Powell, Wyoming

Life in Powell, Wyoming, explained by people who’ve lived in Powell:

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Powell)

Powell Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Powell?

How friendly the people are. (Lisa, 6 months)
Blairs. (Brittany, 1 year)
Farms. (Dominique, 1 year)
The schools. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
Lack of traffic jams and it’s peaceful. (Wendy, 3 years)
Northwest College. (Jennifer, 5 years)
It’s not the Antarctica. (Theresa, 5 years)
Hansel and Gretels. (Donna, 7 years)
Rural environment. (Rachel, 7 years)
All the activities. (Lori, 11 years)
Most people are kind and helpful. Also it is beautiful here. (A, 15 years)
The skate park. (Ryan, 19 years)
Where I grew up and graduated from school. (Janet, 23 years)
It’s quiet and a great place to raise kids! (Morgen, 30 years)
The small population. (Josh, 35 years)
The mountains are close. (Isaac, 37 years)
Community spirit. (Jo, 40 years)
The small town feel. (Tammy, 43 years)
Small town. (Bobbie, 50 years)
People. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Least Favorites

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Powell?

Limited shopping. (Lisa, 6 months)
High domestic violence rate. (Brittany, 1 year)
Politics (Dave Northrup). (Dominique, 1 year)
Lack of restaurants, long wait at restaurants, lack of health inspections. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
No Taco Bell lol. (Wendy, 3 years)
Poor roadway/infrastructure maintenance in winter. (Jennifer, 5 years)
There’s absolutely nothing to do. The sidewalks roll up at 5 PM every night including weekends. This town is very cliquish. In all honesty the Powell PD cannot catch anything that isn’t minor. Very little shopping to do here. And what there is here is very expensive and it pays more to drive either to Billings or to Cody. (Theresa, 5 years)
Need to build a Walmart. (Donna, 7 years)
High domestic violence rates (including murder) in Park Co. The fact that a few families run this place — “Powell royalty” makes it really difficult to feel that everyone matters equally here. The fact it’s so overwhelmingly white. (Rachel, 7 years)
Love Powell. (Lori, 11 years)
Lack of choices for restaurants and entertainment… racist, homophobic and misogynistic attitudes. (A, 15 years)
The people and the meth everywhere. (Ryan, 19 years)
Having to leave it. (Janet, 23 years)
Lack of entertainment. (Morgen, 30 years)
The increasing population. (Josh, 35 years)
There is absolutely nothing there. Also having to drive to Cody or Billings to shop. (Isaac, 37 years)
Not good shopping. (Jo, 40 years)
Everybody knows your business. (Tammy, 43 years)
The police. (Bobbie, 50 years)
Everyone knowing your business. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Things To Do

What are fun things to do in Powell?

WyOld West Brewery, aquatic center, red zone. (Lisa, 6 months)
Swim. (Brittany, 1 year)
Fair, arcade, restaurant. (Dominique, 1 year)
Movies. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
The bench, Aquatic Center, Movies. (Wendy, 3 years)
Library, bars, food trucks, movies. (Jennifer, 5 years)
Movie Theater. (Theresa, 5 years)
Hang out with friends. (Donna, 7 years)
Bowling, walks on the bench, target practice, riding horses, movies. (Rachel, 7 years)
Attend sporting events. (Lori, 11 years)
Karaoke, bowling, time with friends. (A, 15 years)
Skateboarding and sex. (Ryan, 19 years)
Dragging main. (Janet, 23 years)
Hiking, events downtown. (Morgen, 30 years)
Drive in, hiking, shooting sports, hunting. (Josh, 35 years)
Nothing. (Isaac, 37 years)
Movies, bowling, golfing, college activities, eating out. (Jo, 40 years)
I stay home and enjoyed family. (Tammy, 43 years)
Take a walk. (Bobbie, 50 years)
Not much. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell’s Reputation

What’s Powell known for?

I don’t know. (Lisa, 6 months)
Being close to Cody. (Brittany, 1 year)
Agriculture. (Dominique, 1 year)
Yellowstone. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
Northwest College? (Wendy, 3 years)
Northwest College. (Jennifer, 5 years)
Being prejudiced. (Theresa, 5 years)
Hansel and gretels. (Donna, 7 years)
Highest # of bars per capita in Wyoming. Super high domestic violence rates in Park Co. Friendly people and neighbors. (Rachel, 7 years)
Farming. (Lori, 11 years)
Nw college, in general friendly people. (A, 15 years)
Stuck up self-absorbed people. (Ryan, 19 years)
Not sure. (Janet, 23 years)
Tree City USA. (Morgen, 30 years)
Heart Mountain, farming. (Josh, 35 years)
Community spirit, ag, beautiful scenery. (Jo, 40 years)
Farming – irrigation. (Bobbie, 50 years)
College and farming. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Crime

What’s the crime like in Powell? (hot spot areas, etc.)

