Looking for small town

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Every crowd must have one, and I guess this time I'm it.

I grew up in the midwest, west central Iowa, and moved to Gillette in 1971. During most of these nearly 42 years here I've made trips back to Iowa at Christmastime and many times throughout the year to visit family and check on property, enough times that I can compare weather. IMHO, Wyoming winters are no more severe than central Iowa's. Temperatures may be slightly colder in Gillette, and the winds are harsher, but the sun and drier air makes it feel warmer most days. Winters are longer, however, by a good month. We can thank the elevation for that, but we can also thank it for more comfortable summers.

Granted, the wind doesn't howl in NE Wyoming like it does in the SE quadrant of the state, but here it's not as horrible as some would have you believe. I also disagree somewhat with it feeling that much colder than Colorado. We DO warm up here and have bright, sunny days, just like Denver has. I watch Denver's 9 News weather nearly every day, and there's not that much difference. Denver does get weather patterns from the SW that sometimes warm the air, but they also bring in snow that misses us. Generally, I think Denver's higher elevation evens out its lower latitude.

Now if you're talking about Laramie's weather, or Cheyenne's, yeah, that higher elevation means lower temps and higher winds, but many Wyoming towns have fairly moderate winter temperatures and winds and lots of sunshine.

I wholeheartedly agree that Wyoming's winters, while longer, are more pleasant than Iowa's. The cold in Iowa cuts through you. While Wyoming does get wind, It doesn't seem as cold as Iowa to me a lot of the times. I also will take the longer winters in Wyoming over the summers in Iowa. I was there last summer and it was over 100 and the humidity was stifling. Our subzero temperatures are much better.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Nor a rental house, especially at $900 ....

Dubois is one of my favorite little towns in WY, but it's rather pricey ....

There are a couple of houses for sale right now at a price point where the PITI could be under $1,000/mo, but it would take the down payment and some cash in hand to be able to close on them .....

And then there is the question of what you would do for a living in Dubois after you bought your dream home
OD

P.S. Dubois is my favorite small West town too and my wife and I have seriously considered it. To us the cold for the most of the year just did not make it worth the price-of-housing shock...

[Chip_Vanilla]

I've never heard of Dubois. If anybody wants a small town in WY though, they're pretty much all small towns. Even the cities. There are probably nice places outside the confines of the rarefied uber-rich that haven't yet been discovered by developers.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Chip_Vanilla

I've never heard of Dubois.

It's just one of the little towns on the way to the Tetons and the South Entrance to YNP; if you've not heard of it, no worries ....

(snip)

There are probably nice places outside the confines of the rarefied uber-rich that haven't yet been discovered by developers.

I don't think so ... Wyoming was the hunting & fishing playground for the uber-wealthy even prior to railroad days when it wasn't easy to get here. I've got sportsman's guidebooks published just after the Civil War that tout the recreational virtues of this territory pre-statehood, and the wealthy set from back East or Europe traveling through bought up the lands around the most desirable places with an eye towards having a cabin out here for their occasional hunting/fishing visits. IOW, the charms of Wyoming were well known and pursued by the wealthy set long before statehood and even today those areas/towns remain fairly pricey.

As well, one has to recognize that approx 50% of the land area of Wyoming is in the hands of Fed or State gov't ownership, which means they're out of the reach of private ownership. Makes the remaining fee simple land in desirable places all the more valuable and exclusive, especially if the private lands landlock public lands so get to use it as their private backyard for their recreation .....

[bobbymcsnoddy]

I'll put in my two cents worth as a Lander resident, who has also lived in Cheyenne, and worked in Riverton. I've traveled the whole state in my job...top to bottom...east to west. There are many small towns that are nice places to live. My suggestion would be that if you want job opportunities and some shopping, try to find something that isn't so remote. Lander, for example, although beautiful, is 2 l/2hours away from Casper, 4 l/2 hours from Salt Lake (big airport) and 6 hours from Denver. (AND, that's in summer on GOOD roads) If all you need is a market or two, a few local stores and a Walmart (in Riverton 25 miles away), then Lander is a good choice as far as beauty. We've lived here since '96 and it was fine until our kids left home and got jobs out of state. Now, in order to go see them, we have long drives to airports. Also, I can remember taking my kid 145 miles to see a specialist because there wasn't that medical speciality in Lander. What about Laramie? Only about 25,000 and close to both Cheyenne and Fort Collins? Cold though! Higher altitude than Lander. Good luck whatever you choose.

