Reviews & Comments
Laramie, WY
Housing sucks and so do the drivers -
8/23/2017The town reminds me of what you would see in places like new york and san fransisco. People live on top of each other here. Houses are built so close together that you have no yards. The town is growing, but unfortunately it is growing the same way, no space. The housing price are insane! $250K + for a 3 bedroom house with no yard! 200K for a duplex, yes a DUPLEX! YOU GET HALF A HOUSE for 200K! OUTRAGEOUS!
Then you have the city engineers who should all be fired. People are allowed to park on the sides of roads where barely two lane traffic can move. People have too literally pull their mirrors in or else they get ripped off by traffic. It's comical to see door mirrors lying on the road on 3rd street. Lots of intersections should have traffic lights. Lots of stop signs are covered by bushes, trees, or parked cars that are allowed to park right up on corners causing TONS of blind spots in this place.
Even the traffic light sequences here are strange. I have driven all over the U.S. and this is the only place where the left turning arrow starts out as a flashing yellow, then turns green when the others turn red. Everywhere else the light turns green in-sync with the others, then turns yellow allowing the opposite to start moving, then turns red with all the others. The intersections will be backed up on the left turning lanes, because there is no chance for vehicles to make a left turn safely during a flashing yellow signal. To be fair, this seems to be a Wyoming thing.
Then you have the drivers. They have no clue what the lines on the road are for, or mean. They are constantly in a hurry cutting corners short which puts them into the on coming traffic lane before correcting in their own lane. THEY DRIVE LIKE BATS OUT A HELL IN A TOWN THAT IS 4 MILES LONG BY 3 MILES WIDE! WTH? Leaving 5 minutes earlier will literally put you across town!
Try getting a job here that sustains a living. Businesses know they can pay people less because college students will take the jobs. So there are not many jobs here that will allow a person to afford a 250K house. Or you could rent a small 3 bedroom apt. for 1000 + a month, a small house for 1500 + a month, or a run down mildewed trailer house for 800 + month. Rent goes by a monthly room rate here because of the college. So your looking at around $300 to $400 per room.
Good luck finding a place that will allow animals. Those that do charge anywhere from $250 up to $500 per pet deposit that is NON-refundable AND they require you to pay for carpet cleaning services when you leave. Which begs the question, "Well WTH was the deposit for?" Some allow cats but not dogs. Some allow dogs but no cats. Some allow both dogs and cats but no large or medium dogs. The housing really is quite ludicrous.
You dont pay taxes on food, which appears to be a good thing. Except the food prices are higher which gives you the illusion that your saving money.
The school system has been good. They do everything possible to try and help new students adapt to their surroundings. Unfortunately, for some reason they have decided to adopt common core. But they monitor each students activities, and if your students excel, they will move them up to harder classes to provide challenges and help them grow. The high school is fairly new. Unfortunately like everything else here, they built it too small and compact. Students are always competing for place's to sit in the lunch room because SURPRISE, it was designed to small. Trying to get a teaching job? Be prepared to wait for years to land a job. There are tons of people competing for these jobs here.
The people are for the most part very friendly and down to earth. Of course you always have bad apples. This town is much more diverse because of the college. But be aware of their driving abilities. Lots of people ride bikes, and even they feel they are exempt from the rules of the road.
This is a college town and as such the town is more geared toward students. If your older you will find it a little hard to find a relaxed place to hang out, at least I have not found a place. The only real dance hall here would be nice for older, or married folks if it weren't for the hot head college kids. Dont believe me? Ask why they have so many bouncers.
Other than all that, its not too bad. The housing options need to improve, or the job opportunities need to improve.