 Living in Wyoming: The Most âOkayâ Things About Casper, Wyoming đď¸ | Moving to Wyoming Series. Thinking about moving to Wyoming and wondering what itâs really like? In this video, Iâm breaking down the most okay-est parts of living in Casper, Wyomingâthe stuff that isnât exactly âbad,â but itâs not mind-blowing either. If youâre relocating to Wyoming or just doing your homework on what itâs like to live in Wyoming, this is the video for you! đ Iâm Alisha Collins with the Alisha Collins Real Estate Team. Iâve lived in Wyoming for over 40 years (25+ in Casper!), and Iâm passionate about helping people find THE homeâbecause I want you to love where you live just like I do. â In this episode of my 3-part series (âThe Good, The Bad, and The Okayâ), we cover: 𩺠Healthcare in Casper â decent options, but donât expect a Mayo Clinic! đ Education â great community college (shoutout to Casper College), but only one state university (UW) located hours away in Laramie đ Sports â high school rivalries are the biggest games in town! đ Long drives â get ready for wide open roads and long stretches between towns đ Basements â most homes have them, but donât forget to check for radon! Whether youâre considering relocating to Wyoming, already a resident curious about your town, or just love discovering the quirks of small-town life, this is your guide to the most âmehâ things about Casper.
- When youâre considering moving to a new city, you wanna know exactly what youâre getting into. You donât want any surprises like finding out your new neighbor is an aspiring bagpipe player who practices at 6:00 AM. But the truth is, no amount of research can fully prepare you for living somewhere new. However, the next best thing to do is your homework, and thatâs where I come in. Hi, Iâm Alisha Collins with the Alisha Collins Real Estate team. We love helping people find the home. We love where we live, and we want you to love where you live, too. So, if youâre looking to buy or sell in the Casper area or in Wyoming, we are here to help you. And I actually know people in other parts of the US too, so reach out to us. If youâve watched any of my videos, you already know that I have a lot to say about Casper, Wyoming. I have lived in Wyoming for over 40 years, specifically in Casper for just over 25 of those years. I like to keep it real.
- Secretary of keeping it real.
- No place is perfect. So, I share everything I know about Wyoming. This video is part of a three-part series, and the last one where I talk about the good, the bad, and the okayest parts about living in Wyoming. Buckle up, because weâre about to explore the most okayest things about living in Casper, Wyoming. Letâs start with something we all hope to never need but definitely want nearby, healthcare. In every community, it is important to have access to necessary services, and healthcare is most definitely an important factor to consider. Do have two hospitals, which is already a win, but is it the Mayo Clinic? No. I have to say that I feel like the medical situation in Casper is one of the okayest things about living here. In some regards, I know that we are lucky. By comparison, there are many other smaller towns of Wyoming and other states that donât have as many options as we do here. We have two hospitals, Banner Health and Summit Medical Center. But realistically, it isnât what you would call full-service hospitals. For example, our hospital system, Banner Health, doesnât have a neonatal intensive care unit, better known as the NICU, which can be a bit scary when it comes to high-risk pregnancies or when there are premature births with complications. So, if youâre expecting a baby high risk for complications or in dire medical situation, itâs not uncommon to be life-flighted to Denver, Colorado for intervention. If you need a specialist, you might be googling nearest fill in the blank specialist and packing a suitcase. Banner does have a secondary location in Casper, but there is only one location with emergency services. There are a couple other options for medical care in the area ranging from dermatology to interventional radiology, and of course, basic family practice. Some practices are independently owned by different doctors or companies separate from the main hospital here, which admittedly does provide a little competition for certain services. But thereâs only one emergency service choice if you require that, unless of course you wanna drive 50 miles to the Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas, Wyoming. Now, before you start panicking, compared to smaller Wyoming towns, weâre practically a medical metropolis. High school height but college. Throughout Wyoming, we do have several community colleges, including our own Casper College located right here in Casper. Casper College is a fantastic community college and weâre lucky to have it. There is only one four-year university, the University of Wyoming, which is our only