My final post: Leave Riverside CA for Sandy UT? (still confused)! (Salt Lake City: real estate, apartments)
Salt Lake City areaSalt Lake County - Davis County - Weber County
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My final post: Leave Riverside CA for Sandy UT? (still confused)!
Thank you everyone for your input so far. Some of the answers I have received have confused me even more in our choice of leaving vs. staying.
My husband and I, and our two little girls have been considering moving out of Riverside CA area for Sandy UT. We were trying to just look at the pros and cons of each place and compare them to find what would be best. We have been asking current residents of both places for their opinions. But we are getting such mixed reviews. Some people say UT has high crime, low wages, bad air, bad water. Other people say that UT is safe, affordable, and a great place to raise a family. With where we live now its the same thing. Some people say to stay in CA while others say the unemployment is high and the rent is outrageous and the traffic and smog is awful. We are more confused now then when we started this.
I know not everyone will have the same Opinions and places that one person likes another person may hate. But I just want to get the honest (no bashing) 411. This is a big choice for us.
My husband and I like the CA warm weather and sunshine, being close to the beach, and lots of stores/things to do (zoo, seaworld, disneyland). But we are having a problem with the high unemployment, high cost of living, expensive rent (an apartment here in CA can cost between $300 and $900 more than in UT!). Also there is a lot of cursing here and smoking and things you dont want around your children on a daily basis.
With UT we like how affordable the rent is, the lower cost of living and taxes, how family friendly/conservative the people/area seem to be, the big mountains and beautiful views, bigger yards and more open spaces. The downsides being having to learn to drive in snow and possibly low wages (from what people have told me).
Can you honestly clarify if the air and water quality are that big of a danger/concern in UT? Do you think the pros of UT over ride the cons? Do you think decent paying jobs are really that hard to find?
So buy a water filter or get the big 5 gallon dispenser, get some snow tires-those are the easy fixes. Yes the air can get bad in the winter-but nothing like where you are now. My hubby moved here from the inland empire and never looked back. Once again, get a job lined up before you get here and yes the wages are lower than most places that I have lived. I could not/would not be able to make it on $10-15 per hour and be on my own-and feel very fortunate to not be in that place of 3 roommates anymore !
Thank you everyone for your input so far. Some of the answers I have received have confused me even more in our choice of leaving vs. staying.
My husband and I, and our two little girls have been considering moving out of Riverside CA area for Sandy UT. We were trying to just look at the pros and cons of each place and compare them to find what would be best. We have been asking current residents of both places for their opinions. But we are getting such mixed reviews. Some people say UT has high crime, low wages, bad air, bad water. Other people say that UT is safe, affordable, and a great place to raise a family. With where we live now its the same thing. Some people say to stay in CA while others say the unemployment is high and the rent is outrageous and the traffic and smog is awful. We are more confused now then when we started this.
I know not everyone will have the same Opinions and places that one person likes another person may hate. But I just want to get the honest (no bashing) 411. This is a big choice for us.
My husband and I like the CA warm weather and sunshine, being close to the beach, and lots of stores/things to do (zoo, seaworld, disneyland). But we are having a problem with the high unemployment, high cost of living, expensive rent (an apartment here in CA can cost between $300 and $900 more than in UT!). Also there is a lot of cursing here and smoking and things you dont want around your children on a daily basis.
With UT we like how affordable the rent is, the lower cost of living and taxes, how family friendly/conservative the people/area seem to be, the big mountains and beautiful views, bigger yards and more open spaces. The downsides being having to learn to drive in snow and possibly low wages (from what people have told me).
Can you honestly clarify if the air and water quality are that big of a danger/concern in UT? Do you think the pros of UT over ride the cons? Do you think decent paying jobs are really that hard to find?
The problem is you will only know when you see for yourself. Book a cheap hotel on Priceline name your own price (I can give you the ropes on that), drive here 10 hours (12 with kid stops) and check it out for yourself. It took us a day to get a real feel for it and 9 months later it exceeds our expectations. We were thinking Sandy first also, then we got here and South Jordan won out. Sandy is great though.
As far as crime goes there are a couple bad areas like West Valley City, do as we do, don’t go there. Even if you do it looks like a normal city in CA.
Use this website, check out the crime stats. Riverside crime index for 2008 murders per 100,000 is 6.3 or 19 murders total in 2008 with an overall crime index of 377. Sandy murders per 100,000 in 2008 ZERO with total murders 1999-2008 13. Crime index 232 (US average is 320, the lower the better.) Across the valley in South Jordan where I live it is even lower at 129 (based on 2006 numbers) give this comparison tool a try also.
