WTE weighs in Mead's proposal for UW athletics

[Lost Poke]

I am interested in what Laramie would have to offer that would cause the town to grow, when it hasn't realistically grown in 70 or 80 years.

- Access to major interstates? Cheyenne has two, Denver has two.
- Access to research university? Denver has a couple, Fort Collins has one, Boulder has one
- Great climate? ...um...yeah....the retirement destination thing ain't happening
- Ski areas - Colorado, Utah each have more accessible mountains and major airports
- Access to major airport? Only with a two hour drive to DIA
- Water? Yeah, but so does Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs


Just ask yourselves the same questions about Kearney or North Platte Nebraska. Hell, Sidney Nebraska has a fortune 500 headquarters (Cabela's) and hasn't really grown either.

Laramie exists because the railroads needed water and a place to build an ice house on the west side of the mountains for it's steam locomotives and refrigeration. Once trains switched to diesel and stopped using ice for refrigeration, the only thing that has kept Laramie alive is a 125 year old decision to put a University there. Cheyenne had the major rail yard in addition to the Capital, then got the I-25/I-80 intersection in the 1950s. All I-80 got Laramie was a convenient bypass. Denver used to be a second city to Cheyenne until BN decided to put their yard there and a big silver boom made it more convenient for people like Horace Tabor to live there.

 

[LanderPoke]

I've heard Laramie is trying to attract tech/data storage companies, supercomputing ventures. The cold climate is conducive to that kind of thing, I guess. There's a new tungsten manufacturing company relocating to Laramie from China. http://www.laramieboomerang.com/news/local_news/article_f2a54be4-932b-11e5-9e8d-df97d1b2f217.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But, I see your point, Lost Poke. Laramie would have to get exceedingly creative to grow much.

 

[Lost Poke]

I've heard Laramie is trying to attract tech/data storage companies, supercomputing ventures. The cold climate is conducive to that kind of thing, I guess. There's a new tungsten manufacturing company relocating to Laramie from China. http://www.laramieboomerang.com/news/local_news/article_f2a54be4-932b-11e5-9e8d-df97d1b2f217.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But, I see your point, Lost Poke. Laramie would have to get exceedingly creative to grow much.

The cool climate keeps refrigeration costs down, since data centers generate incredible amounts of heat.

 

[Wyovanian]

I am interested in what Laramie would have to offer that would cause the town to grow, when it hasn't realistically grown in 70 or 80 years.

- Access to major interstates? Cheyenne has two, Denver has two.
- Access to research university? Denver has a couple, Fort Collins has one, Boulder has one
- Great climate? ...um...yeah....the retirement destination thing ain't happening
- Ski areas - Colorado, Utah each have more accessible mountains and major airports
- Access to major airport? Only with a two hour drive to DIA
- Water? Yeah, but so does Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs


Just ask yourselves the same questions about Kearney or North Platte Nebraska. Hell, Sidney Nebraska has a fortune 500 headquarters (Cabela's) and hasn't really grown either.

Laramie exists because the railroads needed water and a place to build an ice house on the west side of the mountains for it's steam locomotives and refrigeration. Once trains switched to diesel and stopped using ice for refrigeration, the only thing that has kept Laramie alive is a 125 year old decision to put a University there. Cheyenne had the major rail yard in addition to the Capital, then got the I-25/I-80 intersection in the 1950s. All I-80 got Laramie was a convenient bypass. Denver used to be a second city to Cheyenne until BN decided to put their yard there and a big silver boom made it more convenient for people like Horace Tabor to live there.

Well, for starters, Laramie did grow quite a bit in the 20th Century. Growth kind of stalled out in the 70's and 80's, but picked up again over the last 25 years. The population has grown by almost 50% since '80.

Laramie's had it's shots at a few things, the most notorious miss was Anheuser-Busch in '86-87. Laramie was the 1st choice for the brewery currently located in FoCo, but some loose lips sunk that ship.

Laramie is well-situated to attract some serious IT and high-tech industry. It recently landed UL and the tungsten plant. There's been a great deal of investment in tech infrastructure and physical plant space to attract such companies.

As far as retirement, Wyoming, and Laramie in particular, were both recently ranked among the best places to retire in the U.S. Sure, the weather will dissuade a significant segment, but our cost-of-living to quality-of-life ratio is top five nationally.

