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Pros And Cons of Living in Casper Wyoming Locals Edition. When you are looking to move somewhere, or maybe even just visit, how do you decide if that’s really the place for you?
When you are looking to move somewhere, or maybe even just visit, how do you decide if that’s really the place for you? Sure you can research it, but does that really give you the down and dirty details of the place? To get that info, you really need to talk to the people that live there.
Hi, I’m Alisha Collins with Re/Max The Group and the Alisha Collins Real Estate Team. You may have seen my pros and cons list about living in Casper, but if you want to know about Casper, you may want to hear more of what the locals think about it. To get the real pros and cons of living in Casper, I went to my Facebook page and asked the locals, what are your favorite things about living here, and what are your least favorite things. Without further ado, I give you the local version of pros and cons of living in the Casper area.
Let’s talk about the pros first. I wasn’t really surprised to see that more than one person said the people here are their favorite thing about living in Casper. One of my favorite answers is, “People and possibilities,” short and sweet, but open to interpretation. Maybe they meant the possibilities for business since Wyoming is a great place for businesses, or maybe he meant the possible activities since there are so many things to do here. We may never know, but the possibilities are endless.
Another answer was simply, “Good people.” That requires no interpretation. If you are looking for a community that is overwhelmingly kind and helpful, look no further, Casper is the place for you.
Just like my next favorite answer, “The people, the small town feel, most days, the beautiful parks, the mountains, the friendly small business, etc,” kind of makes me wonder what the etc is. This response was pretty thorough, mostly a list of pros with the caveat that sometimes a small town feel isn’t always her favorite thing, understandable. Sometimes feeling like you know everything about everyone can be a bit much. Stay tuned for one of the local’s cons in this area.
Another one of my favorite answers, “The sense of community. It’s a great place to own a business. And if you enjoy outdoor sports and activities, this is the place, I love Nordic skiing.” I would have to agree that it is a great place to own a business. That is something I can personally attest to. Casper really is the place if you love the great outdoors. We have just about every outdoor sport available, and many are very affordable too. “Breathtaking beautiful views of our prairie and mountain, and the wildlife, of course.” Yes, yes, and yes. I know this is the list of the local public’s favorite things, but I do have to agree. I love living in Casper and looking at some of the best views I have ever seen, whether I’m riding my horse, or driving through town. I have to agree that the wide array of wildlife for viewing, or of course hunting, is pretty amazing as well. Well, maybe not when they’re blocking traffic when I’m in a hurry.
Another one said, “The beautiful mountains only five minutes from my front porch. We are so lucky to have this outdoor wonderland in our backyard.” It seems this person lives a little closer to the mountain than I do, it takes me about 20 to 30 minutes, but it’s still super quick and easy to get right to the mountain. I am pretty sure you can get to the mountain from just about anywhere in the Casper region in under 30 minutes. Up the mountain takes a touch longer, but to the mountain, yep, under 30 minutes.
That leads me to my next favorite. She says, “It’s not San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, or New York. It’s central in our state, not too big, not too small, there are opportunities available, yet still has rural areas within close proximity. It still holds fairly conservative economic values.” The fact that Casper isn’t too big means we can get from one side of the city to the other and to the mountains and rural areas quickly. And the conservative values, this is part of what makes Wyoming such a great place to live and do business. With such a great community and all the outdoor activities, why would anyone ever leave? While life may take you to other places, there is a good chance you’ll make it back, for a visit, or maybe for life, just like my next favorite answer. They said, “If you leave, you’ll come back. I’m so grateful to be back.”
So what do people dislike about living here? There is a consensus about the wind, for sure. One responder said, “The wind, and the cold, and icy roads between Douglas and Casper.” Many people commute from Douglas or Glen Rock to Casper. I know the roads between Douglas and Casper can get pretty nasty in the winter. Sometimes it can be difficult to navigate snowy, icy roads to get around town, much less longer commutes that some people have to deal with.
Then again, my next favorite response tells it like it is for those of us that live here, “I’m not a huge fan of the cold weather, but I just kick it into survival mode and get it done.” I am pretty sure that covers the sentiment for a lot of people that live here that don’t mind the cold, or yes, even like the cold, maybe wouldn’t agree. But for the rest, yes, we’re just getting it done. “Wind, yes, also the size. I wasn’t overly fond of everyone knowing and having an opinion on my business.” Pretty sure they didn’t mean the workplace. And I can understand that for sure. Gossip and nosiness can be one of the downsides of a smaller city. However, this same person also sees the positive side of size. Their adult child with Down Syndrome knows everyone, and they feel like Casper is a safe place. Definitely a positive spin for a small town. In every city, really life in general, it is important to find your people.
My next favorite shares how important that is for them. “I have a great circle of friends and a sense of community. However, the overall vibe is so far right, it can feel closed and even hostile to more moderate folks. It’s a great town though, with a lot of cultural events, and recreation, and it’s getting better.” So recreation is one of our best features and we do have a growing number of cultural events to compliment the great outdoors.
Okay, the next negative response kind of packed a bunch into a short response, “Airline prices. Distance to travel, if you can’t find it in Casper. The political climate can be very brutal. Slow progress with development.” That is quite a bit to unpack. Let’s talk about airline prices. With only two airlines flying in and out of Casper, the lack of competition results in higher prices for the consumer. As for shopping, if you can’t find it here, and you can’t wait for shipping, or it’s too big to ship, then you have to travel to find what you need. You might end up traveling four hours to the north to Billings or four hours to the south to Denver. You can get whatever you want, but it’ll take a little longer. Regarding the political climate, well, as one of my previous quotes showed, if you tend to lean less right than the city as a whole, then the political climate might be a little rough. Change is hard, and around here it can be somewhat slow for different opinions to be heard. That ties in with slow progress on development. Different opinions or new ideas might take longer to affect change in other places.
Last but not least, it is a little bit of both the bad and the good about Casper. We don’t have a lot of shopping options for clothing. Restaurant options are getting better, lack of fresh fruit and seafood. But our pros far outweigh those. School of choice, we have had schools that offer different languages half day, outdoor activities year round, low taxes, no state income tax. Although the wind is irritating, it helps to melt the snow quicker and we don’t get the smog. Well, I think they just sold Casper for me. While some of our shopping and food options are a little bit limited, I do agree the pros, many that I’ve already covered and these new pros, definitely outweigh the slight limitations of our choices, especially when the choices we do have include school of choice and all the outdoor activities you can think of. I love how this individual sees the positive side of the wind. It really is the only way to put up with it. You have to see beyond the annoying aspects and find a glimmer of something good in it, like they said, no smog. And we have some great restaurants and some great business owners that are bringing clothing and other items for all of us to enjoy. There you have it.
The people here have spoken. I hope you enjoyed listening to some of the great and the not so great things about living in Casper. Thanks for watching.