Non-Mormon family looking to relocate to Salt Lake County (Salt Lake City: to rent, house)

[cbellaza]

Hi, everyone. I have reading over a lot of your comments and I really never been to Utah. So this very new to me. My husband is relocating to SLC, we will going probably in June when schools lets out.
A little bit of info about my family. First of all we are from a small beach town in New Jersey. I have three children, one is preschool age, one in elementary and one in middle school. Yes, it is public school with about 18 kids per class. My son in miidle is in a special education class so school resources and speech are important. As you can probably tell education is the most important to me. I need a diversified system. We speak English and Spanish in our home because my husband is from Mexico. So,of course I need some international grocery stores close by. I would like a town that is just starting or has a smaller spanish population. Not Midvale. Also,I would like to go bike riding. My son id in Cub Scounts and Karate where my daughter is heavily into Choir and the Sciences at her middle school. I am a Registered Nurse I will already have job when I get there.
We are really looking to renting for a year until we are used to the area. Then will buy.
Thanks everone for yor help!!!

[coolcats]

There are quite a few international stores in the Salt Lake valley -- Asian, Latin, Russian. The biggest concentration are in Salt Lake City itself and nearby areas of West Valley. I'm not sure by your post if you do or do not want to live in a place with a large Hispanic population. There are quite a few hispanics all over the valley, with more probably in West Valley and Salt Lake City.

[cbellaza]

Thanks for your reply. I do want like in an area that does have a hispanic population just a small amount. Just not places like Midvale. Pleases let me know if there are any areas like that. Thanks

[askslc]

cbellaza-

I think you'll find that the beauty of the Salt Lake valley is that it is so easy to get almost anywhere. The areas that are growing (so a little newer) tend to be South and West of Salt Lake City. These are areas like Riverton, Tooele, etc. I personally don't have a feel for the Hispanic population in these areas. If you want to live in a newer area, you may have to compromise and decide that a smaller Hispanic community (and the drive to go to a market that has more authentic items) is worth the newer area. Here is the number for the Hispanic Affairs office in Salt Lake: (801) 538-8755. I bet they could give you some better ideas on the community (if that is important to you).

Sorry, I am not yet familiar with special education courses in and around Salt Lake. My gut says that you are going to find greater access to programs closer into the city, but that's only a guess. For more information you may want to contact the Salt Lake School's Special Education Services at (801) 646-4522 where they should be able to provide more information.

Hope that helps.

-askslc

[LlasaLost]

Just curious: why not Midvale?

P.S. besides Hispanics there are quite a few Polynesians in the area, Tongans, Samoans, etc.

[Tooelemom]

I moved from NJ as well, a big difference in culture but you'll love it here. I'm west of SLC in Tooele, we do have a hispanic grocery store right on main st.

[tbermudez]

Hi Cbelleza,

I think your family won't have any problems finding what you are looking for. There is quite a large hispanic population here as well as several ethnic markets such as mexican, asian, greek and italian. The education system here could use more funding but that is true of a lot of states, however, I'm sure they have a lot of programs that will address your family's needs.

The Salt Lake area is a great place to raise a family and has a lot of recreational activities to take advantage of. I have a lot of friends that have moved here from out east and absolutely love it here. Although one thing that Salt Lake lacks is a night life if that is of any importance to you, however, things are rapidly changing in the downtown area to make that better. One other thing that you'll need to educate yourself more on is the LDS culture, which doesn't have as strong of a presence in Salt Lake County as neighboring counties.

[griffin]

Sugarhouse or the area around Highland High School sounds like it would suit if the commute is not too far. The Valley becomes increasingly hispanic as you go west.

[Katzpur]

The closer to the central city area you get, the higher the percentage of hispanic people. Unfortunately, those areas are often not the safest. I'd go along with griffin. Sugarhouse is an older area but still very nice. It would probably have a larger hispanic population than other areas in the valley. Hopefully, your husband will be able to pick up more English once he's here. There are a number of different options for doing that.

[Lmejh]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

The closer to the central city area you get, the higher the percentage of hispanic people. Unfortunately, those areas are often not the safest. I'd go along with griffin. Sugarhouse is an older area but still very nice. It would probably have a larger hispanic population than other areas in the valley. Hopefully, your husband will be able to pick up more English once he's here. There are a number of different options for doing that.

I don't think Sugar House has a higher percentage of Hispanics than usual on the east side of the valley