Living in Laramie (moved from another thread) (rentals, homes)

[camysandoval]

my son is going to graduate from high school in California, he want to go to study in Wyoming technical institute, he wants to moved in June.i am afraid, i don't know nothing about Laramie WY. I want to moved with him because i am traditional mother and i don't want to leave him alone. i don't know what job opportunities there can be, and how expensive the life can be there.Can somebody please help me? camysandoval@yahoo.com thanks.

[fr8train]

Laramie, and Wyoming for that matter, is probably one of the safest places someone can move to. To illustrate: some people choose not to lock their bikes up here. I wouldn't advise anyone not to lock their property up, but it's something I haven't really seen anywhere else. That being said, if someone wants trouble, I'm sure they can find it, just like anywhere else.

I'll leave the other questions for people on here who are more knowledgeable than I am. I'll only add that you may want to visit the town, and the sooner the better, to start looking for rentals. It was a lot of work, and a bit of luck, before I was able to find a nice place here.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by fr8train

...visit the town, and the sooner the better, to start looking for rentals. It was a lot of work, and a bit of luck, before I was able to find a nice place here.

If he's moving in June, that should help very much in finding a rental. Laramie is also home to Wyoming's only 4-year college, the University of Wyoming, so there should be a lot of empty rentals in June.

The university isn't big by university standards (10K-12K enrollment?), but for Laramie it's pretty big, so he'll likely be competing with its students for low-paying jobs. The tech school might be able to help out with finding a job and a rental. As for you finding a job that would earn you a living wage, I don't know. There would be lots of service jobs that pay low wages, hardly enough to live on. Other than that it depends a bunch on your experience.

Both of my kids attended UW, but that's been more than a decade ago, so I can't help you much with costs, etc. Laramie is an Old West town, of course, so it's got its share of old homes, old buildings, and somewhat run-down neighborhoods, but overall it's a fairly nice community with a mix of cowboys and university employees and students.

As Laramie sits at about 7K feet ASL, it does have very cold winters with lots of wind, but the summers are nice.

I just have to add, parents don't normally move to the college town where/while their children attend school. If your son is graduating from high school, you might should consider cutting the apron strings and let him spread his wings and experience life on his own. That's part of growing up. If you've raised him well, he should do fine. Laramie isn't a dangerous town by any means. Like Fr8train wrote, if he wants to find trouble he will; otherwise he'll be fine. With that I'll butt out; it's certainly no business of mine. It just seems odd....

P.S. I'd remove your email address or you're inviting all kinds of spam. ElkHunter could help you with that if you decide to.

[CptnRn]

A few things you need to know about Wyoming, especially coming from California.

The winters are harsh and 9 months long, especially around Laramie where it is very windy.

Wages are low because of all the students competing for jobs.

The state has very low public services and benefits so don't count on those being of any help.

Given that your son is now of college age, you should do him the favor of cutting the apron strings and let him learn to get by on his own. Living with his mama while in a college age school will seriously hamper him socially and personally in his growth.

Lots of high school graduates go off on their own to college and technical schools in the Laramie area every year and do just fine. Let him go, let him grow up.

Moving costs are very expensive. Don't give up what you have in California to move out to Laramie. If you keep your home base in CA at least he will have that to come home to if he needs a fall back position.