Cody Wy: would it be a good place to live?

[Boondocker]

This morning I saw a job posting for a small school outside of Cody. I was wondering what thoughts everyone might have about living there. On the upside, of course, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. On the other hand, the parks are inaccessible much of the year except via snowmobile. So what do you see as the upsides and downsides of living there?

[Frank's Trailer Works]

We have family that live there year round. They love it. If you need a new Ford, you will run into cousin Ed.

[zlee]

I have friends who live there, and they love it also. The wind bothers them a lot during the winter, though. (The sound, mainly.) It would make me insane; I'm an urban rat.

[79nTOW]

Cody is in a wonderful area. The streets are wide in the downtown area with a lot of nice restaurants. They offer outdoor dining and with attractive lighting displays and planting of flowers it is very appealing. Of course in the winter I'm sure it is a different story. There is a hospital and a Walmart. What more can you ask for?

The area is absolutely beautiful and the fishing is great. I never tire of Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons. Seeing it snow in the summer is beautiful... it doesn't last long and gives you more time to enjoy the animals.

Good luck,
Predeta

[robwok]

I've spent both a summer week and winter week in Dubois, bout an hour from Jackson Hole. Just awesome. They do have a muddy season, and the snowplows have special pipes to blow the snow over the top of the 15 foot drifts on either sides of the road if that's any indication.

[slowmover]

The museum makes the study, in depth, of William Cody mandatory, IMO, as there are so many departures contained thence. Quite a number of articles, books (fiction and nonfiction) and visual materials, both scholarly and popular. The echoes come from my parents memories, but those of grandparents (Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado) make it a touchstone . . and the mentions were merely asides. Pre WWI America, 1890-1910 sure has been popular -- from cowboy action shooting, to railroad hotel architecture -- and Cody (plus what has been closer to your home, the 101 Ranch in Oklahoma) makes sense from here.

I'd throw in Helen Hunt Jackson also.

The Heartsong of Charging Elk was a decent recent read.

.

[eubank]

Humm. Not terribly far from Lander, WY. Start reading the Father John / Vicky Holden mystery series by Margaret Coel (if you're into reading mysteries).

Lynn

[Boondocker]

Reading on the NPS page, it looks like they allow snowmobiles on the road to the Cody entrance. Is that entrance a viable way into the park in the winter? I would love to do some winter photography in the park.

[Coloradobus]

Rodney,
I lived and worked yellowstone for 15 years. Travelling into the park by snowmachine is the absolute best. You can travel by snowmobile in the park on the roads as the nps keeps them groomed. Cody is the county seat of Park County. Billings. Mt is only a few hours away for big city shopping. If you get the chance to work there, go for it

[Jim & Susan]

One thing is certain. It would be a great "jumping-off" point for some fabulous "out-west" adventures. Good luck to you, Rodney, whatever you decide.

Jim

[valmog]

Have to jump in and say we LOVE that area of the country! I would jump at the chance to pack up and move near Yellowstone. The area is so rich with history and beautiful, beautiful scenery. We've been there through every season and have never found a bad time of the year to visit.

Best of luck to you
Kim

[Stella]

Rodney, I've lived in Jackson for 15 years. Cynics and locals --usually the same folks --call it "poverty with a view." we are no different. I'm a writer/editor (tapping on a device so pleeez excuse my crappy capitalization) and my DH has done dozens of things to put food on the table and boots on our feet. I never want to move away though, so we will continue to prize lifestyle over luxury. We can hike at lunch, mountain bike after work. In winter after a storm my office is a ghost town because staffers invoke the "powder clause" of their employment contracts and head out to ski whatever their pleasure: resort, backcountry or cross-country. Except there are no contracts at the business with 50-odd employees. We operate on handshakes around here. People measure distance between towns in how many beers someone could reasonably expect to ingest on the way. Cody to Thermopolis? Four-beer drive. we meet and greet our neighbors and wave to oncoming cars on the two-lane roads. People here are nice, by golly, or they stay on their damn ranch and don't come to town much. Both my parents were teachers, and I love the idea that teaching can take you most anywhere you want to be. Actually, snowmobiles in Yellowstone must travel with a guide these days, but snow coaches also are a fab way to reach the park interior in winter. Nobody gives a damn who your parents were or how many letters are behind your name or what college you went to (sports loyalties excepted). Some people drive too fast but most of us take our time. The police blotter is filled with drunks who pass out on the boardwalk and teenagers shoplifting makeup. Every year or two there's a rash of car thefts, meaning punks steal your CDs or sunglasses and loose change. Cops take this **** seriously, but folks still refuse to lock their cars because it's a hassle and we want to trust each other. Get the picture? Move here and it will be pretty dang hard to return to civilization.

