Former Gov. Mike Sullivan once called Wyoming “a small town with unusually long streets.”

While that in one sense greatly oversimplifies an incredibly diverse state, from mountain peaks to sand dunes, from a bustling city like Cheyenne to the tiny outposts of civilization between Casper and Shoshoni, there’s still something unique about Wyoming and its residents.

When I lived for seven years in Georgia, people there were aghast at what my family did nearly every weekend for a period when I was growing up — drive more than three hours from Fort Collins, Colorado to Douglas to see my great-grandparents.

And if you lived an hour outside of Atlanta, with only Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Chili’s and various other large stores and chain restaurants around, you were practically in the boonies.

And even for those from other rural areas, Wyoming’s unexpected weather changes, hard country and independent-minded people have a different feel.

So, City Administrator Zack Thorington’s pick of a fellow Wyomingite for police chief was a good move. As he explained to our reporter CJ Baker, that was just one of many reasons Jim Rhea, a sergeant for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office based in Rock Springs, was chosen for the job. He also possesses plenty of the relevant skills and has handled a number of different responsibilities in the department since 2013. He looks like a good fit for a number of reasons and it sounds like he’s thrilled to have been accepted.

Powell residents should be thrilled too. Hopefully Rhea can settle in, do good work and stay for the long-term, providing the continuity and leadership that former chief Roy Eckerdt so exemplified.

Powell, obviously, is a very different city from Rock Springs, which has more than 20,000 people and sits right on I-80, dealing with the added challenges an interstate highway generally creates.

But it’s still Wyoming, just a few long streets away.