Laramie has seen a boom in accommodations (more than doubled hotel rooms in fifteen years) and downtown, food and beverage has expanded quite a bit. The state authorized new retail liquor licenses in the last few years, which is based on population.

For the most part, most of what I've heard and read, Laradise is well on its way to 50k in the next 10-20 years. Cheyenne is, ostensibly, over 100K, and if you've ever driven Happy Jack Road, you know there's homes practically all the way from Happy Jack into Cheyenne. Basically, there's only (as the crow flies) about 15 miles of open, undeveloped land between Laramie and Cheyenne, mostly because it's Warren Cattle land.

With the widening of 287 to four lanes all the way to FoCo, Laramie will, more and more, be an attractive alternative to Northern Colorado. It's definitely a better place to live than Cheyenne- more picturesque, more fun, less noisy, closer to recreation. Snowy Range is a forty minute drive and it's only two hours to Steamboat and Winterpark. Most of Colorado's great skiing is within a three and a half hour drive.

Basically, Laramie is finally well-positioned to grow into the University that has long been a bit big for it.

The southern corners of Wyoming are very interesting insofar as there is well over 2M people within about a two hour drive from Laramie, Albany, and Uinta Counties. I personally think the only real cities that suffer their geography in Wyoming are Casper and Rawlins.

 

[LanderPoke]

I am interested in what Laramie would have to offer that would cause the town to grow, when it hasn't realistically grown in 70 or 80 years.

- Access to major interstates? Cheyenne has two, Denver has two.
- Access to research university? Denver has a couple, Fort Collins has one, Boulder has one
- Great climate? ...um...yeah....the retirement destination thing ain't happening
- Ski areas - Colorado, Utah each have more accessible mountains and major airports
- Access to major airport? Only with a two hour drive to DIA
- Water? Yeah, but so does Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs


Just ask yourselves the same questions about Kearney or North Platte Nebraska. Hell, Sidney Nebraska has a fortune 500 headquarters (Cabela's) and hasn't really grown either.

Laramie exists because the railroads needed water and a place to build an ice house on the west side of the mountains for it's steam locomotives and refrigeration. Once trains switched to diesel and stopped using ice for refrigeration, the only thing that has kept Laramie alive is a 125 year old decision to put a University there. Cheyenne had the major rail yard in addition to the Capital, then got the I-25/I-80 intersection in the 1950s. All I-80 got Laramie was a convenient bypass. Denver used to be a second city to Cheyenne until BN decided to put their yard there and a big silver boom made it more convenient for people like Horace Tabor to live there.

Well, for starters, Laramie did grow quite a bit in the 20th Century. Growth kind of stalled out in the 70's and 80's, but picked up again over the last 25 years. The population has grown by almost 50% since '80.

Laramie's had it's shots at a few things, the most notorious miss was Anheuser-Busch in '86-87. Laramie was the 1st choice for the brewery currently located in FoCo, but some loose lips sunk that ship.

Laramie is well-situated to attract some serious IT and high-tech industry. It recently landed UL and the tungsten plant. There's been a great deal of investment in tech infrastructure and physical plant space to attract such companies.

As far as retirement, Wyoming, and Laramie in particular, were both recently ranked among the best places to retire in the U.S. Sure, the weather will dissuade a significant segment, but our cost-of-living to quality-of-life ratio is top five nationally.

Laramie has seen a boom in accommodations (more than doubled hotel rooms in fifteen years) and downtown, food and beverage has expanded quite a bit. The state authorized new retail liquor licenses in the last few years, which is based on population.

For the most part, most of what I've heard and read, Laradise is well on its way to 50k in the next 10-20 years. Cheyenne is, ostensibly, over 100K, and if you've ever driven Happy Jack Road, you know there's homes practically all the way from Happy Jack into Cheyenne. Basically, there's only (as the crow flies) about 15 miles of open, undeveloped land between Laramie and Cheyenne, mostly because it's Warren Cattle land.

With the widening of 287 to four lanes all the way to FoCo, Laramie will, more and more, be an attractive alternative to Northern Colorado. It's definitely a better place to live than Cheyenne- more picturesque, more fun, less noisy, closer to recreation. Snowy Range is a forty minute drive and it's only two hours to Steamboat and Winterpark. Most of Colorado's great skiing is within a three and a half hour drive.

Basically, Laramie is finally well-positioned to grow into the University that has long been a bit big for it.

