Platte County is a great place to live, and our location has a great deal to do with why people choose Platte County as home. In just 2 1/2 hours you can be at Denver International Airport or any of the many cultural venues a big city can offer, but life in our small towns and rural settings let you avoid the stress, traffic and crime of urban living. Waiting in lines is seldom a problem, the air is clean, the skies are blue, and the people are friendly.
To the west are the Laramie Mountain Range and the Medicine Bow National Forest, offering great camping, hunting, fishing, and hiking opportunities. Our state lands, including Glendo and Guernsey State Parks are two of the premier state parks in Wyoming with camping, fishing, boating and other recreational opportunities. In addition our many county roads offer escapes to pleasant and often unexpected natural settings.
Platte County has many things going for it, but a major reason most people choose to live here is its high quality of life. When a recent survey was conducted by the Platte County Economic Development Corporation, the highest ratings for our county were “a safe place to live” and “a good place to raise a family.”
Wyoming’s crime rate is about 17% below the national average, and Platte County’s crime rate continually ranks below the state average. Part of that can be attributed to excellent law enforcement at both the county and municipal levels. Also, our stable economy has avoided many of the boom and bust cycles seen in many parts of the state.
Platte County’s two school districts are always rated high in most categories when compared statewide and nationally, and our four high schools have always graduated top notch students who have a high success rate in colleges and universities, technology and trade schools, as well as in the work place, thanks, in part, to an outstanding work ethic.
Platte County’s population is about equally divided between those living in our towns and those who choose to live in a rural setting. The truth of the matter is, however, that even our largest communities would seem rural to most Americans. This low density lifestyle provides lots of opportunities for improving mental health, whether it be fishing on a secluded lake, reading a book on the front porch, camping in a secluded mountain campground, or barbecuing in the backyard.
On the other hand there are a surprising number of cultural opportunities that exist here, either in our five communities or in larger cities such as Cheyenne and Casper, which are only an hour’s drive away for most of us.
Churches, Schools, after school programs, rodeos, Libraries, Roads, 4H, Kid’s Sport Teams, Adult Sport Teams, Nightlife, Dining Out, Hiking, Camping, Riding, X-country skiing, premiere technical rock climbing 90 minutes away at Vedauwoo, snowboarding at Snowy Range or Casper (or CO), four wheeling, snow mobile trails, country dancing, bluegrass festivals, music jams, music festivals etc etc etc