Casper/Natrona County

[cofen380]

My wife and I are looking to move from NC next summer. Originally Montana was where we had our sights set, but underwhelming pay for educators and housing prices are proving that to be unlikely.

We’re in Casper right now on a scouting trip and will be in Sheridan as well over the next few days before we fly back out of Cheyenne. Doing everything we can to make an informed decision, I’d love to hear people’s honest experiences living in Natrona county. Specifically, the culture here, church communities, as well as the schools since that’s where we’d be working. We’re open to other towns depending on job availability/cost of housing.

For what it’s worth, we’re trying to be very honest about what life here would be like for us, and I appreciate any honest feedback on people with firsthand experience.


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[TaperPin]

I think of Casper as a windy son of a gun, but it has a lot going for it - large enough to have a variety of stores and more importantly plenty of people to connect with that love the outdoors. It takes some driving, but being located in the center of the state means you’ll be a half day away from just about anything the state offers. You have boating not far away if you’re into that. The best antelope hunting in the state is close by. The various small creeks across Wyoming have great fly fishing.

You have to become friends with the wind - it will blow and you will either accept it as a natural part of living, just like gravity or sunshine turning into darkness, or you’ll cus it constantly. It would be pretty weird to constantly cus gravity or be irritated when the sun goes down, but some folks can’t wait to move out of the wind. You use a flashlight in the dark, and you park a car facing into the wind - it will become second nature.

The weird thing for me, was figuring out where dirt was getting in my gas and clogging gas filters - turned out my favorite gas station was just constantly pelted with blowing dust and it settled into the gas pump nozzles. Modern cars seem to have larger filter screens built into the fuel pumps, but replaceable filters probably sell quite well.

Car windshields get hazy with time from the blowing dirt - it never bothered us to break a windshield and get a new nice and clear replacement.

Empty box trucks do blow over on Outer Drive (or whatever they call it now), you just learn to not drive down wind of high profile vehicles.

There are places girls shouldn’t go jogging by themselves, just like anywhere. There are meth heads, just like anywhere. Just because it’s out west doesn’t mean it’s an episode of Leave it to Beaver.

 

[cofen380]

I think of Casper as a windy son of a gun, but it has a lot going for it - large enough to have a variety of stores and more importantly plenty of people to connect with that love the outdoors. It takes some driving, but being located in the center of the state means you’ll be a half day away from just about anything the state offers. You have boating not far away if you’re into that. The best antelope hunting in the state is close by. The various small creeks across Wyoming have great fly fishing.

You have to become friends with the wind - it will blow and you will either accept it as a natural part of living, just like gravity or sunshine turning into darkness, or you’ll cus it constantly. It would be pretty weird to constantly cus gravity or be irritated when the sun goes down, but some folks can’t wait to move out of the wind. You use a flashlight in the dark, and you park a car facing into the wind - it will become second nature.

The weird thing for me, was figuring out where dirt was getting in my gas and clogging gas filters - turned out my favorite gas station was just constantly pelted with blowing dust and it settled into the gas pump nozzles. Modern cars seem to have larger filter screens built into the fuel pumps, but replaceable filters probably sell quite well.

Car windshields get hazy with time from the blowing dirt - it never bothered us to break a windshield and get a new nice and clear replacement.

Empty box trucks do blow over on Outer Drive (or whatever they call it now), you just learn to not drive down wind of high profile vehicles.

There are places girls shouldn’t go jogging by themselves, just like anywhere. There are meth heads, just like anywhere. Just because it’s out west doesn’t mean it’s an episode of Leave it to Beaver.

Appreciate your thoughts. I wish we could spend more time here in the winter to experience the wind and cold, but it’s not super feasible for us with our jobs. Casper definitely checks a lot of the boxes though with its location and what it offers.


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[go_deep]

Life in Wyoming is different, life in different Wyoming towns is definitely different. If your not into driving, living in a town like Casper makes the town of Casper your bubble.
The wind is real, just embrace it and don't let it stop you from doing activities. If you stay home because it's windy, you'll almost always be home.
If your a conservative, and don't mind a blue collar dirt under your fingernails working community, Casper will do you just fine.

 

[cofen380]

Life in Wyoming is different, life in different Wyoming towns is definitely different. If your not into driving, living in a town like Casper makes the town of Casper your bubble.
The wind is real, just embrace it and don't let it stop you from doing activities. If you stay home because it's windy, you'll almost always be home.
If your a conservative, and don't mind a blue collar dirt under your fingernails working community, Casper will do you just fine.

Yeah that definitely confirms a lot of things we’ve heard. I’m probably less likely to stay home bc of the wind than I do now because of the humidity in NC. Do you have any experience with churches or schools in the community?


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[mxgsfmdpx]

Casper wind will make you question why you even live there.

 

[cofen380]

Casper wind will make you question why you even live there.

NC humidity is making me question why I live here


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[LongWayAround]

We stayed at some folks' house in Casper while fishing the North Platte a few weeks ago. I asked them how they liked Casper, as a town, and also if they had any thoughts on Sheridan.

