Tell me why I shouldn't move to wyoming...

[TheHammer]

Very similar situation myself, a lot of similarities. I was just in wyoming with the family on a road trip. And the last Hotel we stayed in I was online looking at real state, when we were in worland I talked with someone from the sheriffs office while waiting in line at subway. He said there’s a lot of transplants and mirrored similar points that are made in this thread. Then stated he was from new Jersey and had only been there 7years. A lot of the maintenance work is targeting younger single individuals, with meal and housing proposals in the job descriptions. It’s really easy to say hey just do it, but clearly you understand the leg work involved to make it happen-successfully.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

This is what I explain to everyone who asks this question. You can't understand it fully until you live here. The wind is one of the hardest things for people to get used too.

I've lived here for 4 years now and thank God it doesn't bother me real bad. Some people flat out sell the house and move back to where they came from, and by some I mean a lot.

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I've read so much about "the wind"... Hell, we live in one of the windiest spots around here...ontop of a hill at the peak of a valley facing due west. I've spent a cumulative time of over a month in various parts of wyoming over the last few years and yes...its windy...but never has it stuck me as the standing behind a jet engine wind that so many seem to mention...perhaps my timing has just been fortuitous

 

[grfox92]

I've read so much about "the wind"... Hell, we live in one of the windiest spots around here...ontop of a hill at the peak of a valley facing due west. I've spent a cumulative time of over a month in various parts of wyoming over the last few years and yes...its windy...but never has it stuck me as the standing behind a jet engine wind that so many seem to mention...perhaps my timing has just been fortuitous

It is 100% your timing. Like you, I visited many times before living here and don't remember the wind on those visits.

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[WesternDawg]

I'll go back to school if need be no problem...but whats out there for an organized, determined and very technically skilled former auto tech?

Not a location that you listed, but they’re building data centers in Cheyenne and I’m sure there would be some jobs available for someone technically minded to latch onto.

 

[Tod osier]

I've read so much about "the wind"... Hell, we live in one of the windiest spots around here...ontop of a hill at the peak of a valley facing due west. I've spent a cumulative time of over a month in various parts of wyoming over the last few years and yes...its windy...but never has it stuck me as the standing behind a jet engine wind that so many seem to mention...perhaps my timing has just been fortuitous

The wind is real. I did experiance it before deciding to make the plunge, but am frequently reminded that it is something to respect and we aren't even in a windy part.

 

[lintond]

My parents were considering a move from Oregon to WY about 20 years ago. My mom monitored the weather and quickly realized that it was just too darn cold for their liking. There were some other things specific to the ranch they were looking at that helped with the decision but the cold was probably the biggest one.


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[go_deep]

I went hunting that day, and that's the kind of wind people are referring to.

 

[Wyoming Shooter]

I've lived in Wyoming a very long time. As for the wind, yes it is brutal in many parts of the state - e.g. Cheyenne, Casper, Rock Springs, etc. Other locations are much less so. Do your research. Winters can totally suck. The winter of 2022 - 2023 for example featured many days of sub-zero temps and gobs of snow. At one point, I had to hire a snow blower mounted on a front end loader to blast through the drifts. It was too much for me to plow. All that said, it's home and I love it. Give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play...

 

[Akkushtka]

I'm fully ready and anticipating the smart-ass comments...so those are fine too...but I'm hoping to gather at least some valid information though.
**For the record: I can PROMISE you locals...my beliefs, values and voting habbits are in line with how you'd like to keep your state...and I dont want to build new, rather buy existing...you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone...unless you need help, then by all means just ask**

Here is the back story:
My wife, myself and our 10 and 12 year old boys currently reside in southwest Ohio. Both born and raise within 30 miles of where we are now. Not in a bad spot by any means. Rural area, but 15-20 minuted from anything you might need...but things aren't what they once seemed here.

We have made every excuse we can to hit rocky mountain states a few times a years the last 3 years, it's harder to come back to Ohio every time we leave. We all enjoy the outdoors above pretty much everything else...hiking, hunting, fishing camping and just exploring in general...the lack of public lands and crowding around here aren't conducive to our desires.

We came to the conclusion about a year ago that staying here is not in line with our long-term goals/happiness. After numerous trips exploring Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah we have narrowed it to Wyoming and Montana to seriously focus on. Having just gotten back from a Billings to Kalispell 9 day tour we found about the only place that checks the boxes in Montana so far is Helena area or possibly Butte. Things are beautiful further north and west, but too expensive and quite honestly chaotic around missoula/kalispell.