Moderator cut: link removed
I lived in Simi Valley CA (the safest city in the US for years) and I never felt safe there, you would see gang bangers all over, I had the graffiti hotline on speed dial and it is getting worse every year.
Here is a good tool for apartments, I rented a house in Daybreak and there are a lot for rent here, it may be a better deal than an apartment right now. Sandy Apartments for Rent & House Rentals - Yahoo! Real Estate
Utah has the fewest smokers per capita. There are a lot of fun places for kids, which is one of the main reasons we picked Daybreak, it has a lake, tons of parks a community center, lot of local events for kids and the Zoo, aquarium and other amusement parks are close. (Nothing like D-Land but still fun)
As far as the air see my “Bad Air?” post. I don’t worry about the ground here like a lot of people do; there is a lot of paranoia about that stuff that never seems to happen.
California is going to have big problems; it has an aging population and a bad economy. I researched for years knowing that I wanted out of CA before the big collapse and Utah kept making it to the top of my list. It is a very young demographic with a much better future.
Oh and snow driving is not that bad, unless you live up the mountain. It is flat and they take care of the roads, just drive slow and stay back from other cars.
Feel free to PM me if you like.
UT sounds like a good place to live. I think my family would like it. I did find something here on city data that mentioned 2 accounts of violation of the clean water but it didnt go into detail. I went on www.payscale.com and from what that website says I would make about $2.30 less per hour in UT than I would for the same job in CA. But this isnt all that bad if I can pay $400 less per month on rent (since CA rent is expensive!).
We will fly or drive up for a weekend. I dont know how much of the area we can really see in 2 days. The areas we are looking at/interested in are: Sandy, Murray, South Jordan, West Jordan, and SLC. Does anyone know the main differences between these cities? We like Sandy and Murray so far the best. Do you have a favorite place? Do you know which of these cities is known for having the best available jobs? Or which is the safest? Would you recommend one city over another or are they all about the same?
If we could just focus on one or two cities when we are there to visit it would be easiest. We are just not sure which would be best. I also really liked everything I read on the Draper city website but it seems a bit farther away from SLC so I wonder if there will be less jobs in that area? I think someone else told me there is no shopping mall in that area either. Is there a college in Draper? It looked like a beautiful area but I didnt see many apartments or much to do in that area.
Thanks to everyone for their honest suggestions. I apprecaite all the help.
The areas we are looking at/interested in are: Sandy, Murray, South Jordan, West Jordan, and SLC. Does anyone know the main differences between these cities? We like Sandy and Murray so far the best.
I noticed that you did not mention Cottonwood Heights. Seriously, check it out. It's not quite as far away from Salt Lake City as Sandy and is a great area in which to live. It was recently named #100 on Money Magazines's Top 100 Cities list. If you have any questions at all about it, please ask. I've lived in the Salt Lake City area all my life (I'm 61) and in Cottonwood Heights for 28 years. It's by far my favorite place in the area to live.
UT sounds like a good place to live. I think my family would like it. I did find something here on city data that mentioned 2 accounts of violation of the clean water but it didnt go into detail. I went on www.payscale.com and from what that website says I would make about $2.30 less per hour in UT than I would for the same job in CA. But this isnt all that bad if I can pay $400 less per month on rent (since CA rent is expensive!).
We will fly or drive up for a weekend. I dont know how much of the area we can really see in 2 days. The areas we are looking at/interested in are: Sandy, Murray, South Jordan, West Jordan, and SLC. Does anyone know the main differences between these cities? We like Sandy and Murray so far the best. Do you have a favorite place? Do you know which of these cities is known for having the best available jobs? Or which is the safest? Would you recommend one city over another or are they all about the same?
If we could just focus on one or two cities when we are there to visit it would be easiest. We are just not sure which would be best. I also really liked everything I read on the Draper city website but it seems a bit farther away from SLC so I wonder if there will be less jobs in that area? I think someone else told me there is no shopping mall in that area either. Is there a college in Draper? It looked like a beautiful area but I didnt see many apartments or much to do in that area.
Thanks to everyone for their honest suggestions. I apprecaite all the help.
The cities you are looking at all run together, it is not like they are far apart. From where I live in the far west end of South Jordan to the Mall in Sandy is only about 6 miles. The Salt Lake valley is only 500 square miles, about half the size of Orange County. The cities you are looking at are like trying to pick between Brea, Placentia and Yorba Linda, they are all close to each other.
I added a *scale* for clarity.
(Hmm .. who is *Clarity* ? Daughter of Clearance ?? or is it Clarence ...)
Off topic, just a bit.
I am surprised that zipcode 84112 is so small ... Interesting ....
84112 might be the University of Utah Campus.
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