Move to WY?

[stonewall]

I’m not jealous...

would love to move to Wyoming

 

[manitou1]

There is a lot of info on demographics, avg income, avg house cost on the net for WY. Look on Realtor.com or Zillow for an idea of housing costs.
We are building a new home in WY now, moving in spring. Considerations: Houses in Sheridan/Buffalo are about $150-$200K higher than comparable to here where we live in MO. Groceries are about 15-20% higher, gas is about 20% higher. Everything is expensive compared to here. We have been going to WY every year, sometimes multiple times a year for 24 years as my wife grew up there. Just some considerations.

 

[cnelk]

Man, Im in Laramie a lot. That is not a place in WY Id consider moving to.

Good ol 'Laradise'

 

[Newtosavage]

We all know if you want rolling moutians plenty of public land and good run government and a low cost of living you should move to Illinois....

Believe it or not, the shawnee hills of southern Illinois has nearly all of those things so long as you just ignore the politics up north. But most folks won't believe that because it's "Illinois"

OP good luck on your search. I've considered WY as well, and I think your story is going to be a familiar one post-covid with so many folks going to remote work.

 

[Bärenjäger]

Believe it or not, the shawnee hills of southern Illinois has nearly all of those things so long as you just ignore the politics up north. But most folks won't believe that because it's "Illinois"

OP good luck on your search. I've considered WY as well, and I think your story is going to be a familiar one post-covid with so many folks going to remote work.

I grew up in southern Indiana across the Wabash river from Illinois. Spot-on on southern Illinois. Deer hunting paradise. Good mix of city/town sizes to choose from. Most good ole Midwestern values in most folks. I might roll my eyes at the thought of comparing anything to a mountain...

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[Newtosavage]

I grew up in southern Indiana across the Wabash river from Illinois. Spot-on on southern Illinois. Deer hunting paradise. Good mix of city/town sizes to choose from. Most good ole Midwestern values in most folks. I might roll my eyes at the thought of comparing anything to a mountain...

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Yea, def. not mountains, but def. not flat cornfields either. If you hunt the NF along the Ohio or Miss. river bluffs, there are some 300' ravines to climb in and out of. Pretty handy for leaving the atv crowd behind.

 

[Ranger 692]

Sheridan will be tough to find something nice in that price range from what we’ve experienced.

 

[Bärenjäger]

Yea, def. not mountains, but def. not flat cornfields either. If you hunt the NF along the Ohio or Miss. river bluffs, there are some 300' ravines to climb in and out of. Pretty handy for leaving the atv crowd behind.

Been there brother! Gorgeous country too.

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[Plainsman79]

Putting some solid thought into moving to WY; main reason is for a change of scenery and to be in the mountains/close to them. Love being in the outdoors and for a couple years think it would be fun while the kids are young along with myself/wife being young. Any good areas recommended for combination of good elementary schools/mountain views/access for hiking/fishing/regional airport within 1 hr? Appreciate the help in making a big decision. Normal 4 person family looking for 250-350k house/land range.
Note: Both are jobs are staying the same just remote.

Good luck with your decision, and I’d definitely do it now while you and your family is young. The older your kids get, the harder the move becomes. Have you spent any considerable amount of time in Wyoming? Laramie is a tough place to be in the winter. Montana blows and Colorado sucks, which means your always dealing with wind a calm or breezy day is anything 35mph or less. Cheyenne fits the bill with what your looking for. A Regional airport, the snowy range about an hour away, Denver (close enough) if your into that kinda thing. Housing is kinda high and isn’t getting any cheaper, but watch out for summer hail storms, they get some good ones. Good luck!!!

 

[Bucky]

Good luck with your decision, and I’d definitely do it now while you and your family is young. The older your kids get, the harder the move becomes. Have you spent any considerable amount of time in Wyoming? Laramie is a tough place to be in the winter. Montana blows and Colorado sucks, which means your always dealing with wind a calm or breezy day is anything 35mph or less. Cheyenne fits the bill with what your looking for. A Regional airport, the snowy range about an hour away, Denver (close enough) if your into that kinda thing. Housing is kinda high and isn’t getting any cheaper, but watch out for summer hail storms, they get some good ones. Good luck!!!

That is our same though process, as the kids are young it will be easier for a transition. I love winter as we do a lot of outdoor activities; skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, hunting. Good with the snow and cold; wind however always sucks. Have not spent considerable time there; going to be next spring/summer and that's when we are going to actually decide. Not a fan of Denver.. good inputs everyone; keep them coming. Thanks

 

[William Sublette]

WY is like Disneyland for men, and a nightmare for women.

Make sure everyone is on the same page.

The divorce rate for family's that move to wy is higher than the national average.

 

[Gobbler36]

Been looking to escape what ID is turning into, and want to head to WY. Honestly I’d pick a spot that’s nasty and terrible in the winter so that it doesn’t attract Californians like what’s happened to Boise.
Unfortunately for me I’ve got to find work there first which is proving to be difficult with my experience background (B2B flooring sales rep). Good luck in the search, I know I’m jealous

 

[wytx]

Been in Laramie for 32 years, moved up form Texas. Wind is wind, we have it all over Wyoming.
Lots of women do just fine in up here, the men have issues from what I've seen.
Just realize you will be isolated for parts of winter, road closures etc.. Folks get around town just fine in any weather.
10 minutes to the mountains east of town and less than an hour west. River right through town, plains lakes very close , good fishing close to town if not in it.
Folks are friendly but students at UW are the only drawback,they act like idiots once they get to town. Summers are nice and quiet usually.
We don't have most big box store but Ft Collins and Cheyenne are within an hour.

