It looks like Laramie population 50,000 is quite feasible...

[Cowboy Junky]

If anyone else has been following this, Laramie has stated they want to grow the community to 50,000 in the next ten years. This article makes it seem like it's going to happen. Here's a look at some new job opportunities coming to Laramie. In addition to these companies, Laramie is looking for more retail options. Are more bars, restaurants, and possibly a mall in the near future?

I know the stated goal of the engineering revamp is to double the enrollment of the engineering school. That would add about 1300 students, bringing total enrollment to 15,000. More Cowboy fans is a good thing.

The reason I post this in the basketball forum: with a good product on the court and town growth coming, it might not be long before we're selling out the AA. We desperately need the increased attendance for both football and basketball.

http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article/20140201/EDITION/140219992" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[JimmyDimes]

Someone posted stats on the change in population by state a week or so ago on the MWC board. In looking at the changes, Wyoming could easily pass Vermont in population within the next 10 years. It will be strange for Wyoming not to be the least populated state.

 

[whyoh]

in 2000 everyone was saying that casper would eclipse 100k by the 2010 census......instead it grew by about 5k (which is what i expected)


nearly doubling the population of a town doesn't just happen because you want it too

 

[whyoh]

Someone posted stats on the change in population by state a week or so ago on the MWC board. In looking at the changes, Wyoming could easily pass Vermont in population within the next 10 years. It will be strange for Wyoming not to be the least populated state.

wow i just looked up vermont......i had no idea they were so sparse

 

[stymeman]

we'll see it when/if it happens, thank goodness the wind keeps lots of people away in the winter...lol

 

[BeaverPoke]

Laramie growing would be interesting. If the city make it "nicer" it can help national and regional perception from it being a dumpy college town to a "sweet college town".

50K...lot's of work opportunities.

 

[stymeman]

they only say Cheyenne has 60k in town, haaaaaaaaaa, it's more like 75 and 100k throughout the county, after all 35k are on Dell Range at quittin time...lol

 

[fromolwyoming]

they only say Cheyenne has 60k in town, haaaaaaaaaa, it's more like 75 and 100k throughout the county, after all 35k are on Dell Range at quittin time...lol

Laramie County has around 90,000 total, but Cheyenne itself is around 60,000.

 

[VisorHair]

Holy hell. You're telling me the City Counsel wants to grow Laramie?! Does that mean they'll provide snow plows for the city? Growth is a GREAT thing. If you want to grow the university.. you must provide for the potential.

 

[stymeman]

they only say Cheyenne has 60k in town, haaaaaaaaaa, it's more like 75 and 100k throughout the county, after all 35k are on Dell Range at quittin time...lol

Laramie County has around 90,000 total, but Cheyenne itself is around 60,000.

that's what it says, but there's no way that's accurate, growing all the time, Wyoming's slow to admit when things are bigger than they really are for some strange reason

 

[WestWYOPoke]

I doubt Wyoming has much say in what the US census releases. Those numbers are quite accurate as of the 2010 census, obviously it has changed some since then.

 

[Wyo2dal]

they only say Cheyenne has 60k in town, haaaaaaaaaa, it's more like 75 and 100k throughout the county, after all 35k are on Dell Range at quittin time...lol

Laramie County has around 90,000 total, but Cheyenne itself is around 60,000.

Laramie County was around 96k in 2012 it's definitely closer to 100k now. Cheyenne was around 58k when I lived there I would bet it's close to 65k now. It's growing but sure not as fast as we would like.

 

[Wyovanian]

As a possibility, it's not outside the realm by any stretch. However, there are a lot more forces at work to impede and prevent this than the article even pretends to acknowledge. Laramie as a talent-rich pool for certain enterprises is no real secret. The problems lie in a culture that's not just locally manifest, but overlaid by a century-plus-old hegemony from the north.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Another real problem is that the city council tends to be full of morons, for one reason or another. For example, a few years back, I helped a contractor add on a ramp to my grandmother's house so that she could get in and out easier, as well as have my mother (who has MS) be able to come over and visit. Originally, the ramp was designed to be about 4 feet wide. Wide enough for her wheel chair with some elbow room for turns, but not so wide you can't get around to the front gate. Well, the contractor went to get the permit to get everything cleared and ready to go, and was told that due to city regulations, the ramp HAS to be at least 5 feet wide, so someone could walk beside the wheelchair. Who walks BESIDE a wheelchair? Especially an eletric one that weighs 300lbs!? You walk behind it, and at times in front of it, but never BESIDE it.

Another example is 30th and Garfield. A section a block away from Grand avenue on the other side of McDonalds. On one of those corners is the Laramie Senior Housing, home to dozens of elderly, many of whom are wheelchair bound (some others live there for the low income housing as well). These people often like to wheel over to Alberstons or Murdoch's for some shopping. Yet, since there is only the 2 way stop sign, and cars have a bad tendancy to go through there without stopping, it won't be long before one of those residents are ran over and killed, because the city council, in their "infinite wisdom" refuses to put up a stoplight there. To make matters worse, several apartment buildings were recently built right on the other side of the creek, and they are currently making a bridge that comes out right there by the Senior Housing complex. So now, the only direction that the people up there didn't have to worry about, since before this there was nothing there but the occassional herd of antelope, they will now have to worry about heavy traffic from all 4 directions with only an ineffective 2 way stop sign.

That's just the tip of the iceberg for our "esteemed" city council.

