Moving from FL to UT. Good idea? Need your help guys. (Salt Lake City: new home, job market)

[UnemployedMan]

Hello everybody. I've been reading this great forum for a week or so already, it has answered many of my questions and shattered a lot of myths for me but I still need your advice residents as it is a very importaint decision for me.
Here is some info about me. I'm a guy of 21, originally from the Southern Ural, Russia where I lived my entire life. I've been studying Humanities University for linguistics and translation for 4 years(out of 5) and dropped my studies when moved to US. So English is not a problem for me, but of course it takes time to get used to different dialects and scamping manner of speech as it's difficult to comprehend sometimes. And I also stammer sometimes. All the more we studdied British English there. So I have an incomplete higher education diploma, which I would like to evaluate and go on my studies.
Now I live in Sarasota, FL and what dissapoints me the most here is that I still CAN'T GET A JOB. According to this site the unemployed rate here is 12%.
Moreover summers in FL are very hot and the heat is becoming unbearable, especially for us Ural people, where we have around 8 months of cold snowy winter of the whole year. I also can't get used to the fact that there is only 1 season here, I can't snowboard here(which I did most of the time while being in Russia). Of course beaches are beautiful here, but I get bored with it very fast, so it seems that FL is not an option for me at all.

So my aim now is to move from here to a place where:
- I can get a job(hopefully). This is the FIRST priority!(Acc. to this site it's 6% in UT compared to 12% in FL)
- A place which is environmentally similar to where I used to live;
- A place with four seasons;
- Environmentally cosy and clean;
- A place with snowboarding opportunity;
- Stressless and friendly place to live;
- A place where I can continue my studies but it shouldn't be expensive;

So that's why I want to listen to you residents if my choice is right. I've been in Park City only once last winter and I liked it a lot, but I also realized that it takes a lot of money, so my first concern is still getting a job which will allow me to cover my living there.

Here are some questions I would like to be answered:
- What's the most common occupation shperes for the people of my age in UT?
- How hard is it to get a job there now? What skills are needed?
- Are there any RUSSIAN people(NOT Jewish as many people consider it to be the SAME and mix us because we are both russian-speaking. Remember IT'S NOT!)? The reason I'm asking is that I'm thinking maybe to try my interpretation/translation services if it's in demand.
- What are the most common means of travel there? Is there any public transport? (I don't have my own car right now)
- Are there a lot of young people, students? (There none of them here in Sarasota, so it's very dull place to live if you are under 75)
- If there are, what's their occupations, hobbies, places of study?
- What are things to do in spare time, except for outdoors activities?

Well, I think it's pretty much all what I want to know now. I hope I haven't bothered you much with my story and questions and hope for your help.
Thanks in advance guys, your advices are highly appreciated!

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I can't answer all your questions but there is a Russian community in Salt Lake City. Logan is colder and has more snow but I don't knowe about jobs. UT does not have as low unemployment as people think. There is a university in Logan and 2 in Salt Lake. Certainly the U of U here teaches Russian so you might get translation work.

It can get pretty hot in the summer, over 100 deg. but we have very low humidity, maybe 10% when it is that hot. I think you will like the climate much better.

[eggalegga]

I have a Jewish, Russian friend here. She and her family like it here.

I think Utah has the youngest population of any state in the country. So finding other twenty somethings shouldn't be a problem for you. University of Utah and Salt Lake Community College are the two places for higher education. There are many other specialty training schools/colleges. It just depends what your interests are.

We do have public transportation. Here's a link.

[SWFL_Native]

Hey Unemployed we just made the move from Ft. Myers/Cape Coral back at the end of March and are loving it here. We live in the Avenues which is a pretty cool neighborhood with old style victorian houses and relatively close to the "U" (They call it the U but obviously everyone else in the country reserves that for Miami, silly Utahns).

You'll love the change in climate as it's pretty dry and we're still sleeping with the windows open (it's friggin Mid-June). Not sure on the Russian population but SLC proper is quite diverse with exception to few black people.

As far as outdoor activities the Summer has world class mountain biking and winter has world class skiing. Kinda hard not to appreciate the mountains coming from the flatness that is FL.

Educations is MUCH more expensive out here and my fiance' has had difficulty finding a job (Bachelor's in Bio/Chem with 6+ years as a Certified Pharm tech). I tranferred out here for work so can't comment on the specifics of the job market here. I'd say it's much better than FL, heck it can't get much worse. Also the demographics is quite a bit younger here.

Housing is also quite a bit more expensive as they don't have the wonderful supply of 'cheap' new homes that FL has in it's inventory.

This is really a Mormon (LDS) state but you'll find that they're quite nice and harmless. Don't think about the Jeff's guy from the News or even door knockers (Jehova's). Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more ?'s.

[sp2007]

We moved here from central FL in 2008. We live in Davis county and really enjoy it. For me, I came out here because I found a much better job at a much better pay than I could ever find in Florida. Maybe I am a statistical anomaly, but we are enjoying our good fortune. Most ppl would say that FL has more potential than Utah because of the far larger amount of people in the state. But its been the reverse for us.

Best of luck.

[UnemployedMan]

Thanks everybody!But still it's tough decision to move alone in another state without having anybody there. But you've helped me out with many things!

Originally Posted by sp2007

We moved here from central FL in 2008. We live in Davis county and really enjoy it. For me, I came out here because I found a much better job at a much better pay than I could ever find in Florida. Maybe I am a statistical anomaly, but we are enjoying our good fortune. Most ppl would say that FL has more potential than Utah because of the far larger amount of people in the state. But its been the reverse for us.

Best of luck.

If it's not a secret, what your now job is about?
p.s. Now applying for a snowboard instructor in Park City, hope something will turn out successful
Regards

[skibarbie]

Apply for a 2nd job while you are at it-my ski/board instructor friends have really suffered the last few seasons. People are still coming to ski but not doing lessons/dining/shopping like the good old days.