I keep going back to Wyoming myself. We still have a couple trips to take to look more in depth at the Big Horn area and towns between the big horns and Cody which we will be checking out a few on our cow elk hunt in October.

What I'm hoping for is some input on areas on East side of the big horns(Buffalo, Sheridan not any further east than that) as well as areas such as Greybull, Powell, Cody, Duboise, Pinedale...
By input I mean the following:
-How accessible and the quality of the necessary services? Groceries, building materials, medical care, Dentists etc...the stuff we all need.

-How are the schools? We have a good, albeit not financially responsible school district presently but our kids are on the higher end of the spectrum intelligence wise, but not raising astrophysicists ...so we just need a solid school system to get them through high-school...and gotta have a football team or our youngest will not cope.

-Work...I need a job...my wife is full remote as well as holds he realestate license(which should have reciprocity in Wyoming) so she can bring her job along as long as we have reliable internet...I on the other hand have been an auto/diesel tech for over 20 years and built up and been general manager of independent shop for last 4 years...Im done with it. Have built a great business up from just 2 of us to 7 employees and just broke ground on new 16 bay shop to be done by years end...and I'm over it. I've simply lost all love for the trade and dealing with people in a retail aspect every day. I'll go back to school if need be no problem...but whats out there for an organized, determined and very technically skilled former auto tech? I'm entertaining finishing a biology degree and trying to get on with fishing and game...I think I'd enjoy the work ...I just don't know if I could swallow the pay.

-Cost of living? We noted Groceries are a bit higher in WY, MT...but not drastically so. Fuel about on par, Initial housing costs are higher for sure which we have WELL educated ourselves on...but how about property taxes? What does Wyoming hit you for on a 2500 sq.ft house on 20-60 acres?($800k-1.3mil range) tax wise?
How steep are electric rates?

-Finances: Just for clarity...we are in a good financial position presently...If I didn't work for a year or so to go back to school for training/degree finishing we would be fine so long as we don't take on a huge mortgage...currently dept free other than a small mortgage...simply because the rate is to low to bother paying off... plenty of savings/retirement/investments...but if anyone classified us as "rich or wealthy"...Id tell them they need to reevaluate their expectations in life...we are financially secure, not meaning that as any sort of boast, but it certainly plays into the information I'm searching for.

We have no romanticized notions of utopia in the mountains...We know the winters are longer and colder, we know it's windy...all the time, we know it takes longer to get places and winter weathercan strand you at times if not careful, we know there are fires and smoke to deal with at times, we know it's drier and water access/rights must be thoroughly investigated before making any realestate moves, we know we have 15-20 years of work ahead of us still...we have been doing and continue our homework everyday.
We are HIGHLY self sufficient people, raise/grow much of our own food, I've built or rebuilt a few houses and am yet to find much I cant fix, operate or salvage so we can deal with alot of hurdles that would cripple most folks around here...a big part of the reason for the move, we just don't fit in here too well. Fine dining, urban entertainment or nite life entertainment is of no concern to us.

Tell me the bad stuff as well...if you lived there and bailed after few years or even after spending most of your life there...Why? What draws/keeps you there or what sent you another direction?

I'll stop there for the time being and revisit here in a bit...I know I'm putting alot out there and I know we'll haven't answer alot of this for ourselves. I'm just fishing for any info/input to add to the database.
Thanks for anything you have to offer...constructive or not

You already answered all your own questions. I lived in Helena in 1988/89.
Montana has problems with drugs and people that use them.
Also has high suicide rate. Cost of living is higher because money people move in buy up property drive prices up but cost of living expense don't get increased.
Wyoming is more better! Wyoming has a strong oil field presence and some manufacturing infrastructure being built. With your skill sets oil patch job are great paying work.

Wind River Mountain Range, I have seen the biggest mule deer of my life around there. I lived in ALL the Western States before I moved to Alaska.
I been here for 30 years in February;-/

 

[WY SkunkApe]

Good luck: you’re going to need lots of it. I suggest seeing if Costco has any because you’ll need it at wholesale volumes and prices.

 

[edfreeway3]

Well said!

I hope you get the answers you're looking for. Follow your dreams and if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to make it what you want.

Good luck!

