Couple of questions from a college student (Laramie: fit in, real estate)

[IgneousIsBliss]

Hi all,
I did do a search, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I would appreciate any help.
My boyfriend and I are both geology students at the University of Texas at Dallas and have been debating where to go for graduate school. We have been looking at Golden, CO for a good while now, but the cost of living in Colorado especially around Denver has led us to look to other places. We would be looking to live close to UW, and have a couple of questions about the area, mainly financial. Just want to get an idea of the general cost of living from people who have lived or live in the area, as well as taxes (we can look this up, though), housing market (boyfriend does a little real estate work), job market, etc. Looking at the tuition of UW scared us a little.
We both are both very outdoorsy and are avid backpackers/hikers, absolutely love cold weather (-20 is always better than 110), and can't get enough of the mountains. So we do believe that we would fit in well in Wyoming seeing as how we rarely if ever take advantage of living near a huge metroplex; we would actually rather not, in fact. Just to throw in a random question, how close ARE the mountains to UW? In Golden they would've been literally in our backyard which was very attractive, however it all goes back to the costs.
Thank you in advance for any help

[ElkHunter]

The job market can be researched at www.wyomingatwork.com

As to the area around UW, I've visited but never lived there so I'll leave that up to the experts.

My Brother in Law went to UW. Matter of fact, he got his PHD in Geology. He's now a State Geologist, but I won't mention what state cause it would give him away.

As a student, he contracted to the coal mines. During the summer, he camped, hiked, took all his info. During the winter, while going to school he'd do all his mapping in a bedroom he set up as an office. He made enough money doing that to put himself through school and live pretty well in a house in Laramie.

Larmie is only a few miles from the Mountains. Just minutes away actually. Very beautiful part of the state.

Good luck! Somebody will be along shortly to answer question about Larmie.

[Wyomama2]

The Snowy Range is a 30 minute drive from town. There are two different roads you can take for access to different areas. From what you say you love as far as weather and access to outdoor activities Laramie sounds like your Nirvana. The only pitfall in my book is the wind. They get serious wind there, I'm talking upwards of 50 mph winds and a lot of it. It's more unusual for it to be windstill than not. For summer a week at 90 is normal and then it's generally in the 70's to 80's. Everyone that is acclimated of course thinks the 90's is just awful but the first summer you spend there it's great! It also cools off a lot at night in the summer, I wore jeans to go out at night would take a light jacket just in case, especially if we were going to be doing something outside.

[Wyomama2]

You would enjoy the summit and Veadawoo for backpacking/hiking too. It's about a 30 minute drive east of Laramie off I-80, you can also turn off onto Happy Jack Road at the top of the Summit and take it into Veadawoo from the backside. Very pretty drive!

[jody_wy]

off campus apartments seem totart around $400 to $1000 depending how close and how new , how old. Some pretty old houses and aparts , to new town houses.
we been paid $600 for a two bedroom apartment last year, this year 1/3 for a small house is $292/person plus utilities that averaged $60/month

[WyoNewk]

You should also consider on-campus housing. Both of my kids attended UW and lived in campus housing. My daughter spent 5 years in the apartments for married students. They aren't fancy, but they're adequate, clean, convenient to classes, and priced right.

[jody_wy]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

You should also consider on-campus housing. Both of my kids attended UW and lived in campus housing. My daughter spent 5 years in the apartments for married students. They aren't fancy, but they're adequate, clean, convenient to classes, and priced right.

the lambing sheds hear they have done some work on them....