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Old 05-31-2007, 04:25 PM
 
6 posts, read 89,152 times
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My wife may be getting a job in Rawlins. I this a nice place to live?
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Old 05-31-2007, 05:21 PM
 
11,555 posts, read 53,163,200 times
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Compared to what?

Is there some aspect of life ... shopping, amenities, costs of living, recreation ... that you're concerned about?
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Old 05-31-2007, 09:07 PM
 
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
136 posts, read 620,954 times
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Default Rawlins quality of life

Rawlins is pretty low down on the list of nice places to live in Wyoming. It's geography is arid and plain, and it gets some of the coldest and windiest conditions of the entire state in the winter. (It's actually milder further north along the Bighorns than down there.) The town was put on the map by the building of a state prison there. That's a main employer. It lacks much in the way of cultural amenities or attractiveness. It lacks tourist appeal except for its proximity to I-80, as an emergency stop when that highway has one of its not infrequent closures due to winter storms. All that wind and the lay of the land results in very hazardous travel when it snows much.
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Old 05-31-2007, 11:31 PM
 
Location: Way on the outskirts of LA LA land.
3,051 posts, read 11,590,103 times
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Well, as you've already read by now, there's not a lot there. As mentioned above, how you define a nice place to live has a lot to do with how you'll view Rawlins (or anywhere else for that matter). For all but the basic amenities, you'll have to travel to Rock Springs or Laramie, or even further to Cheyenne or Ft. Collins, CO. or beyond. If those things (mentioned above) don't bother you, then this might be a nice place in your opinion. Your's is the opinion that really matters, anyway, (well, along with your wife's, too).
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:58 AM
 
8,317 posts, read 29,466,506 times
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No one will ever call Rawlins "pretty." It sits out on the high desert--lots of sagebrush and that ever-present wind. It is the location of the state prison--a number of locals work there. There is also a refinery at Sinclair (named after the oil company) about 8 miles east that employs a number of people, as well. There are still a fair number of railroaders who live in Rawlins. Coalbed methane gas drilling is starting to impact the area; and--after a relatively lengthy period of population stability or decline, Rawlins is growing again.

On the plus side, there is some very nice mountain country not far from Rawlins. Both the Snowy Range and Sierra Madres are very nice mountain ranges nearby. Both are pretty uncrowded and unspoiled.
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Old 06-01-2007, 03:00 PM
 
5 posts, read 22,764 times
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Default I have a home for rent in Sinclair

Idaho Man,
Where are you from in Idaho? I am an Idaho woman who also loves jazz...I am just retired from the Lionel Hampton Jazz Initiatives. My kids moved to Rawlins over a year ago and I have come to really appreciate Rawlins and area. The people are the friendlist ever! Coming from Idaho where people are great, it was a surprise. The landscape becomes more beautiful each time we are there. (You may still have to come home to Idaho for jazz)!

At any rate, keep exploring the Rawlins area and let me know if you need a house to move into. I just bought a smaller home in the very nice-feel little town of Sinclair. It takes all of about 10 minutes to drive from Sinclair to Rawlins. Let me know if you want me to send pictures and details.
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Old 06-02-2007, 11:54 AM
 
Location: on a dirt road in Waitsfield,Vermont
2,186 posts, read 6,823,244 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silversmithinv View Post
Idaho Man,
Where are you from in Idaho? I am an Idaho woman who also loves jazz...I am just retired from the Lionel Hampton Jazz Initiatives. My kids moved to Rawlins over a year ago and I have come to really appreciate Rawlins and area. The people are the friendlist ever! Coming from Idaho where people are great, it was a surprise. The landscape becomes more beautiful each time we are there. (You may still have to come home to Idaho for jazz)!

At any rate, keep exploring the Rawlins area and let me know if you need a house to move into. I just bought a smaller home in the very nice-feel little town of Sinclair. It takes all of about 10 minutes to drive from Sinclair to Rawlins. Let me know if you want me to send pictures and details.
Yup...when you drive by Rawlins it's not going to conjure up thoughts of a Jackson Hole brochure or a Norman Rockwell painting but I agree very much with what silversmithinnv is saying.

When I graduated from uW my first job was in Gillette, a coal boom town in NW Wyoming set on the high plains like Rawlins. Being a Vermonter I thought I was going to hate it but a a social worker I was attracted by the challenges.

My job was connected to a federal grant so I was there for two years and also found everything silversmithinnv said about Rawlins was true for Gillette. The people there were amazing and the nearby Big Horns, Devil's Tower were awesome. They even had skiing in the Black Hills.

Just like people, some towns don't look all that great from a distance until you get to know the place and it's people.
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Old 06-02-2007, 08:34 PM
 
74 posts, read 312,830 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoMan View Post
My wife may be getting a job in Rawlins. I this a nice place to live?
no. sorry, i lived in wyoming for 10 years and rawlins is ugly and boring. but hey, if you like the wind then you will love rawlins.
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Old 06-02-2007, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Spots Wyoming
18,700 posts, read 42,048,659 times
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Sorry, Rawlins is just too close to the Arlington Wind Tunnel. You can drive a hundred miles East and find..... well, nothing. You can drive a hundred miles West and find even less.

I've seen the road closed there more then anyplace in Wyoming. We're talking interstate, closed. Too high of winds and too much snow.

The only place I've found worse is trying to get Chili in Chugwater. They have the best Chile and I will brave a snow storm to go get some.
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Old 06-03-2007, 09:45 PM
 
Location: My heart is in Wyoming, my body is soon to follow.....
745 posts, read 4,065,276 times
Reputation: 333
Okay let's explain Sinclair a little further. It's a refinery with houses built next to it. I'm no doctor but I'm guessing that's not the healthiest air to be breathing, not to mention the "stuff" that ends up on everything around them. I could never understand what people that live near the refinery in Cheyenne were thinking. Just my opinion.
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