Moving To Gillette-Need Advice,Please

[Katelynn]

Move to Lander.

[Mom in Gillette]

I dont know...Gillette isnt all that bad. But the housing situation is rough. There literaly is nothing to rent here. But lots of houses for sale. Its a sellers market right now so prices are high (relative..its all relative I see them as low compared to CA..) We have people moving here from Michigan to work in the coal mines and they are indeed living in motels or thier cars.

Gillette is in a boom, that means that housing is short and prices are high. I am afraid that it will be very difficult to find a home to rent that will allow pets of any kind. I look in the paper daily for a larger rental home and there just isnt anything. Perhaps the best bet would be to come out and buy a home right away instead of renting if you are able to do that. If you are stuck renting and can FIND a rental that wont take your dogs perhaps you can find a someone here that can watch them. I have watched a dog for someone in that situation.

I don't know why people say that people here are rude. Sure there are bad drivers and rude people everywhere you go. But when that tornado hit wright, I packed up my Surburban with food, toiletries, and pet supplies (I coupon so I have a stockpile) and drove it down to Wright. So we all can't be too bad. People here I feel are pretty friendly. I have men open the door for me at restraunts, people I know from Church or school will call me to tell me that one of my kids is down at Walmart acting up. LOL When driving, we have found that people will go out of thier way to help you out. And we always do the same when we come across someone who has broken down.

As far as trees go...the OP stated that they have been to Gillette before so they should know that this is the plains and its dry here and unless someone planted the trees, they don't grow on thier own. If you want more trees...plant them or move elseware.

[MRVphotog]

This thread is similar to the one about Rawlins. I lived in Gillette for two years after graduating from UW. Yup, it ain't real pretty but the Big Horns and the Black Hills are not a bad drive.

I found the people pretty awesome and actually enjoyed my stay. Casper is pretty similar but the wind definately blows abit harder there. Casper before the oil resession of the early 70's was the biggest city in the state but they lost a bunch during that period and Cheyenne became the state's largest. BTW I worked as a photog for the Casper Star Tribune for about 6 years.

I'll repeat what I said on the Rawlins thread. Alot of places in Wyoming look pretty ugly whe you drive by but as you get to know the town and it's people things get much better...at least that was my experience.

Here is a live web cam from Gillette
Welcome to the Wyoming Department of Transportation/WYDOT - Highway Information - Web Cameras - Gillette

[ruggedindividual]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

Wow, finally a posting (above) that accurately reflects the realities of coming to Wyoming on a wage-based income for a family.

So how much should a person expect to earn in order to have a decent quality of life in Gillette? I mean, a 4-person family living in at least a 2000 sq.ft. home without going broke...what does it take to support that out there? Where I'm at now I earn roughly $22.50 (I'm salaried so that's an estimate) and I get by fine. But that's Texas; housing is cheaper and plentiful.

I'm trying to get this information so I might negotiate a suitable salary if offered the position up there. Thanks for the help.

[bigreez]

Originally Posted by navyvet79

So how much should a person expect to earn in order to have a decent quality of life in Gillette? I mean, a 4-person family living in at least a 2000 sq.ft. home without going broke...what does it take to support that out there? Where I'm at now I earn roughly $22.50 (I'm salaried so that's an estimate) and I get by fine. But that's Texas; housing is cheaper and plentiful.

I'm trying to get this information so I might negotiate a suitable salary if offered the position up there. Thanks for the help.

The company I work for did some work on this in the big horn basin were it is not booming a single income family of four to buy a modest house, and one car and medical and all working 40 hours/week would need $17.50/hour. If you owned a house allready it was consiterably less.

[ljstueb]

I would like to respond to your post. I hope you are not refering to the entire state of Wyoming. In the residents of Wyomings defense, not all of us are tweekers, meth addicts or crack heads. Most of us are honest and hard working. Most of us came here looking for a great place to live and raise our children and have found it. I have lived here with my husband for 11 years and we are raising our 2 children here (who were also born here). When we first came here, 11 years ago, after 4 years of being on the road with industrial construction, we loved it here and still do. It was so much better than the many places we had been to in our travels, which did include states from Alaska to South Carolina. It's the minor burdens here that make it undesireable to some, such as, the out-of-staters that come to find work during the booms that lead to the price gouging of the homes. When we bought our home 6 years ago, we paid $80,000 for our 5 bedroom, 2 bath home built in the newer part of town. Last month it appraised for $200,000. If people are coming here to relax in our TREE LADEN mountains, or to fish our many lakes and rivers and streams, then come on in and enjoy yourself, but leave leave nothing but your footprints because this is NOT New Jersey, or like any other over populated state, and every city in Wyoming is not like Gillette. Wyoming is a beautiful place to live, it just has to recover from the boom. I live in the southwestern part of the state, but have been to Gillette on several occasions. Maybe that is not the best city to live in but please don't discount the rest of the state. If you just want to check it out, maybe purchasing a 5th wheel is the answer. Been there - done that too! It's not bad with just 2 people and the "kids" (animals). Most of the people who are from here are very friendly. I have been to no othere state where when you pass a car or a pedestrian or cyclist they wave, weather they know you or not! It's awesome here!

Originally Posted by KRONUS

I recently moved to Gillette, wy about 10 months ago. Prices for the lowest quality housing you can think of is through the roof! 2,000 1,500 a month for a run down trailer house. Seriously, me and my family were almost stuck living in the parking lot of the place I worked at (NPT) North Park Transportation. Highway robbery around there to say the least. Let's put it this way, my family (Me and wife and 3 kids kids) stayed in the worst motel in Gillette , Arrowhead Motel, paid $550.00 per week for a one room efficiency and was forced out because summer was coming and the owner could charge $100.00 more for tourists. The people drive like back where I came from, New Jersey. They are rude and selfish. You WILL NOT find what your looking for in personality types as portrayed in any magazine or online resource. You can find a good paying job here, yeah. But, with what people charge you around here you'll still wind up broke. Oh yeah, just in case you haven't found this out yet, there are a lot of Meth addicts out here (similar to the "crack-heads" of the East Coast). Don't let these people bullcrap you they want your money. THAT'S IT!
One more thing, TREES?! forget about 'em they don't have any out here unless they try to make the downtown look good...again for tourism, and I guess because when people go to work around there they can feel that the "dog eat dog" approach to the housing situation (which has existed since the 70's when the citizens lived in tents) is still the right approach. It's a dusty nasty ignorant place to live. Don't make the mistake I did, when you drive down the road and see an exit for Gillette keep right on going. It took me a while to get back on my feet (working in the coal mines now) but I'm now renting in Wright, Wy for 750.00 a month plus utilities in a Fema trailer (town was detroyed last year by a tornado). Wish you the best of luck because i STILL need it.

I swore to myself that I'd NEVER forget how me and my family was treated there. Some of the towns citizens have no clue how bad it's gotten.