We have airports all over the state and most mountains are not landlocked, WTH were those comments?

 

[Bärenjäger]

Been in Laramie for 32 years, moved up form Texas. Wind is wind, we have it all over Wyoming.
Lots of women do just fine in up here, the men have issues from what I've seen.
Just realize you will be isolated for parts of winter, road closures etc.. Folks get around town just fine in any weather.
10 minutes to the mountains east of town and less than an hour west. River right through town, plains lakes very close , good fishing close to town if not in it.
Folks are friendly but students at UW are the only drawback,they act like idiots once they get to town. Summers are nice and quiet usually.
We don't have most big box store but Ft Collins and Cheyenne are within an hour.

We have airports all over the state and most mountains are not landlocked, WTH were those comments?

Residents trying to discourage more population inflow...

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[3forks]

WY is like Disneyland for men, and a nightmare for women.

Make sure everyone is on the same page.

The divorce rate for family's that move to wy is higher than the national average.

This advice is pretty important to consider.

I was born and raised in Durango, CO I saw a lot of families come and go after the life they envisioned they’d be be living turned out to be different and more difficult than they imagined.

When I was growing up there was a Sears catalog to order from if you needed to shop, there were hardly any restaurants to choose from, and locals were pretty standoffish to any newcomers. For a long time, I just attributed the remote location of Durango and the lack of anything other than outdoor recreation to keep people entertained for the reason people seemed to come and go so frequently.

I moved to Montana and lived there for 20 years. I can say that even though you could get whatever you needed from the Internet (Big box stores were also present), food and entertainment options were available, and travel via air was easy, I still saw a lot of families come and go.

I just think living in the west and the weather aren’t for everyone. It may work for a little while, but unless everyone in the family is committed to the same vision - the enthusiasm for just mainly having outdoor recreation as the justification for living in a place like WY or MT fades pretty quickly.

I would kind of compare some people adjusting to life in the West as to how many people adjusted to the quarantine situation we were in before it was relaxed. Some people have no trouble staying inside and not being bored, other people were climbing the walls. If you don’t think that a long windy and cold winter and spring will drive your family nuts because there’s not much to do but stay inside, or your family likes to shop and dine out frequently, I‘d give some careful consideration as to weather a move is actually worth it.

 

[Bucky]

This advice is pretty important to consider.

I was born and raised in Durango, CO I saw a lot of families come and go after the life they envisioned they’d be be living turned out to be different and more difficult than they imagined.

When I was growing up there was a Sears catalog to order from if you needed to shop, there were hardly any restaurants to choose from, and locals were pretty standoffish to any newcomers. For a long time, I just attributed the remote location of Durango and the lack of anything other than outdoor recreation to keep people entertained for the reason people seemed to come and go so frequently.

I moved to Montana and lived there for 20 years. I can say that even though you could get whatever you needed from the Internet (Big box stores were also present), food and entertainment options were available, and travel via air was easy, I still saw a lot of families come and go.

I just think living in the west and the weather aren’t for everyone. It may work for a little while, but unless everyone in the family is committed to the same vision - the enthusiasm for just mainly having outdoor recreation as the justification for living in a place like WY or MT fades pretty quickly.

I would kind of compare some people adjusting to life in the West as to how many people adjusted to the quarantine situation we were in before it was relaxed. Some people have no trouble staying inside and not being bored, other people were climbing the walls. If you don’t think that a long windy and cold winter and spring will drive your family nuts because there’s not much to do but stay inside, or your family likes to shop and dine out frequently, I‘d give some careful consideration as to weather a move is actually worth it.

Thanks for the in depth information as this is the type of information/questions to discuss with the family that I am really looking for. It may be a shock but my wife is really the one who is pushing for the move more than me as she really likes being in the mountains hiking/hunting/the views and quiet serenity. I'm a big water guy but know if I am on water in addition to the mountains i will be happy. She hunts too and actually has more bigger bucks than me, pretty cool i think.I think the length of winter/temp ranges will be a factor in where we ultimately decide in addition to the other specs i noted earlier.

 

[FS38]

Logged some miles in WY. Very windy!

 

[scooter25]

Thanks for all the great advice and input. With no income taxes where does WY typically drive revenue? From oil/gas taxes? I see property taxes are pretty low.

Something to consider when looking into Wyoming is vehicle/RV registration is probably 3-4 times what you are used to. I paid just under $400 to register my wifes SUV last month. I bought a new side by side this year and the registration fee on that was $600. Homeowners and vehicle insurance is also going to be more as well. You also may be traveling considerably more to get to dr. appointments, kids sports/other school activities, major hardware/home repair stores or get vehicles serviced. A lot of people I know that have moved here thought they would be saving all this extra money with no state income tax but it ends up being a wash with the additional property/registration taxes and fees you have to pay if you have multiple vehicles and a lot of toys.

 

[Carr5vols]

Move there, rent and if you don't like after first winter...move on to next option. You all are blessed to be in the situation you are in.

 

[Bärenjäger]

Move there, rent and if you don't like after first winter...move on to next option. You all are blessed to be in the situation you are in.

Man... That is solid wisdom! Good idea.


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