[georgiainwyo]

I was born & raised in Basin/Manderson, and have lived in several Wyoming towns, almost all in the Big Horn Basin. After living in Montana for 13 years then Gillette for 3 years we moved back to my "home", the Big Horn Basin. We now live in Cody and love it. Besides those already mentioned I have lived in Greybull, Thermopolis (where my kids were raised & graduated from h.s.), and Meeteetse. For us, Cody is the "just right" size town. It isn't too small as we have Walmart, Kmart, Walgreen's, several fast food places, etc., as well as a lot of little shops (lots of touristy places being so close to Yellowstone), so if you need something you can usually find it in Cody. I have written previous posts that tell what else Cody has to offer. At just under 10K people, it is easy to make friends, but big enough that everyone in town doesn't know your business! It is 100 miles to Billings, Montana, the largest "city" anywhere close. Takes about 1.5 hours to get there on clear roads. Cody has a small airport and at times flights are as low priced as Billings, but not often. People in the BHB used to go to Billings a lot for specialized medical care. Now Cody is adding more and more specialists all the time. I just saw in the paper that a thoracic surgeon has moved to town. One thing I like about Cody is that although it does get windy, it is a clean town. I think that it being a tourist town (in summer) is part of the reason why. Of all of the Wyoming towns in which I have lived I like Cody the best. I really did like Gillette a lot, mostly due to my job and the good friends I made, but we like Cody better, and we are also biased as 3 of our 5 grandkids live here and the other 2 are in Billings! Cody gets my vote!

[Goin'toasquarestate]

Originally Posted by georgiainwyo

I was born & raised in Basin/Manderson, and have lived in several Wyoming towns, almost all in the Big Horn Basin. After living in Montana for 13 years then Gillette for 3 years we moved back to my "home", the Big Horn Basin. We now live in Cody and love it. Besides those already mentioned I have lived in Greybull, Thermopolis (where my kids were raised & graduated from h.s.), and Meeteetse. For us, Cody is the "just right" size town. It isn't too small as we have Walmart, Kmart, Walgreen's, several fast food places, etc., as well as a lot of little shops (lots of touristy places being so close to Yellowstone), so if you need something you can usually find it in Cody. I have written previous posts that tell what else Cody has to offer. At just under 10K people, it is easy to make friends, but big enough that everyone in town doesn't know your business! It is 100 miles to Billings, Montana, the largest "city" anywhere close. Takes about 1.5 hours to get there on clear roads. Cody has a small airport and at times flights are as low priced as Billings, but not often. People in the BHB used to go to Billings a lot for specialized medical care. Now Cody is adding more and more specialists all the time. I just saw in the paper that a thoracic surgeon has moved to town. One thing I like about Cody is that although it does get windy, it is a clean town. I think that it being a tourist town (in summer) is part of the reason why. Of all of the Wyoming towns in which I have lived I like Cody the best. I really did like Gillette a lot, mostly due to my job and the good friends I made, but we like Cody better, and we are also biased as 3 of our 5 grandkids live here and the other 2 are in Billings! Cody gets my vote!

Absolutely agree, Cody's situated just right and smaller towns around there are superb as well.

[CWRailroad]

Couple about to retire from Texas looking to move back to home state of Wyoming but would like to continue small scale vegetable farming and raising free range chickens. Looking for 10-20 acres and building a new energy efficient green home that will comfortable in both winter and summer. Lived in Chugwater Wyoming for a short time in the late 70's and would like to return to that area if possible but would be willing to look at other areas that may also fill our needs. Will not retire for 3 more years so it not like we need someplace tomorrow or yesterday. Just need time to make sure we fit in with the neighbors and can enjoy the rest of our lives doing what we enjoy most. Each other and growing the best darn veggies around