Casper WY Pros and Cons, living and doing business (sales, motel)

[pax4pax]

Looking at Casper to move to from Park City UT, wanting to continue snow, mountains, outdoor activities, comfortable weather (outside of Winter), but get a little more options than the tourist town of Park City. Can day-to-day activities continue in Winter?

In Winter, are roads kept clear, driveable?

Having grown up in the South, a good Church community would be nice. How is such in Casper?

Also, want to staff a business that will grow once there. Is there a good work force available?

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by pax4pax

Looking at Casper to move to from Park City UT, wanting to continue snow, mountains, outdoor activities, comfortable weather (outside of Winter), but get a little more options than the tourist town of Park City. Can day-to-day activities continue in Winter?


normal "day-to-day activities" continue in Winter months, but bear in mind that wintertime conditions in Casper are frequently far more brutal than the Park City area/outdoor recreation norms.

For example, average daily wind energy densities/wind gusts are frequently much stronger in Casper than Park City. What might otherwise be an enjoyable day outside doing wintertime recreational activities in the Casper area can turn into a most unpleasant experience with 40-50-60 mph wind gusts.

In Winter, are roads kept clear, driveable?

Within reason, yes. State, county, and municipal crews are out plowing their respective roads during the duration of storms through the area and dealing with the wind-driven snow drifts afterwards. Sunshine and very dry humidity levels play an important role, too, with sublimation of the moisture on the roads removing a lot of it when the conditions develop. It's not unusual for sub-zero ambient temps to still have snow/ice disappearing from the streets between storm fronts moving through and dropping more snow.

Keep in mind that there are priorities for which roads will get the most and first attention. Primary traffic roads, especially those for first responders, will be dealt with first. School bus route roads are residential area priority roads. Local neighborhood surface streets will be the last to get attention.

For the most part, I've had no serious difficulty getting around the Casper and surrounding areas over the last 20 years in winter months with everything from a 1982 MB 300Dt through a Subaru OBW (AWD with All season tires). Even my 1992 Dodge 2500 RamVan Roadtrek RV has been able to negotiate my in-town area camping and commercial account sales calls for 10 years.

But there are times when it's prudent to be "off the roads". WYDOT can and will issue road reports that may advise "no unnecessary travel", and it may be a wise decision to heed these advisories. As well, I've had more than a few times in the last decade when travel past the outskirts of Casper proper was an ill-advised venture. The snowplows simply couldn't keep up with the storm intensity at the time and I found that my best action was to get off the highway and find a place to wait out the storm. With my RV, that gave me a lot of options … with my cars, it was prudent to find a motel (if I could, it's not uncommon for the outlying area motels to "sell out" in these conditions)


Having grown up in the South, a good Church community would be nice. How is such in Casper?

You'll find just about every denomination has a presence in Casper, so your choices are numerous.

Also, want to staff a business that will grow once there. Is there a good work force available?

Depends upon what skillsets your business requires. If you need to hire folks away from existing businesses or attract them into the area, you'll need the usual incentives to do so. Pay rates/working conditions/benefits/opportunities for advancement … all come into play. What have you got to offer?

[nm9stheham]

Quite windy.. particularly in winter. This link has more data than you probably want.. but the pix at the beginning says it all LOL

Wyoming Climate Atlas

Church directories are found online.

Casper seems like a regular working town for the most part, not a resort town. Have you checked the demographics on this site?