Wind in Wyoming (Laramie, Sheridan, Lander: buy, live, stores)

[rmmoore]

While Wyoming does have it's own "desert" country, perhaps you'd be better advised to take advice from people who acually LIVE here, and not a tourist passing through. That really pi..es me off when I hear people say things like that. Yes, we certainly have our own "challenges", make no mistake. But we don't, for the most part, live in a dead desert. Wyoming certainly isn't as tree'd or green as other parts of the Country, NOPE, sure isn't. But it's not southern Nevada, Arizona, or New Mexico either.

We live near Cheyenne, on 5 acres in the County. When we moved here I traded my 24' pleasure boat for a John Deere tractor with a bucket for snow removal and a brush hog for keeping the grass and field cut back. Best deal I ever made. Although not as plush as other places, it's green enough to keep me busy cutting during the summer, and plowing snow during the winter

Again, get advice from someone who lives here. DurianBeach, maybe it's a good thing you kept driving, we probably wouldn't want you for a neighbor anyway. Like someone else said, if your name has "Beach" in it, you should keep moving, you'd hate it here anyway.

[harryglos]

Powell, Wyoming... Yes folks you heard it here first... "The Forgotten City"! Some would say Atlantis, but I tell you friends and neighbors, its Powell!

I'm having fun here because my wife and I are moving to Powell in March and it amazes me how few times Powell is ever mentioned here on the forum. Not even a wind mention and I've seen many of you on the forum showing all kinds of wind! Yah, I know what your thinking, "that goes for you too there Harry boy"!

Well, right you are... So how about a shout out to good ol Powell, its wind and its mention, I'm just sayin...

Harry

[CptnRn]

Sounds like Powell just got a whole lot windier!

[harryglos]

Cptn, you have no idea!

[bobbymcsnoddy]

I've lived in Lander for years. It's beautiful and green certain times of the year, but it's nothing like the Carolinas. Of course, we don't get the heat or humdity either. The air is very dry most of the time. The winters are cold and long, so I would suggest an extended winter visit prior to going through the expense of moving here. As far as wind speed, Lander has the lowest windspeed in Wyoming, but that doesn't mean we never get it! This last March, our fence blew down in a 65 mph gust. The surrounding area is absolutely beautiful, but there are not a lot of jobs to be had and shopping is very limited if you're looking for city amenities.

[R82801]

I grew up in a true desert: Southern Israel. Sage brush to me is not desert, in southern Israel there are hardly any plants for most of the year with some grasses that come up in the winter, by April they are gone. Some salt bushes grow in the dry gullies. When I drove across country (the USA) I did not see any desert, even in Nevada. I admit it is desert. Geographers use 250mm of precip, for those of you who are not metric, that is 10 inches. Most of Wyoming is well above that. North American deserts have much more vegitation and wild life that the Sahara and its margins.

Places in Wyoming that are a bit more green than others are Sheridan, Lander, Cody, Guersney, Newcastle, Jackson. Green here is limited to not in the winter and it usually ends sometime in August or September and turns yellow-brown, and I don't mean New England autumn yellow-orange-red.

We do not compete with PA, TN, or most other places on the east coast. Seattle, San Francisco, coastal alaska are the exceptions to this rule when it comes to green. I guess my point is there is a lot between 'green' and 'desert' and we fit into that gap.

[Darrow]

I live in Cody, grew up in Lovell, lived in Worland and have family in Lander. The areas you are interested in are scenic and near mountains. Lander seems more humid (not in a bad way) to me than Cody and greener (very pretty town). Of the 3 Wyoming towns I've lived in, I prefer Cody because it's larger, has better medical facilities/docs and abundant outdoor rec...you also have more variety in stores/restaurants, etc. However, most people drive to Billings, MT to do major shopping like back to school and Christmas.

There are times when it's difficult for me to live here mentally. The wind can be brutal and the winters seem to go 6 or 8 months - but most every day is sunny, so that helps. I don't care for some of the prevailing religious attitudes either, but that's me.

Cody also has a terrible deer problem. You have to put cages around everything or fence off gardens. We've had bear in our yard, along with skunk, coons, coyotes and we are in town.

We are minutes from a lake, but the water is cold for skiing and windy for most of the afternoon boating, can be dangerous...it's pretty tho...and it's a beautiful drive to Yellowstone Park, a quick hour away, full of wildlife.

The major industry here is oil and mining, so we get our fill of conservation issues. There's a lot of tax revenue from this, so we have good schools, medical and pretty good roads. We also have meth and alcohol abuse and a very high suicide rate.

For being 1 of the larger states in the USA, we have the lowest popultation as a state in the whole country - you can interpret that however you like.

[Froggie Legs]

I moved from Minnesota to Lander 11 years ago and there is definitely a lack of green in comparison, especially when you head out of town. Still I love the Lander area and wouldn't hesitate to move back, even though the "culture shock" of missing green grasses, heavily wooded deciduous forests and such--which took me over 6 months to get used to--is still there. It's a good town to raise kids in.
Not sure about the job market though. Would line up a job before moving.. and visit all potential locales!

[mp3108r]

Wyoming is the indian word for high desert plain. The farms and ranches in Wyoming are irrigated.

The best way to locate a place to live is visit that place during several times a year. Shop in the stores, and see if you feel comfortable with the people that live there. That goes for any other place in the country.

[mp3108r]

+1 to Darrow. That is saying it like it really is. Meth is becoming a problem, like every where else.

As far as alcohol: I moved here from another state. In fact lived in several states. Only my personal opinion, but in other states you seem to find social controlled drinking. A glass of wine at dinner or a drink before dinner. In Wyomin it just seems to me there is no middle ground, either abuse or non drinkers. If you are a social drinker you may get classified as an alcoholic that is going to that deep firey hole. I guess a lot of that comes from over drinking and family problems throughout the history of Wyoming. If you are looking for churches, you'll find them here. Per capita probably more than anyplace else in the country.