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Move

 

[manitou1]

I wouldn't put all my eggs on gambling making a living in real estate here. Several realtors in our area have already closed their doors this year due to it slowing way down.

Wind, long winters

Lack of conveniences, especially in some of the Eastern Bighorns towns you mentioned.

Quality medical care: You are in for trips to Billings or Vail/Denver Colorado.

Schools are good. You already know about the pretty mountains.

Can be "clickish" and you will always be an outsider in many towns.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

I've lived in Wyoming a very long time. As for the wind, yes it is brutal in many parts of the state - e.g. Cheyenne, Casper, Rock Springs, etc. Other locations are much less so. Do your research. Winters can totally suck. The winter of 2022 - 2023 for example featured many days of sub-zero temps and gobs of snow. At one point, I had to hire a snow blower mounted on a front end loader to blast through the drifts. It was too much for me to plow. All that said, it's home and I love it. Give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play...

I've been looking closer at the wind issue...U of WY has some pretty in depth data on that and many other things for that matter...lots to read if you ever need to fall asleep quickly... Im going to try to attach screen shot of the wind map. Doesn't appear any of the locations we are currently considering fall into the insanely windy category...not to say it won't be windy at times and more so than we are currently acclimated to but we appear to be looking in areas that are a more mild wind wise...
Snow and cold I'll look more into as well, but we are anticipating both of those. I have alot if family in Minnesota and have spent enough time there in the winter to understand what real cold feels like. Have taken my wife for a few Christmas visits so she's had a taste of it too so we arent totally nieve as to what we are getting into there... hell we get a few days to a week or so of sub zero temps here about every other year it seems...our furnace went out on the last such occasion, that was fun. The snow doesn't bother me. I'm one of those weird people that would rather have snow if it's gonna be cold anyways.

Thank you for your input, that type of info from someone who has been/is currently there is exactly what I need.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

Good luck: you’re going to need lots of it. I suggest seeing if Costco has any because you’ll need it at wholesale volumes and prices.

Right?!?!...pretty sure I'm SOL in that regard. Last time I checked luck was on intergalactic back order with no estimated ETA nation wide...kinda like alot of the parts I have to find to get peoples cars/trucks back on the road these days ...
Never banked much on luck, always figured I'd have to just put in the work and make my own.

 

[Mojave]

Wyoming native.

Wyoming is full. Or will be when I get home.

 

[Mojave]

Wyoming native.

Wyoming is full. Or will be when I get home.

Also you have zero idea what the wind is like. Your wife will leave you, your kids will hate you and the fishing sucks.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

Also you have zero idea what the wind is like. Your wife will leave you, your kids will hate you and the fishing sucks.

Noted...We'll head to MT to fish, will get a divorce before we move just to make that part easier once we are there and I'll start making my kids lives hell from today on so they know what to expect....Oh....and I'll do my best to buy an older estate sale property...that way I know I'm just filling in a void from a deceased resident and not taking up any previously unused space, that just sounds like the polite thing to do.
Thanks!

 

[StuckInTheEast]

Very similar situation myself, a lot of similarities. I was just in wyoming with the family on a road trip. And the last Hotel we stayed in I was online looking at real state, when we were in worland I talked with someone from the sheriffs office while waiting in line at subway. He said there’s a lot of transplants and mirrored similar points that are made in this thread. Then stated he was from new Jersey and had only been there 7years. A lot of the maintenance work is targeting younger single individuals, with meal and housing proposals in the job descriptions. It’s really easy to say hey just do it, but clearly you understand the leg work involved to make it happen-successfully.

Successfully is the key...and the hard part. I'm not a very reactive person, I think over(mors like over-think) and research things too much...my wife deals with data, statistics, research and how to make sense of it all everyday, so she's worse than I am.
Hence the 2 year plan, it'll take us at least that long just to "Think it over" ...and you can never account for all the variables especially with the political and economic volatility in this country these days.
I don't recall who said it or where I heard it but:
"The greatest barrier to happiness, prosperity and personal advancement is change...and our inherent internal fear of precisely that one thing...change".
Working on concuring that fear a bit more everyday.

 

[cnelk]

I’m halfway to my Wyoming cabin right now, another 150 miles to go.

It’s a nice morning. 63 degrees, sunny and no wind.

Looking forward to spending the week

 

[ODB]

Just remember that no matter where you move you bring yourself with you.