Moving to West Jordan in February! (Taylorsville, Kearns: crime, houses, neighborhood)

[klutzyjen]

Im moving to the West Jordan area in February and I'd like to know anything you know about the area. I'm still in my early twenties, moving here with my boyfriend, my parents, and a friend of ours as well. We are all non-LDS and not religious either. We're all born and raised in california so snow is going to be quite interesting to live in. I'm also curious as to what kind of community this is to raise children in. We are coming to that point in our lives and I would like to know what the future has in store. Help!

[coolcats]

My wife's parents live in West Jordan. It has about 90,000 people. It is typical suburbia -- no downtown, lots of tract housing, strip malls etc. Not too far from downtown Salt Lake -- 30 minutes or so. There are tons of LDS meeting houses and lots of schools and lots of kids. Not everyone is LDS, but that is definitely the predominant religion. There are more "happening" places, even in Utah, but its a nice family and neighborhood environment.

[klutzyjen]

Thanks for the information. Are there any towns in the area that you think are a better choice for us??

[coolcats]

I didn't mean to speak ill of West Jordan. Its fine for what it is. I guess it depends what you are looking for. There are plenty of chain restaurants and movie theaters all over the valley. The only real downtown with "culture" is in SLC. If you live near a freeway, it is relatively easy to get there.

[BuckeyezRule]

We live in WJ, & love it! No place I'd live in the valley. =) We are way out west in WJ, in 'the boonies', as most people tell us. Yes, my neighborhood is mostly LDS. I am not. No problems so far. I love the area! Yes, it is a great place for kids. I moved here 6 mos ago from Ohio, & love it! =) Great weather, great outdoors stuff, tons of things for the kids. =) My Mom's group out here is wonderful, & my kids are making lots of friends, as am I. =) I've only been here for 6 mos, so I'm a newbie, but I def. have my opinions on other cities in the valley. Where did you end up moving to? =)

[jhwest]

I also live in West Jordan. It is very large, geographically speaking, and there are some parts that are more predominantly LDS than others. I live near Redwood Rd and 9000 South. Most of my neighbors are not LDS, although I am. The further west you go, the more Mormons you find. If you want kids, then you're going to be stuck with Mormons, since Mormons have more kids than non-Mormons, by a long shot.
My absolute favorite thing about W.J. is that we are close to EVERYTHING! Where we live we have within three minutes two grocery stores, Home Depot, Target, a movie theatre and lots of restaurants. Within ten minutes there are two more Targets, Costco, two huge Megaplex theatres and tons of other shopping and restaurants.
On the flip side, there is a lot of ugly urban sprawl. But there are little farms scattered around that still give it a country feel.
The traffic is not too bad. I drive to Draper to take my kids to Charter School and it only takes about 10 minutes to get to the freeway at 8 a.m.
Snow here is not a big deal at all. Salt Lake Valley is really flat, so there's no hills to contend with. Plus it's very sunny, so the snow melts within a day or two. Then it's just ugly and brown til it snows again.
The schools here can be iffy. depending on where you live. My local school is horrible, so my kids have been in private until last year when they got into a charter. It has been much better. There are charter schools all over the place, but they have huge waiting lists and can only be gotten into by lottery. Our school has a waiting list of 1400 families (not individual students!) The schools in the western part of the city are much better, I hear. Utah spends the least of any state on it's pupils, but ironically has the highest graduation rate in the U.S. Go figure!

[Trebek]

I'm moving close to there. Good to hear the good things about the area. Didn't I read in another post that you were leaving? I would be sad to see ya'll go.

[mngid]

To those who just moved to West Jordan, how has your experience been?

[Tim Tim Tim]

I am moving to wj next week. Right off redwood and 6800 pretty much. I just moved here from florida and I think its a fine area. Some areas are better then others, overall I think its fine. There really arent any places here that are "ghetto". I Guess that depends on what your used to though. WJ to me seems like a good mid range place to live.

[Ghungroo]

This seemed like a good thread to ask: what areas of West Jordan are considered best/worst for crime/safety? I've seen it mentioned on other threads here that the "northern" part of West Jordan may be getting a trickle-down crime effect from Taylorsville and Kearns, but I wondered what that meant since West Jordan only goes from about 6200/7000 South to 9400 Southish (and West of I-15).

I drove around West Jordan this past weekend and noticed that it seemed like once you pass 7800 south and go north, the homes get older and less taken care of. But I stayed east of Bangerter, and the old homes were more of a "can't be bothered to maintain perfection/lazy" look versus the "five junkers in the yard" "drug dealer" type of look (though there were a handful of those too!). I was impressed by all the horses and even a field of sheep I spotted.

Anywho, would love to hear any more opinions about desirable/less desirable areas of West Jordan.