
Population is far more diverse.
There are fewer single people.
Taxes are higher & state has income tax.
Unemployment is higher.
Crime rate is significantly higher.
Flagstaff is colder and gets a lot more snow and rain, a lot less wind but more sunshine.

[mtlogger]

They are similar in elevation, but that's about it.

Yes, crime is higher - look at what is NE of there - Navajo Rez (11% vs 1.7%) and Hispanics are double. Population is 3x higher than Laramie.

And, yes the housing costs more. They have slightly shorter winters.