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

[WyoExpat]

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.

+1

The Census Bureau also publishes official estimated updates annually. I do not believe that Wyoming and individual communities do not have much to say about those numbers either. There are folks that devote their entire academic and professional careers to doing this kind of thing and trying to improve accuracy.

 

[wyo_fan13]

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.

I graduated from UW engineering in 2013 and I have to say I'd much rather live in Laramie than Colorado (snowmobiling and pokes games, not to mention the small-town atmosphere). If engineers would be willing to live and work in Casper, Gillette, N. Dakota, etc. Laramie should be acceptable as well. Unfortunately Laramie doesn't present a lot of job/career opportunities for graduates. I would think engineering companies could do well there if they had use for lesser experienced engineers and were willing to invest some time into them.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

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.

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.

It's not. It's their stated goal.

Like I said, the engineering school expansion will add 1300, but that still leaves the Laramie community as a whole with 8700. It sounds like they have a bunch of businesses chomping at the bit to get here.

http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2013/10/06/news/doc5250d69eb3b3a796609893.txt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[WyoBrandX]

Wyoming has been saying for years "keep our young in Wyoming." They get an education - move out - want to move back - and often don't have the chance too. Unfortunately, in order to keep Wyomingites in Wyoming, we do need to grow. SE Wyoming will probably be the place for that to happen (the rest of the state is somewhat resistant to growth.)

Let Cheyenne and Laramie grow a bit. I hope the state/feds buy Y-cross ranch and increase the public lands in the area. Cheyenne and Laramie really need the access.

 

[kansasCowboy]

I don't know, the population talk does not convince me that our attendance will rise do to our pops rapid rise.

Think about it, in the 2000 census, WYO pop was what, 490k? And in the years previous to this census we had good football and mediocre to decent basketball. Our attendance ranged at an avg of about 18 to 19k for football and 5 to 6k for basketball. But in this time that we are talking about where the states pop has almost bumped 100k our attendance has hardly changed and even gotten worse for basketball.

The change in population is going to be families who already have teams they claim as fans if they claim a sports team at all. I would quite honestly say you may get 1 WYO fan out of every maybe 200 people that moves to Laramie or even to the state.

I stated this before, Rock Springs went from 19k to about 25k and out of those 6k that moved to RS, most were Texas, Oklahoma and OSU fans. People don't move to WYO and become fans, you pretty much have to be born and raised into it. This is not to say that a miniscule amount of these people haven't gone to a game, but that's just it, it is a miniscule amount and they rarely if ever go.

I really think you could add another 100 or 200k to this states pop and you would barely see a difference in our attendance.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

Two things though:

1. A lot of those companies will be staffing with Wyoming grads.
2. If you put a good product on the floor, the out of town locals will go watch it. That's how you make new fans.

It's not going to make a huge difference, but it will make a substantial difference with a good product.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Just not sold on Laramie growing by 20,000 in the next 10 years. At least not until the city council pulls their heads out of their collective asses.

 

[WyoBrandX]

Two things though:

1. A lot of those companies will be staffing with Wyoming grads.
2. If you put a good product on the floor, the out of town locals will go watch it. That's how you make new fans.

It's not going to make a huge difference, but it will make a substantial difference with a good product.

Something has always bugged me about our attendance. In the late 80's, the AA used to be jammed packed every game. They saw the need for 15k seats in the AA then.

In the 70's, they saw the need to expand the stadium to 35k and did it. The attendances were higher at football. Laramies population was 23k in 70's. Cheyenne was 41k.
(ref: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/demog_data/cntycity_hist.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Where did all the fans come from? What happened to them? The populations are larger now. Attendances are lower.

 

[BeaverPoke]

Two things though:

1. A lot of those companies will be staffing with Wyoming grads.
2. If you put a good product on the floor, the out of town locals will go watch it. That's how you make new fans.

It's not going to make a huge difference, but it will make a substantial difference with a good product.

Something has always bugged me about our attendance. In the late 80's, the AA used to be jammed packed every game. They saw the need for 15k seats in the AA then.

In the 70's, they saw the need to expand the stadium to 35k and did it. The attendances were higher at football. Laramies population was 23k in 70's. Cheyenne was 41k.
(ref: http://eadiv.state.wy.us/demog_data/cntycity_hist.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Where did all the fans come from? What happened to them? The populations are larger now. Attendances are lower.

The fans that were going then are still going now. Just the people younger than them aren't going.

