Maybe moving to Laramie... (Cheyenne, Medicine Bow: for sale, real estate, rentals)

[campmom123]

Hello. We might be relocating to Laramie next month and are looking for any tips about the town. Good schools? (we have 3 young kids, oldest is 1st grade), Good/bad areas of town to look for housing? Rent or buy? How is the market there? Churches? Stuff to do? Just whatever you can tell us about the area. We appreciate your input, thanks!

[ElkHunter]

Have you read any of the other threads on Laramie? There is a lot of good info that has already been shared.

Laramie 1

Laramie 2

Laramie 3

That's just some of the threads about Laramie. You can also check the City site, Chamber of Commerce site and the data we have right here on City-Data.

City

Chamber of Commerce

CD demograph

Hope that helps.
EH

[Crazymomof3]

We just moved to Laramie about a month and a half ago from Houston. We have 3 children, our oldest being in 2nd grade. Our kids go to Indian Paintbrush elementary and they love it! I love it! From what I understand all of the schools are good here.
There are plenty of churches here, it just depends on your preference. We happen to be Catholic, so I don't know about the other churches...we have friends that go to others and they are very involved in their respective churches.
The rental situation is sketchy at this time of year. Since Laramie is a college town, most rentals a
re taken by students, and the rentals are plentiful once the students are out, mostly in the summer time. There are some right now; the Laramie Boomerang is a good source, as is craigslist. Keep in mind most rentals are not pet friendly, so if you're looking for something pet friendly, it may be hard to find.
You can buy-there are plenty of homes for sale. I don't know where you are coming from, but for us, renting for a short term was the best idea. We come from a place where homes are plentiful and affordable. Housing is a bit more expensive, but then again, the property taxes here are much less! A lot of the homes are older here, but I find that charming. I have learned that I don't necessarily want a 2000+ sq. ft. house because I don't want to have to heat it.
Areas of town? There's really no bad area. We are in West Laramie, and we love it. I loved the area around UW but it was costly and we would kind of be on top of our neighbors and I really don't want that. There are no "bad areas" per se. There are areas that are more concentrated with students, of course.
As far as stuff to do? We haven't run out yet. Of course, we like to be outdoors, so there's plenty to do. We've joined the Recreation center and the kids love that. Our kids are involved in sports and activities, so we are busy with those activities. Keep in mind there is no mall...there's Wal Mart, KMart, Safeway, and Albertsons. There are, however, great small businesses and a fantastic children's shop. If you want to do "big shopping" then a trip to Ft. Collins (about and hour and 15 min away) or Cheyenne (45 min) is in order. We've planned on going to Denver to go to Costco, but we've had some snow that has made that hard to do on the weekends.
There is a movie theater, 2 actually. Bowling alley and great parks! We have enjoyed hanging out in the favorable weather at Laramie's great parks.
I would visit to see if it suits you. I was hesitant to come at first, because I was leaving family and friends behind but I'm so glad we did. Our kids are happy and we're a closer, happier family without the 2 hour commute, crowds, crime, and altogether yuckiness we endured in Houston.
Good luck in your decision.
-Betsy

[campmom123]

Thanks so much for the info. Elkhunter, I will check out those other threads. Crazymomof3, thanks for sharing your personal perspective.

I should explain that we are currently living at 9000 ft in a remote SMALL town in the Colorado rockies. So snow, cold, and lack of malls/shopping is not new to us having a walmart, movie theater, and bowling alley sounds like heaven at this point, haha.

Also, real estate is expensive here-- a 2 bed/1 bath house is easily $200k in our mtn town, so even though houses are still fairly expensive in Laramie, they are looking pretty good to us at this point.

We do have pets (I could live without them, but the kids want to keep them) so maybe buying is right for us, especially considering the time of year and the rentals being occupied by students right now. We're hoping to find a 3 bed/2 bath for $150k or less, does that sound do-able?

I grew up in Northern CO and my mom and sister still live there (ft. collins), so we are excited about the opportunity to live closer to them again. We plan to visit Laramie next week and check it out!

[QuietRiot]

Here's a good place to look for homes
Trulia - Real Estate, Homes For Sale, Sold Properties, Real Estate Maps

[Crazymomof3]

A 3/2 at 150k might be doable...it may be an older home and may need some work...but it's possible.
We came from a place that offered 5/3 at 150k...with land.
There's a Laramie MLS site...you can check out.

There seems to be plenty of realtors in town, but I've had trouble getting some to call back...could just be an off time.

Good luck!

I'll keep my eyes peeled for you if you'd like!

[campmom123]

crazymomof3, that'd be great if you kept your eye out. Quietriot, thanks for the link, it's been helpful. We've also been looking at a lot of real estate websites. But nothing is quite like actually being there and talking to people IRL I suppose. I enjoy browsing online and can't wait to see these things for real next week!

Crazymom, you said you live in the west part of the town? but isn't indian paintbrush elem in the ne? Can I ask how big your kids class sizes are? I grew up going to a school with 2 classes in each grade, probably 25 kids each, 50 total per grade. My son currently goes to such a small school there are 15 in his class- combined between 2 grades! He's thriving with that, so I'm hoping the student/teacher ratio in Laramie is still small enough for him. My next oldest is only in preschool-- any ideas of good preK programs I should look at for her?

Thanks!

[Griffis]

It's been about 10 years since my wife and I lived there, but we loved it.

I'm sorry I can't really comment on the current real estate scene, etc.

But our time there was great. Lots of natural beauty (Snowy Range Mountains and Medicine Bow Nat'l Park nearby), easy to get around, never found a "bad" or scary part of town...

I think Laramie's best asset is its people. We made lots of friends there quickly and overall found people warm and kind and helpful.

I've lived in a LOT of places in my time. Most of them I don't care to return to, but if the opportunity arose, I woul definitely consider relocating to Laramie again.

By the way, my stepson who was 6-8 at the time loved the schools there and we always thought highly of the quality of the schools.

[Crazymomof3]

We do live in West Laramie, and the kids were zoned for Linford, but Linford was full so they go to IPES. It's a blessing in disguise...IP is one of the best schools, and my kids are super happy there. I read in the Boomerang that Linford is not performing as well on tests, so they may be extending their day.
Our neighbors, however, have children that go to Linford and they love it.

They limit class size here; our kids came from a school with over 25 to a class. Here, in my 2nd graders class, there are 16. In my Kindergartener's class there are 17 students, so the class sizes are small, and that is a great for teachers and students.

We're very pleased with the school...and hope that our good experience continues.

As far as preschool-I have no idea. I am also in the market for something for my 2 year old. I'll ask around...how old is your preschooler?
Now, I have heard that there are some really great day cares in town that have a curriculum for the little ones. I'll get the names of those and get some more input!
-Betsy

[campmom123]

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