state university. There is an outreach campus here. The University of Wyomingâs main campus is not located in Casper, itâs in Laramie, Wyoming. So, when our kids are ready to leave the nest to go off to the university, they really do have to leave the area if the outreach campus doesnât have their desired major. But if they are bound for the University of Wyoming, itâs roughly three hours away. Keep in mind, roads can close quite frequently during the winter here in Wyoming. Laramieâs major interstate system is I-80, and if you have experienced even a little winter here, you know it closes often. Luckily, we have the WYDOT 511 app to help when planning trips around the state. So, we can always drive south weather, depending of course to see them for a quick visit or enjoy a game of college football at War Memorial Stadium in the fall, basketball in the winter, or really any other sporting event at the university. High school rivalries, Super Bowl energy. You might love the idea of living in a town that resembles âFriday Night Lights,â Dillon, Texas. If you love watching sports and athletics, you might think it is the most okayest part of living in Casper. And as I say in my bad things about Casper, we will not be getting any professional athletics anytime soon. But we do have some incredible rivalries so intense they could feel a Netflix drama between our high schools that make high school sports fun. Kelly Walsh versus Natrona County, whether itâs football, volleyball, or basketball, thereâs bound to be a crowd with high emotions and high energy. If youâve ever attended the Oil Bowl, youâll understand. In fact, the Peach Basket is usually held at the college gym because it has more seating. Now, high school sports may not be your cup of tea, but to the locals, itâs our Super Bowl. Another thing I personally think is okay is how long you have to drive to get from one town to the next. After living in Georgia or wherever you have lived, typically one town blends into another. One second, youâre in Marietta, and the next youâre in Woodstock. Wyoming is not the same. If youâre heading to Riverton, which is about 120 miles away, absolutely nothing but a view. Just you, the road, and an existential crisis about how much gas you have left. There are usually hours that you have to drive to get from one town to the next, and guess what? Thereâs nothing in between. So, youâre traveling from Casper to, well, anywhere else, make sure to get gas before you leave, because there wonât be another gas station for 100 or however many miles. Youâll get great views most of the time, but if you forget gas, you might not be okay. Living in Wyoming for a while, you definitely get used to driving long distances with nothing but you and the road. Might be another okay part about living here. Now, Iâm gonna turn the gears to real estate. So, while weâre talking about okay things in Casper, hereâs an interesting one for you. I donât think it makes Casper great and it certainly isnât a bad thing, so it goes on the okay list. A lot of houses in Casper, well, a majority of them, have basements, which is a bonus if you need extra storage or a cool hangout space. If you live in an area that also has basements, you might be thinking, âSo what?â But thereâs a lot of areas in our country that actually donât have any basements, which of course does limit the useful square footage of your home. Basements are great for extra square footage while adding storage, for sure, and sometimes, they offer extra rooms too, but thereâs a catch, radon. And actually, radon can be in homes that do not have basements as well. Just a side dump, if you donât know what radon is, congratulations, you never had to think about the radioactive gases seeping into your home. Radon often collects in basements and crawl spaces close to the ground where it develops. Radon is naturally occurring. The good news about radon is that radon mitigation systems are pretty common and can actually be negotiated in your real estate deal, and they only cost 1300 to $2,000. So, while itâs not a deal breaker, itâs definitely an okay aspect of living here. I would love to know in the comments if you have radon gas or you knew about it from where you live. Well, there you have it, the things that make Casper the most okayest place to live. Some quirks, some perks, and some things that just make you say, âWell, thatâs Wyoming for you.â My team and I would love to help you. Yes, you, watching right now, go buy or sell your home. We love where we live and we want you to love where you live, too. No matter where you are in the US, reach out to us so we can get started. Out of everything we talked about today, what do you think is the most okay thing in Casper? Leave it in the comments below. See you next time. So, when our kidsâŚ
- [Producer] Keep going.
- Keep me falling. Sorry. Exitential, did I say it right?
- Existential, yeah.
- Okay. My gosh, my mouthâs getting cold.