In all honesty, it seems that university fan bases are generally made up of 25 to 50 year olds (people who have money, and aren't dipshits, have their stuff figured out, and aren't too old to go).
If you look around the AA or War Memorial, it seems like the people who went to watch the elite teams in the late 80s are still going. There's them, then the students.

Why don't we have that strong fan base of younger and middle aged adults?

I know these are very generalized statements, and not official numbers and stats, but seriously look around the AA next time you're at a game, and see the lack of middle aged fans.

People talk about students being the life of the stadium or whatever, but we don't have the money to go to bowl games and MWC Tourneys.

Maybe it goes back to what someone else has said about Wyoming wanting to keep its young people here, but failing to do so. Getting a UW degree, then getting a job somewhere more than 4 hours away from UW. Maybe that's where our fanbase is (out of state)... the fans that make the make up (or don't make up) the game attendance.

 

[BJC]

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.

:thumb:

 

[whyoh]

The change in population is going to be families who already have teams they claim as fans if they claim a sports team at all. I would quite honestly say you may get 1 WYO fan out of every maybe 200 people that moves to Laramie or even to the state.

this

i've noticed on a lot of sports message boards that few people realize/pay attention to the fact that sports fans are a fairly small minority to the general public

even smaller is the group of people that care enough to actually attend a game (ie non casual fans)


population growth =/= attendance growth.....you have to make the spectator experience more appealing to those casual fans that are on the fence about weather to take the time to attend....this includes both the product on the floor as well as the festivities/accommodations surrounding the game

 

[WyoExpat]

The change in population is going to be families who already have teams they claim as fans if they claim a sports team at all. I would quite honestly say you may get 1 WYO fan out of every maybe 200 people that moves to Laramie or even to the state.

this

i've noticed on a lot of sports message boards that few people realize/pay attention to the fact that sports fans are a fairly small minority to the general public

even smaller is the group of people that care enough to actually attend a game (ie non casual fans)


population growth =/= attendance growth.....you have to make the spectator experience more appealing to those casual fans that are on the fence about weather to take the time to attend....this includes both the product on the floor as well as the festivities/accommodations surrounding the game

I think that growth can impact attendance, but it will be secondary impacts. For example, once a community crosses the 50K threshold, it becomes a "metropolitan area" and that brings both money and attention from companies that require higher minimum populations before investing in retail outlets and eateries. These establishments can then add to the attraction of making the trip.

A larger community with more activities and job opportunities might also boost applications for undergraduate enrollment, which should then result in more students who might become fans. There would also be more opportunities in a market that size for recent graduates (who might have developed the habit of attending games as a student) to find a job locally and continue to attend.

Finally, the bigger number will add to TV markets and to the number of casual fans who might buy a ticket or two each year if the cowboy team is playing well--or to watch their own alma matter play against the Pokes in Laramie.

 

[PokeOLoco]

I see what you're saying, however you'll definitely get some causual fans out of them. Plus if the kids grow up there and we're halfway decent maybe they become fans. A lot of us are transplanted into places and follow the local college teams. I don't here, but for example we might be moving to Ames, IA...well what else is there to do in Ames besides what the university offers? That side of my family are hawkeye fans, but if we lived in Ames hell yeah we'd make a few clones events, especially basketball this year.

 

[American Horse]

I can only speak from my personal experience but some of you described my situation perfectly. After graduating from UW I would have loved to stay in WY. However there just weren't any jobs. The same held true for a majority of my friends. Some were WY natives and some were not, but ALL would have stayed had the economic opportunity been there. We really ran the gamut of majors too. I think Laramie growing would be a great thing. Obviously nobody wants WY to turn int a CO but some growth would be nice.

 

[WyoExpat]

I can only speak from my personal experience but some of you described my situation perfectly. After graduating from UW I would have loved to stay in WY. However there just weren't any jobs. The same held true for a majority of my friends. Some were WY natives and some were not, but ALL would have stayed had the economic opportunity been there. We really ran the gamut of majors too. I think Laramie growing would be a great thing. Obviously nobody wants WY to turn int a CO but some growth would be nice.

And the opportunities would not need to be centered in Laramie, although that is where we are talking about. Growth in Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, Rock Springs, etc. would not hurt either and would be harder to translate into season tickets. The key is that there is a more significant link between our general economy and the university than many might want to admit.

For what it is worth, it is still probably better for someone to be climbing, fishing, or skiing on their own then to be sitting at a ball game consuming junk food. Those outdoor types are among the most likely recruits to Laramie.