wanting to relocate from NC to Logan (Providence, Hyde Park: for sale, apartments)

[Leilla from NC]

I moved from CT to NC 21 years ago and have yet to make this "home". I"ve had a desire to move to Utah for the past several years; I flew out to SLC 3 years ago and fell in love with the mountains.
I currently work at Convergys and they've got a plant in Logan which I would beable to transfer to if I chose to.
I'd like to have an idea on the cost of housing; I'd be looking for a 1-2 bedroom apartment.
Anyone willing to share some tips with me?
Thanks, Leilla

[dreamsfloat]

I went to school in Logan for a few years. I absolutely loved it! The housing market is actually not that bad up there. You could probably buy a house instead of renting an apartment for a better price. A lot of the apartments are shared because it is a college town and everyone moves there. Not a big commuter school. You should look at places outside of Logan. Logan itself has a lot of older homes that have been turned into apartments. I really like Providence. It is just south of Logan. Hyde Park, north of Logan is really nice too. Convergys is in the northern part of Logan. Logan has a lot of great things about it. There are tons of places to go hiking and camping and fishing. It is only 50 minutes from Bear Lake. The winters are hard though. When I lived up there we got 6 feet of snow. They are good about clearing the roads, but the roads that go through the canyons get closed every once and a while. If you can stand the cold you will love it! Jobs are kind of hard to find just because it is a college town and all the students are fighting for them so wages aren't as high as the Wasatch Front. If you want to look at some of the houses that are for sale you can go to www.utahrealestate.com and search in cache county. That will give you a good idea about what the houses are like. It is a very friendly community, lots of farm land, amazing views, I can go on and on. I hope this helps.

[easternerDC]

I have been living in Logan for about 1.5 years. I thing the post above about shared housing is a little misleading. I did not have too hard a time finding non-shared rentals. The rental market is a bit all over the place though, and by this I mean some places that rent out at $500/mo are quite decent for a rental, others are absolutely horrid. On the north end of town, there are some nice 2-3 bedroom townhomes that rent for around $600-$700 per month.

IF you like small towns, Logan is a great place to be. It has taken me a while to adjust, but I like living here now. I just love how beautiful it is. The job market here is tough (but since you would be transferring does not seem like it will be a problem for you), and many of the professional jobs are really competitive, especially at the University.

[THRO-slc]

My dad, all of his siblings, and my grandparents came to UT from NC 30 some-odd years ago b/c of the Church and the Air Force Base.

I wish they'd stayed back there. Granted, Logan's quiet. NOT humid. Tons of outdoor recreation opportunities year round.

But. You're from NC. You probably see 5 inches of snow yearly, and lots of sunshine throughout the year. Logan has THE worst inversion in the entire Great Basin, and has some of the lowest air quality in the country on some days.

Y'all get something like that in the Thermal Belt, where warm air settles on and traps cooler air. Cache Valley, though, has steep relief on all sides, and that cooler air will stay there until a storm comes through. You'll often get stuck in a high pressure up there in January, and the result is a toxic icebox. It's awful.

To boot, if you're not Mormon, and make that clear that you want no part of it, previously friendly folks may turn a little distant. Not mean. Just not a good friend.

Some are better than others. And they definitely live clean and make good neighbors (until they vote). You just want some other folks around for variety and more social opportunities. I'm not certain that you'll find that up in Logan.

Oh, and as far as student quality goes, USU ain't no Duke, UNC, NC State, Elon, or what have you. Some of the dumbest college grads I've met went to Utah State. Dumb, like 'You went to college?' dumb.

Oh, and once you go out in the country, it smells of cow manure. Better than the pig stuff you smell in certain places in NC. Still.

Finally, it ain't very diverse. This State as a whole lacks integration on ethnic and religious levels. Not that NC doesn't have its own problems in that area.

Take it for what it's worth. If you do move, there'll be ways to make the most of it, and I hope you do.

[markg91359]

Rental housing as others have pointed out is not particularly high in Logan. There are several things you should bear in mind about living there:

1. Its very cold in the winter. The elevation is high.
2. Air pollution is a real serious issue here. In the winter, the air in Logan was rated in one national survey as literally being the worst air quality in the USA!
3. Its grown alot in the last 15-20 years, but has many characteristics of a small town. There are several families that sort of "run things" and the place can seem very cliquish at times.
4. The population is divided between long term residents who have always lived there and between a sort of "migratory" population that attends or works at Utah State University. USU is the biggest employer in the area. Many of the people at the university don't really participate in the community they just hang out in their own groups. The long term residents have seen so many people come and go over the years that they often do have much to do with the USU population.
5. If you work there, wages tend to be very low. If you luck out and are able to get a good job, I'd always keep in the back of my mind that there are alot of people in the area who would love to have your job. This may be stressful.

On the positive side, you have Logan Canyon, some very breathtaking scenery. A place that feels like a small town, and low crime rates.