Might be crazy!! (Cheyenne, Warren AFB: HOA, houses, landscaping)

[22crew]

Good afternoon,

Has anyone on here retired near F.E. Warren AFB once they called it a day with the military? I start terminal leave the end of November and my wife are looking at all our options. I am from Iowa so winters and cold do not bother me, as does living in the middle of nowhere. My wife has a commissary GS job right now at Sheppard AFB and has the opportunity to transfer if need be. How is the commissary? How is the pharmacy? I will have my Airframe & Powerplant certification and be about 5 classes away from my bachelors in aeronautics. I however do not really want to work on aircraft anymore, it is more of a backup plan. I intend on getting into electrical lineman work after I complete the course at Northwest Lineman College.

Any hep would be greatly appreciated.

Aaron

[NW Crow]

I can't help with your specific questions. Things tend to be slow on weekends. Maybe responses will come next week.


Do you want to live in town, outside or way outside? Price range?


I'd think Cheyenne could work pretty well for retirement as so long as you don't expect true big city entertainment (drive 100 miles south for that if you want it) and are willing to drive to outdoor rec spots too.
If you want country living, I'd try for west of town.

[22crew]

NW Crow,

Thank you for the advice. I would say 10-20 miles outside of town with a price range of 250-300K and as many acres as that could get.

Aaron

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by 22crew

I would say 10-20 miles outside of town with a price range of 250-300K and as many acres as that could get.

Aaron

what type of housing are you seeking? bedrooms/baths, square footage … quality of house, age of house?

your budget is a bit on the "short" side if you're wanting acreage.

Closer in to town, you're looking at some rather pricey HOA subdivision housing areas. Your budget won't go far if you're looking at 5-10 acres there, although the houses may be a lot newer/nicer than further out in the county areas.

While some properties west of WAFB just off Happy Jack road may be reasonably accessed during the winter months, beware getting too far away from the interstate on back county roads on properties subdivided out of the old ranches up that way. Some of those places can and do get "snowed in" for periods of time in the winter months some years.

We had friends do so on a gorgeous 20 acre property only 2 miles south of I80, with a view of the interstate and the mountains around their place. We cautioned them about winter access, they thought we were kidding them. They found out the first winter that in those areas where the county doesn't maintain the roads, access can be problematic. They were snowed in for almost two months out of that first winter. A 4x4 pick-up truck was no match for the deep drifts in the draws on the dirt roads to their place and even if a bulldozer cleared the roadway, it filled back in with the winds and accumulated snow adjacent.

Even with the winter time problems of access to their place, their 40 acre parcel, house, barns, huge workshop, and ranch improvements … would dwarf your budget.

Bear in mind, too, that most properties you might see in the areas west of WAFB will be "dryland". This is an arid climate area and the "greenery" that you're acclimated to from a riparian area of the USA will not present here. Nor will you have water available to do much more than close landscaping around your house and a modest sized garden patch. Gardening in the area will require a tunnel greenhouse structure to extend your growing season; you're going to be at altitude and in a cold shadow area.