Moving the family to Layton, Non LDS. Seeking advice/leads

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by lovecamping

I think most people on here are pretty accurate. I was a transplant from the east coast, also non-LDS and Christian, and worried about many of the same things. You can definitely find some crazy info online. I found that for the most part the LDS people are good people, the ones that arent...well, there are bad apples anywhere you go. Our kids have made good friends and are doing well. I would recommend trying to get your kids plugged into a church early on though. People out here really understand church obligations, and if you can get your family plugged in early it will take a lot of pressure off your kids when they get invited to LDS events. I felt it was important to make sure my kids maintained a strong religious foundation in my religion. I do think it is important to have a strong base for the kids.

As far as everything else, it is like moving anywhere new, lots of new things to get used to...

Welcome to City-Data. Good first post!

[suissegrl702]

Originally Posted by drichards702

Greetings,

My husband accepted a position at the SLC airport. We're looking to relocate in January. We drove around the Layton area and liked what we saw. We have 3 kids. All school age. 14, 12, and 9. We currently live in Henderson, NV but we want more of a small town, community feel for our family. We are non LDS. This seems huge. And honestly, this is our only fear with the move. Will our kids be shunned because they aren't LDS? Will we have a hard time fitting in and finding friends? What will life be like? We go to church every Sunday. We are Christians. It's important for us to find a good church that we can get plugged into. We have been doing research on the web, and we're getting conflicting stories. How much of a role does the LDS church play in public school? According to the information on the web, kids attend church before and after school. Will my kids be able to find a group of friends who don't practice this daily routine? What do you suggest for schools? How are the public school ratings? Coming from Henderson, we're hoping to make a step up in education. Being from Alaska originally, we like the climate and the scenery that the area has to offer. We enjoy hiking and being outdoors. Any and ALL information will be greatly appreciated. Are there things we should be aware of before making our move?

Thanks so much everybody!

I'm from Vegas and came of age in Utah. My parents live in Layton, as does my brother. Layton is at least half NOT LDS. When I went to one of the two high schools there back in 2001, my high school was 50% NOT LDS. The other high school is the same, if not more non-LDS.

Layton is pretty much Henderson: a suburb with meh schools and meh churches and well, its just meh. The main difference is there is less booze and there is no Sunset Station. Instead of Nellis you get Hill (air force bases, that is). Instead of the Galleria at Sunset you get the Layton Hills Mall and Restaurant Row.

To be very honest, I'd be more concerned about your fellow Christians than about the Mormons. The Christians I encountered in Layton are pretty pathetic and spent much of their time whining about Mormons. My parents can attest to this. They finally gave up on Layton's churches and go to one in some neighboring town.

Finding non-LDS people in Layton is pretty danged easy; over half the town is not LDS. As for the Mormons, they live right next to Hill and aren't of the sheltered LDS variety. They've seen quite a bit and there is little a Christian from out of state can do to ruffle their feathers.

That everyone in Utah is Mormon is like saying everyone in Nevada works for a casino and lives in a hotel. Neither are true.

My parents (still happily married) have lived in Layton for 16 years now; Dad is a Christian and a veteran who did 21 years of service for his country; he's got a full stash of liquor and he loves to role-play game; Mom looks like she walked off a Macy's catalog, is also a Christian and does just fine there; my brother is almost 28, a Christian, also role play games and is doing just fine there. They know all their neighbors (most of whom are LDS) by name save for some of the newer non-LDS ones who tend to not talk to anybody.

If you show an attitude in L-town you will have problems; but if you are nice regardless of whom you meet you will do just fine. Very few of the schools are majority LDS there, and as I said, most of the LDS kids who live there grew up there, know many non-LDS children and aren't into shunning.

[sjcole]

I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't be replying to your thread since I am LDS. I live just on the southwest border of layton, an area that has been largely farming area, beautiful. Now, like everywhere else, lots of new subdivisions are springing up so there are many nice subdivisions and with these new subdivisions come new schools. Not to cause a controversy, but we lived in Kaysville for 19 years, just adjacent to Layton and loved it there also. My main reason for posting this thread is in reference to the schools that you are looking to upgrade for your kids. My oldest two children went to Davis High which probably has a higher per capita of LDS, but is in my opinion a better school. Like previously mentioned, I think most any school would be great but if you do your research you will find that Davis High is academically superior. When we made our last move 9 years ago we moved to our present location in southwest Layton - partly because it is beautiful and the housing costs were a little cheaper than those in Kaysville at the time, but mostly because we wanted our youngest two kids to go to Davis. We moved on the extreme border of Layton which attended Davis High, but soon thereafter the boundaries changed and they went to Layton. Judging from our experience Davis is much better ( yet tougher ) academically. I know this will cause some controversy because everyone's High School is the "best" but if you do your research you will see it verifies my opinion.
I hope you enjoy your move and living here in Utah. ( Just a fyi, when moving in to your new place first find one of your LDS neighbors and they will quickly organize a group of non LDS and LDS neighbors to help you move in !