 

[Lost Poke]

Outside of the University, there is not much economic draw to Laramie that isn't easily exceeded a few miles east in Cheyenne. And if I wanted to build a university-related business I could start in Laramie, but once that idea took off and I was really growing, I would really have to look at moving to Colorado where I could draw a lot more employees in a place they are more likely to want to live (Boulder, Ft. Fudd, Denver....) that also have major research institutions close by.

So, it's really just pie-in-the-sky.

 

[CowboyCO]

The biggest obstacle to Laramie growing is new housing. Although the Turner Tract has been opened up and the east water and sewer loop has been completed, the city needs to grow north. That is all Warren Livestock land. Growth east will be a battle because it is the aquifer recharge zone. Growth to the West lacks infrastructure - not many paved streets. The city should have never allowed annexation without paving out there...

 

[WyoBrandX]

Overall, it would be about the ideal size for Laramie. They really need to start doing the planning by putting together a Laramie 2024 commitee. They need to plan future subdivisons, business parks, arterial roads, utilties, public safety, and try to get plans in place and land rights to grow the city in the right way.

Laramie seems awefully patch worky today - just like it was tossed together with very little thought. Many of the main roads are too small and in terrible shape. Its next to impossible to shut some of them down without causing huge traffic problems.

They have work ahead of them. Its absolutely feasible however. Cheyenne is growing like a weed. Albany county is roughly 35k people. Laramie county is almost 100k people these days.

Laramie desperately needs some of the ammenities of a larger city while doing its best to maintain its small town attitude. The city would be smart to plan major roads with large islands in the middle with trees that stay green year around. Make the town spread out a bit - not too compact. Lots of bike lanes that are safe to bike on. Allocate some occassional parking areas around the city for public transportation/UW busses.

Set some standards and try to keep to them - as you see - some landowners in laramie don't care about their property - just the money they receive from them.

 

[Subcanis]

Overall, it would be about the ideal size for Laramie. They really need to start doing the planning by putting together a Laramie 2024 commitee. They need to plan future subdivisons, business parks, arterial roads, utilties, public safety, and try to get plans in place and land rights to grow the city in the right way.

Laramie seems awefully patch worky today - just like it was tossed together with very little thought. Many of the main roads are too small and in terrible shape. Its next to impossible to shut some of them down without causing huge traffic problems.

They have work ahead of them. Its absolutely feasible however. Cheyenne is growing like a weed. Albany county is roughly 35k people. Laramie county is almost 100k people these days.

Laramie desperately needs some of the ammenities of a larger city while doing its best to maintain its small town attitude. The city would be smart to plan major roads with large islands in the middle with trees that stay green year around. Make the town spread out a bit - not too compact. Lots of bike lanes that are safe to bike on. Allocate some occassional parking areas around the city for public transportation/UW busses.

Set some standards and try to keep to them - as you see - some landowners in laramie don't care about their property - just the money they receive from them.

Absolutely all of this.

I'd give up a lot to move back to Laramie, I love it there. Unfortunately, my career field (aviation) hates high density altitudes.

 

[WyoExpat]

they only say Cheyenne has 60k in town, haaaaaaaaaa, it's more like 75 and 100k throughout the county, after all 35k are on Dell Range at quittin time...lol

Laramie County has around 90,000 total, but Cheyenne itself is around 60,000.

These numbers are about right, but there are at least different numbers that we can use for the Cheyenne/Laramie County area depending on what a you are trying to describe.

1) The City of Cheyenne is extremely close to 60K. In 2010 the number was 59K+ and the census estimates have Cheyenne over 60K now.

2) The Cheyenne Urbanized Area contained 73,588 people as of the 2010 census. (This number captures the fairly large population of people who live outside the city limits but are really part of the Cheyenne area. For those who do not live around Cheyenne, you not know that most of the area south of I-80 is not even within the city, so that is where this larger number comes from.

3) There is also a federally-defined transportation planning area that includes Cheyenne and the surrounding area that had a population of 80,713 as of the 2010 Census (see: http://www.planning.dot.gov/mpos1.asp)

4) Laramie County School District #1, which covers Cheyenne and the western half of the county had a population of 88,777 as of 2012 according to the Census Bureau.

5) Laramie County, which includes the farm communities located about a half-hour to an hour west of Cheyenne had just over 94K people as of 2012 according to the Census Bureau.

Basically, Cheyenne and the surrounding developed area has about 73-80K people. Laramie County will not break 100,000 for another 10 years or so (assuming the growth rate stays the same and assuming the water holds up.)

My guess is that Laramie's 50,000 population number is the 30-year projection that communities typically use for long term planning purposes. That will largely depend on whether the University has significant growth in enrollment, I think.

 

[WyoExpat]

Outside of the University, there is not much economic draw to Laramie that isn't easily exceeded a few miles east in Cheyenne. And if I wanted to build a university-related business I could start in Laramie, but once that idea took off and I was really growing, I would really have to look at moving to Colorado where I could draw a lot more employees in a place they are more likely to want to live (Boulder, Ft. Fudd, Denver....) that also have major research institutions close by.

So, it's really just pie-in-the-sky.

Wasn't this what happened to Tri-Hydro in Laramie?

I am always amazed by how much earlier Spring arrives a half-hour south of Laramie. 2,000 feet in elevation makes a big difference. There is probably another 3 months of winter left in Laramie. On the other hand, it will probably be shorts and shirtsleeves weather in 4-6 weeks for those who live in the next town down Hwy 287. That makes a difference to recruiters and developers--as does the difference in available water.

The way of the world is faster growth in university towns, but Laramie has not grown at the pace of places that have comparable research universities.