The southern corners of Wyoming are very interesting insofar as there is well over 2M people within about a two hour drive from Laramie, Albany, and Uinta Counties. I personally think the only real cities that suffer their geography in Wyoming are Casper and Rawlins.

Riverton and Lander, too. I can attest.

Excellent post, btw.

 

[WYCowboy]

I am interested in what Laramie would have to offer that would cause the town to grow, when it hasn't realistically grown in 70 or 80 years.

- Access to major interstates? Cheyenne has two, Denver has two.
- Access to research university? Denver has a couple, Fort Collins has one, Boulder has one
- Great climate? ...um...yeah....the retirement destination thing ain't happening
- Ski areas - Colorado, Utah each have more accessible mountains and major airports
- Access to major airport? Only with a two hour drive to DIA
- Water? Yeah, but so does Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs


Just ask yourselves the same questions about Kearney or North Platte Nebraska. Hell, Sidney Nebraska has a fortune 500 headquarters (Cabela's) and hasn't really grown either.

Laramie exists because the railroads needed water and a place to build an ice house on the west side of the mountains for it's steam locomotives and refrigeration. Once trains switched to diesel and stopped using ice for refrigeration, the only thing that has kept Laramie alive is a 125 year old decision to put a University there. Cheyenne had the major rail yard in addition to the Capital, then got the I-25/I-80 intersection in the 1950s. All I-80 got Laramie was a convenient bypass. Denver used to be a second city to Cheyenne until BN decided to put their yard there and a big silver boom made it more convenient for people like Horace Tabor to live there.

Well, for starters, Laramie did grow quite a bit in the 20th Century. Growth kind of stalled out in the 70's and 80's, but picked up again over the last 25 years. The population has grown by almost 50% since '80.

Laramie's had it's shots at a few things, the most notorious miss was Anheuser-Busch in '86-87. Laramie was the 1st choice for the brewery currently located in FoCo, but some loose lips sunk that ship.

Laramie is well-situated to attract some serious IT and high-tech industry. It recently landed UL and the tungsten plant. There's been a great deal of investment in tech infrastructure and physical plant space to attract such companies.

As far as retirement, Wyoming, and Laramie in particular, were both recently ranked among the best places to retire in the U.S. Sure, the weather will dissuade a significant segment, but our cost-of-living to quality-of-life ratio is top five nationally.

Laramie has seen a boom in accommodations (more than doubled hotel rooms in fifteen years) and downtown, food and beverage has expanded quite a bit. The state authorized new retail liquor licenses in the last few years, which is based on population.

For the most part, most of what I've heard and read, Laradise is well on its way to 50k in the next 10-20 years. Cheyenne is, ostensibly, over 100K, and if you've ever driven Happy Jack Road, you know there's homes practically all the way from Happy Jack into Cheyenne. Basically, there's only (as the crow flies) about 15 miles of open, undeveloped land between Laramie and Cheyenne, mostly because it's Warren Cattle land.

With the widening of 287 to four lanes all the way to FoCo, Laramie will, more and more, be an attractive alternative to Northern Colorado. It's definitely a better place to live than Cheyenne- more picturesque, more fun, less noisy, closer to recreation. Snowy Range is a forty minute drive and it's only two hours to Steamboat and Winterpark. Most of Colorado's great skiing is within a three and a half hour drive.

Basically, Laramie is finally well-positioned to grow into the University that has long been a bit big for it.

The southern corners of Wyoming are very interesting insofar as there is well over 2M people within about a two hour drive from Laramie, Albany, and Uinta Counties. I personally think the only real cities that suffer their geography in Wyoming are Casper and Rawlins.

Riverton and Lander, too. I can attest.

Excellent post, btw.

I agree and I don't live in Laramie - I did a long time ago though.

 

[Expat_Poke]

Having lived in the Denver metro for a few years, I can attest that I70 from Eisenhower tunnels east is awful, flat out awful. Sure there are some more local slopes one can go to avoid that nightmare, but goodness gracious I hate I70. What is my point? As Wyovanian pointed out Laramie is the same length of drive to Steamboat as Denver is to resorts like Vail if you consider traffic. Laramie has its challenges, but so does everywhere else. While Lost Poke mentioned water, Denver has water now, but that is a big future concern for them. Water is going to be getting more and more in demand as the Denver metro grows, especially in Douglas and Jefferson counties.