They basically said that they love Casper and that they felt like Sheridan is more "cliquey" and harder to get into a friend group.

The city had a food truck and music deal going on while we were there that seemed very popular.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Visiting in July is a best case scenario for Casper. Go visit in again January and spend a couple weeks there.

We’ve spent significant time in Wyoming over the years, and finally landed on a location that still sucks in the winter, but doesn’t suck as much, and has far less wind. PM me.

Remarkable Facts About Nonstop Wind in Casper Wyoming

Regardless of the season, the wind is there. We took a look at the facts, and it blew us away. The numbers tell a windy story about Casper.

mycountry955.com

 

[cofen380]

We stayed at some folks' house in Casper while fishing the North Platte a few weeks ago. I asked them how they liked Casper, as a town, and also if they had any thoughts on Sheridan.

They basically said that they love Casper and that they felt like Sheridan is more "cliquey" and harder to get into a friend group.

The city had a food truck and music deal going on while we were there that seemed very popular.

We did a trip on the North Platte yesterday with lone tree outfitters and it was awesome. Funny, my wife just read something on Facebook about Sheridan and they were saying the same thing.


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[Shooter264]

I live in Casper. Been here 5 years and it’s not a bad place to live at all. Decent amount of Public land and tons to do. Have 3 kids that have went to the Elementary, Middle, and High School and I have nothing but positive things to say about the school system.

 

[go_deep]

Yeah that definitely confirms a lot of things we’ve heard. I’m probably less likely to stay home bc of the wind than I do now because of the humidity in NC. Do you have any experience with churches or schools in the community?


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PM sent.

For what it's worth I didn't grow up with wind where I lived, I work outside in the wind year round and it doesn't bother me a bit, you just have to learn to lean as you walk.

 

[SDHNTR]

I may go against the grain here and I hope not to offend. There are a lot of places in WY where I could live, but Casper is not one of them. The wind would be issue number one. It’s also a very blue collar town. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but as educators, you are likely highly educated yourself. You may find yourself longing for more cultural refinements, entertainment, etc. There just isn’t much nice, restaurants, theatre, higher end stores, etc. if that sort of thing is important to you.

 

[cofen380]

I live in Casper. Been here 5 years and it’s not a bad place to live at all. Decent amount of Public land and tons to do. Have 3 kids that have went to the Elementary, Middle, and High School and I have nothing but positive things to say about the school system.

That’s good to hear about those schools, thank you. Our fishing guide was pretty helpful in giving us a lay of the land in terms of public land as well. What do you do for work here?


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[Lil-Rokslider]

Some of our good friends moved to Sheridan to help plant a church a few years back. We've gone to visit, and have always said if we were going to move somewhere else (currently in Northern Colorado), we'd go to Sheridan. PM me if you want more info.

 

[cofen380]

I may go against the grain here and I hope not to offend. There are a lot of places in WY where I could live, but Casper is not one of them. The wind would be issue number one. It’s also a very blue collar town. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but as educators, you are likely highly educated yourself. You may find yourself longing for more cultural refinements, entertainment, etc. There just isn’t much nice, restaurants, theatre, higher end stores, etc. if that sort of thing is important to you.

No offense taken at all, I’m here for honest feedback whether it lines up with what we want to hear or not. Fortunately we really don’t fit that mold of being highly educated and having lots of needs at all. We need very little in terms of entertainment and shopping, and if you saw how little we did at home as far as “going out” you’d probably laugh. If you could live somewhere else in the state (realistically) where would it be?


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[Shooter264]

That’s good to hear about those schools, thank you. Our fishing guide was pretty helpful in giving us a lay of the land in terms of public land as well. What do you do for work here?


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I manage our Wyoming operations for a major Oil and Gas company

 

[cofen380]

I manage our Wyoming operations for a major Oil and Gas company

That checks out for Casper


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[grfox92]

Life in Wyoming is different, life in different Wyoming towns is definitely different. If your not into driving, living in a town like Casper makes the town of Casper your bubble.
The wind is real, just embrace it and don't let it stop you from doing activities. If you stay home because it's windy, you'll almost always be home.
If your a conservative, and don't mind a blue collar dirt under your fingernails working community, Casper will do you just fine.

This is very well put. I used to be left confused and bewildered by the way people spoke about life in Wyoming. Terrible meth problems, terrible crime, no work ect. It took me living here for a few years to understand that where you live in Wyoming might as well put you on another planet compared to other areas of the state. Where you choose to live in this state will make or break it for you.

 

[cofen380]

This is very well put. I used to be left confused and bewildered by the way people spoke about life in Wyoming. Terrible meth problems, terrible crime, no work ect. It took me living here for a few years to understand that where you live in Wyoming might as well put you on another planet compared to other areas of the state. Where you choose to live in this state will make or break it for you.

Yeah that’s an interesting concept that I probably couldn’t fully comprehend unless I lived here like you mentioned. It makes sense considering how spread out everything is, combined with low populations.


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