Adventure, Wide-Open Spaces Attract Newcomers
Dr. Melinda Poyer and her family didn’t just move up in the world when they left West Palm Beach for Rock Springs. They soared – from 13 feet above sea level to about 6,500 feet.
True, Poyer, her husband, James, and their six children, ranging in age from toddler to teenager, left behind sunny skies, plenty of shopping and sandy beaches.
But they traded all that in for ... sunny skies, plenty of shopping and a high-desert landscape like no other. Two time zones and a thousand miles away, life here is different than it was in crowded south Florida. And that’s just what the Poyers were hoping for.
“We have a much better quality of life,” says Poyer, whose husband manages her medical practice. Instead of fighting urban sprawl and maddening rush hour traffic, “Everything is much closer,” she says “I’m home every day by 5:30. And we have the ability to have our kids in multiple activities,” like cross-country skiing, football, soccer and swimming.
The family weren’t exactly strangers to the place they now call home. Melinda Poyer, a self-described “Army brat” who grew up all over the world, and her Florida-native husband had been visiting Wyoming every year for at least 20 years. They’ve long owned a ski condo at Jackson Hole, just a few hours down I-85 from Sweetwater County, and their oldest son “started skiing when he could walk.” They had planned to retire here anyway when they decided, “why not move here while their kids could enjoy it, too”
Almost every weekend finds the family out on some outdoor adventure or another. Maybe it’s hiking, visiting the Grand Tetons, boating on Flaming Gorge or rafting down Green River. Adjustment, it turns out, has been a snap for everyone in the Poyer family. With a welcoming community of 50,000 or so who live in Rock Springs -– the county’s largest municipality – it’s hard not to become attached really quickly. And the thousands of people flocking here as the gas and oil industry expand find amenities plentiful.
There’s dining, shopping and museums should newcomers ever tire of the 10,500 square feet of public land in Sweetwater County.
“It’s like anyplace else – you sprout where you’re planted,” says Dave Hanks, CEO of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce, who hails from Wisconsin originally. “I grew up in the land of trees and water. This is the land of high desert and mountains.” And it’s a place he’s chosen to call home for nearly three decades now, long enough to feel like a native.
Some dining attractions not to be missed include the city’s many authentic Mexican eateries as well as its steakhouses, which range from brew pub to country club. Shoppers can browse and buy to their heart’s content at a growing collection of smaller shops and boutiques, as well as more traditional fare at Plaza Mall and White Mountain Mall. “We have all the standards,” Hanks says, “like Wal-Mart, The Home Depot – which is good for out here because you can go 150 miles without seeing another one.”
The county is conveniently located roughly halfway between Salt Lake City, Utah – about a three-hour trip – and Denver. That makes it ideal for tourists to drop in, and it gives residents the wide-open spaces they crave while being only an afternoon’s drive away from a big-city fix.
The Poyers are not unlike the growing numbers of young families moving here. Four years ago, the average age of a resident in this coal, oil and gas town was 47. That’s down to about 34 now as more young people move in, a trend that’s expected to keep going.
While Rock Springs is growing by leaps and bounds, there’s still plenty of room to spread out.
Wyoming simply isn’t for everyone, Hanks says, though in a strange way that may be part of its appeal. Newcomers need to have a bit of the old pioneering spirit in them to carve out a life in what can sometimes be a harsh land. True, the air is clean, the crime is low, the unemployment rate in Rock Springs is almost non-existent. And the sun shines, typically, more than 300 days out of the year. But it will get cold in the wintertime. And that sometimes gets in the way of recruitment, Hanks says.
“There is a reason Wyoming is the least populated state in nation,” he says. “You have to be pretty self-reliant. If the electricity goes out or something when it’s 30 below, you better know how to get warm.”