 

[JimmyDimes]

Having lived in the Denver metro for a few years, I can attest that I70 from Eisenhower tunnels east is awful, flat out awful. Sure there are some more local slopes one can go to avoid that nightmare, but goodness gracious I hate I70. What is my point? As Wyovanian pointed out Laramie is the same length of drive to Steamboat as Denver is to resorts like Vail if you consider traffic. Laramie has its challenges, but so does everywhere else. While Lost Poke mentioned water, Denver has water now, but that is a big future concern for them. Water is going to be getting more and more in demand as the Denver metro grows, especially in Douglas and Jefferson counties.

I used to ski up to 100 days a winter....now less than a handful. Why? I fucking 70.

The wife and I do an occasional XC day at Eldora, but I avoid I70 like the plague...both winter and summer.

 

[Expat_Poke]

I used to ski up to 100 days a winter....now less than a handful. Why? I fucking 70.

The wife and I do an occasional XC day at Eldora, but I avoid I70 like the plague...both winter and summer.

Yeah the wife and I picked up snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain during the winter because with no ski resorts and no casinos that is where the fewest people were and traffic wasn't too bad.

She thought I was exaggerating how bad that I70 is. Hiked to a lake east of Vail and she was shocked on the way back. So ended Sunday hikes on the I70 corridor.

 

[PokeOLoco]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I've had 6 hour drives from Breck back to Denver before... I gave up skiing completely because of that and the never ending increase in fees unless you commit to buying a pass really early. I can't wait to move out of here someday.

 

[McPeachy]

Studies were recently done (don't remember who), that it is not only faster (by hours of driving time faster), but much more affordable (MUCH MORE), for Denver residents to drive & ski at Snowy Range outside of Laramie, than to their neighboring Aspen, Breck, Vail, etc.

Not to mention, you can get 10 minute runs, and no lift lines at Snowy Range...something Colorado resorts haven't had for 30 years.

http://www.snowyrangeski.com/sample-page/area-map/

 

[Asmodeanreborn]

As somebody who knows zero about downhill skiing - does the quality of skiing at Snowy Range really compare?

Also, as a Colorado resident - if you're planning on driving on I-70, just take a Monday off and go then instead. We go over the mountains every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas pretty much, and I always add the extra Monday off because of I-70. Took us 4 hours even from Grand Junction to Longmont on Monday this week (big kudos to the people keeping the snow off the roads), which is the same it takes in the middle of summer.

 

[wyocowboy2014]

As somebody who knows zero about downhill skiing - does the quality of skiing at Snowy Range really compare?

Also, as a Colorado resident - if you're planning on driving on I-70, just take a Monday off and go then instead. We go over the mountains every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas pretty much, and I always add the extra Monday off because of I-70. Took us 4 hours even from Grand Junction to Longmont on Monday this week (big kudos to the people keeping the snow off the roads), which is the same it takes in the middle of summer.

There is no comparison.

 

[laxwyo]

You ride up the hill and then go down and do it over again. Sledding looks more fun.

 

[Expat_Poke]

As somebody who knows zero about downhill skiing - does the quality of skiing at Snowy Range really compare?

Also, as a Colorado resident - if you're planning on driving on I-70, just take a Monday off and go then instead. We go over the mountains every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas pretty much, and I always add the extra Monday off because of I-70. Took us 4 hours even from Grand Junction to Longmont on Monday this week (big kudos to the people keeping the snow off the roads), which is the same it takes in the middle of summer.

First I agree that is the best way to avoid I-70, but the main point here is that while Laramie has its drawbacks, it does have it's own advantages. To have to take a day off for what should just be a weekend day trip is one reason (admittedly of many) I wanted out of Denver so badly. Many live in Denver to be close to the mountains, but what is the point of being close if you have to take time off just to get into them? This is where Laramie can compete to attract people who are sick of those crowds, don't mind the cold, and want to be able to take day trips into the outdoors.

 

[SnowyRange]

This is where Laramie can compete to attract people who are sick of those crowds, don't mind the cold, and want to be able to take day trips into the outdoors.

It's the day trip thing to the outdoors that makes Laramie a hell of a lot better than being stuck down on the Front Range...well, except for downhill skiing.

But it's hard to beat the ease with which you can get to world-class cross country skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, snowshoeing, camping, hiking...all without having 800 people crowded around you.

 

[phxpoke]

I would have loved to stay in Laramie, but there just wasn't a job for me. A lack of quality jobs for its graduates is the major drawback.