[UAPachyderm]

Originally Posted by Boondocker

This morning I saw a job posting for a small school outside of Cody. I was wondering what thoughts everyone might have about living there. On the upside, of course, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks. On the other hand, the parks are inaccessible much of the year except via snowmobile. So what do you see as the upsides and downsides of living there?

My sister, brother-in-law, and their 5 children lived 5 years in Casper, Wyoming. They spent Spring, Summer, and Fall outdoors loving life and nature. They spent Winter, all Winter, in their basement wishing the 70 mph wind, snow, and freezing weather would cease.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Stella

Rodney, I've lived in Jackson for 15 years. Cynics and locals --usually the same folks --call it "poverty with a view." we are no different. I'm a writer/editor (tapping on a device so pleeez excuse my crappy capitalization) and my DH has done dozens of things to put food on the table and boots on our feet. I never want to move away though, so we will continue to prize lifestyle over luxury. We can hike at lunch, mountain bike after work. In winter after a storm my office is a ghost town because staffers invoke the "powder clause" of their employment contracts and head out to ski whatever their pleasure: resort, backcountry or cross-country. Except there are no contracts at the business with 50-odd employees. We operate on handshakes around here. People measure distance between towns in how many beers someone could reasonably expect to ingest on the way. Cody to Thermopolis? Four-beer drive. we meet and greet our neighbors and wave to oncoming cars on the two-lane roads. People here are nice, by golly, or they stay on their damn ranch and don't come to town much. Both my parents were teachers, and I love the idea that teaching can take you most anywhere you want to be. Actually, snowmobiles in Yellowstone must travel with a guide these days, but snow coaches also are a fab way to reach the park interior in winter. Nobody gives a damn who your parents were or how many letters are behind your name or what college you went to (sports loyalties excepted). Some people drive too fast but most of us take our time. The police blotter is filled with drunks who pass out on the boardwalk and teenagers shoplifting makeup. Every year or two there's a rash of car thefts, meaning punks steal your CDs or sunglasses and loose change. Cops take this **** seriously, but folks still refuse to lock their cars because it's a hassle and we want to trust each other. Get the picture? Move here and it will be pretty dang hard to return to civilization.

2X. We moved to Idaho 35 yrs ago after growing up in Miami, FL; living in Hartford, CT and San Jose, CA, in other words we were city folks all the way. Moving to Idaho was an experiment and wow has it been successful! We wouldn't leave here for anything and Cody is a little smaller I think but still the same atmosphere: country folk who are still honest, still care about their neighbors, still jump to help if you need it. I ran out of gas on a county road (=middle of nowhere) and nearly every car that passed by stopped and offered help, and if I hadn't had help on the way, I would have felt safe accepting help from any of them. Cody will be the same. Don't hesitate, jump at that job and join us out here in the last best places in the USA!

Vivian

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by eubank

Humm. Not terribly far from Lander, WY. Start reading the Father John / Vicky Holden mystery series by Margaret Coel (if you're into reading mysteries).

Lynn

Hey, thanks Lynn! I'll look them up. I'm an extreme fan of mysteries.

Vivian

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by UAPachyderm

My sister, brother-in-law, and their 5 children lived 5 years in Casper, Wyoming. They spent Spring, Summer, and Fall outdoors loving life and nature. They spent Winter, all Winter, in their basement wishing the 70 mph wind, snow, and freezing weather would cease.

I'm really sorry to hear that your relatives had such a bad time, but the wind and snow don't blow ALL the time, really! LOL!

I wish they had rented/bought/borrowed snowshoes, X-country skis, or downhill skis and gone outside and enjoyed the winter. It is so amazing to cross-country on fresh snow (not groomed trails, just out in a field or the woods someplace) and see all the animal tracks: rabbits, mice, coyotes, and the swish marks left in the snow by a hunting raptor's wings when he swoops down after a meal. It's really too bad they missed all that.

And the cold is generally dry in these Western states: -20 in dry cold feels better than 32 on the east coast in wet cold. At -20 in W. Y'stone on a snowmobile it was OK, not miserable as we often experienced in the NE. And skiing on powder is incredible; skiing in NE was often on ice and ice hummocks.

I wish your relatives had had a better experience.

Vivian

[LFM]

You may want to rethink moving out here. It is already getting pretty crowded. Montana, the 4th largest state, just hit 1 million people. And Wyoming now has close to 500,000 people. So that means you would be moving into quite a large number of people compared to just a few years ago. Throw in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Idaho, and we are already over 3 million people. Pretty crowded here, I would think twice!
For those of you who take things too literal, I am being sarcastic.
Greg

[Frank's Trailer Works]

1.6 million here in Baltimore. We got 50% more and were just a city!