Laramie native here, did not attend UWYO, but have many friends/family that did. Laramie is very much a small college town and if you're coming from a bigger city will seem fairly isolated. Fort Collins, CO, home of Colorado State University is 60 miles away, Cheyenne, WY is 45, and Denver, CO, the closest big city is 150. Denver Airport is the one most people in Laramie fly in and out of, Laramie Airport is tiny and has very limited service.
As for recreation, it's great if you're into outdoor activities. Plenty of great places to run, bike, fish, camp, hunt, hike, etc. Medicine Bow National Forest isn't far and has a small ski area called Snowy Range. Otherwise it's about 120 miles to Steamboat, CO which is a major resort with world class skiing. Winter Park and Copper resorts are within about 3 hours drive as well, under good conditions.
As far as housing goes, there is a lot of UW housing for grad students that ranges in age, style, and quality. There are some newer townhouse style buildings that are quite nice, I believe they are called Bison Run, but the older stuff isn't very nice. Otherwise, off-campus housing is mostly older houses. There are some apartments, but the houses vastly outnumber them. Again, I never attended UW so what I know comes from what I've heard.