Worse on the south side. (Lisa, 6 months)
High. (Brittany, 1 year)
Too many drug addicts. (Dominique, 1 year)
Meth, drugs, domestic abuse, animal cruelty. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
None that I’m aware, but I do feel animal cruelty is rampant. (Wendy, 3 years)
Nuisance/drunk drivers in the early hours. (Jennifer, 5 years)
There’s a lot of crime you just never hear about it unless you have an app like alert ID that lets people know anything that goes to the PD dispatch. (Theresa, 5 years)
Very low. (Donna, 7 years)
Not terrible. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of racist answers about folks who live on the other side of the tracks. The crime that matters most to me is the crazy high rate of domestic violence. And the fact that it’s virtually impossible to get the police to address animal cruelty. And we need to focus on serious drug problems (opioids, meth, drunk driving) and not minor problems like pot. (Rachel, 7 years)
Low. (Lori, 11 years)
Domestic abuse. (A, 15 years)
Cops can tell you that. (Ryan, 19 years)
In my day drunk driving. (Janet, 23 year)
Low. (Morgen, 30 years)
Rapidly becoming worse with the influx of people moving here from out of state. Drug problem is increasing. (Josh, 35 years)
Hardly any crime but seems there’s lots of drugs. (Isaac, 37 years)
Car break ins, drugs, drinking and driving. (Jo, 40 years)
We have too many police with such a low crime rate. (Bobbie, 50 years)
Normal small town stuff. Seems drug problem is growing. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Advice

Any advice for people moving to Powell?

Don’t. (Brittany, 1 year)
Avoid Mr.D’s grocery store expired food and drug addicts are always there don’t want your kids to be around those people and never move to the trailer parks or near them, they’re full of horrible drug addicts it’s why I moved out of that horrible nasty town. (Dominique, 1 year)
Learn to enjoy outdoor things and drive on ice. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
Be prepared for not much to do. (Wendy, 3 years)
Acquire fur coats, friendly helpful people, check house insulation. (Jennifer, 5 years)
Move somewhere else. (Theresa, 5 years)
You will love it. (Donna, 7 years)
Bring your favorite foods and sauces — welcome to the food desert, where the Chinese restaurant uses spaghetti noodles for chow mein. (Rachel, 7 years)
You will love it! (Lori, 11 years)
It can be a little isolating so it’s important to find good friends. (A, 15 years)
Don’t move here unless you like meth. (Ryan, 19 years)
Love it. (Janet, 23 years)
Married couples and families will love it. Single people, it is hard to find someone. (Morgen, 30 years)
Don’t. (Josh, 35 years)
If you like living in a place where there is nothing and hardly any crime, it’s for you. Also even though there isn’t anything there it is a good place to raise kids. (Isaac, 37 years)
Join some group of some kind to get to know people. (Jo, 40 years)
Watch out for the cops, they don’t have much to do, so they harass people. (Bobbie, 50 years)
If you want quiet hometown feel then this is the place. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Stories

Share an experience you’ve had in Powell (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

I had a blast playing Bingo at the brewery last week! (Lisa, 6 months)
County fair. (Brittany, 1 year)
It’s a wonderful town if you live outside of town limits. The cows are amazing to be with (husband used to be a farm hand) and it’s nice feeling all the crops grow each year. (Dominique, 1 year)
Driving on the roads. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
Karaoke night. (Jennifer, 5 years)
The Wings and Wheels air show. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before and I’ve been to a lot of shows between cars and planes. My honest opinion is there’s not much interesting about Powell. (Theresa, 5 years)
Going to NWCC. (Donna, 7 years)
I’ve never had to worry when I get stuck in the snow or on the side of the road. Local folks are always quick to stop and help. And the ladies at the grocery store know and remember me. I saw a college student skateboarding carrying a chicken in his cowboy hat. (Rachel, 7 years)
Karaoke is always fun. (A, 15 years)
Cops harassing me because they have nothing better to do. (Ryan, 19 years)
Teenage things. (Janet, 23 years)
Game nights with friends, park county fair. (Morgen, 30 years)
Most of my life has been here. All my best memories are rooted here. (Josh, 35 years)
Really isn’t any. (Isaac, 37 years)
The football games and wrestling matches, drive-in. (Bobbie, 50 years)

Powell’s Future

How do you think Powell will change over the next 10 years?

Not very much. (Lisa, 6 months)
Grow a little. (Brittany, 1 year)
Drug addicts are taking over the town. The town will turn horrible in ten years if the police force doesn’t clean the town up. (Dominique, 1 year)
No idea. (Jennifer, 5 years)
I’ve heard it hasn’t changed in the last 10 years so how was it going to change in the next 10? (Theresa, 5 years)
Might grow in population. (Donna, 7 years)
I am worried that it will follow state trends and continue to experience negative population growth and a floundering economy. We need to talk about economic diversification. For example, I’ve talked with local farmers, who would love to start growing hemp (NOT pot) — they already have the infrastructure and need new crops with better prices. Unless we get with the rest of the country, Powell is going to become a “bust” town. (Rachel, 7 years)
More people. (Lori, 11 years)
Worse. (Ryan, 19 years)
Growth. (Janet, 23 years)
Very little. (Morgen, 30 years)
It will grow and no longer maintain its small town feel. (Josh, 35 years)
I think there will be hardly anything left in Powell, businesses don’t last long. (Isaac, 37 years)
It needs to grow, the businesses need to let other businesses come in. (Jo, 40 years)
Too many people moving here. (Bobbie, 50 years)
Not much. (Judy, 55 years)

Powell Facts

Any other interesting facts about Powell?

Great college. (Brittany, 1 year)
Amazing food love the restaurants on bent street. (Dominique, 1 year)
The roads are not cared for and are unsafe in the winter. (Susanne, 2.5 years)
The water and air is pristine. (Jennifer, 5 years)
I like heart mountain. (Theresa, 5 years)
Love homesteader park. (Donna, 7 years)
Not [garbage]. (Ryan, 19 years)
Heart mountain. Good farming. (Janet, 23 years)
It’s a small sleeping farming community with no room for more people. Go away, nothing to see here. (Josh, 35 years)
We were all American City. (Bobbie, 50 years)