Utah, Salt Lake, or Davis County? (Provo, Orem: homes, neighborhoods, schools)

[edrn]

Continuing to research Utah for a possible relocation from Southern California. I have come across, nice homes in all three counties. Which is better to raise a young family?, which communities and why. I would love to find a community like the one I grew up in. A smaller town not far from a large city. This town had a great sense of community with festivals, community events, a good parks and recreation department, clean neighborhoods and schools. I appreciate the help. I believe Northern Utah would be a wonderful place for my family, the big question is where? I have never lived anywhere else and my wife and I are trying to make the best decision based on information we find. This is where it is nice to have those who live in the places we have been looking. We are making a trip in a month or so to see how these areas "feel". Thank You in advance for the help.

[Utah Neighborhood Expert]

If you are looking for a small community with city like activities, I would suggest looking up city websites, and seeing what they have on their community calendar. I think that would help the best.

[BorderGirl]

You can also contact the local Chamber of Commerce to see if they'll send you any information about the area. They can probably send you a list of the community events and give you a good insight as to what to expect. Good luck!

[bsgjunkie]

If you're looking for a smaller town feel, I'd look into Utah county and stay away from Salt Lake County. While all the areas are growing, Salt Lake county has the least amount of room for growth. Along the east bench, down to I-15 its hard to know when one city starts, and another begins. If it wasn't for you specifically asking for a small town/community feel, I'd probably recommend SLC over the rest. There are some smaller towns in Utah county that offer some great communities. Springville, Mapleton, and Spanish Fork all come to mind first. They're all south of Provo, the major city in Utah County. There are 5, 10 and 15 mins away from downtown Provo respectively once on the freeway. Provo has two large shopping malls, a down town area with little shops and places to eat, and a few big parks. Each of the three towns I listed are on the smaller scale, with Spanish Fork being the largest of the three. My least favorite out of the three would be Springville, because its currently a very split community economically. The old money in Springville has moved towards the outside of town, building brand new beautiful homes, but leaving their older homes from the 30-50s for the new families that come in. By no means is Springville unsafe, or even dirty, but you can see a distinct difference in the economy within the city.

Utah county has a lot of festivals and events. Most of the smaller cities have fairs, and some sort of town festival throughout the year. Provo its self has 4 or 5 festivals every year, where the streets are blocked off down town.

[SElaine]

Originally Posted by bsgjunkie

If you're looking for a smaller town feel, I'd look into Utah county and stay away from Salt Lake County. While all the areas are growing, Salt Lake county has the least amount of room for growth. Along the east bench, down to I-15 its hard to know when one city starts, and another begins. If it wasn't for you specifically asking for a small town/community feel, I'd probably recommend SLC over the rest. There are some smaller towns in Utah county that offer some great communities. Springville, Mapleton, and Spanish Fork all come to mind first. They're all south of Provo, the major city in Utah County. There are 5, 10 and 15 mins away from downtown Provo respectively once on the freeway. Provo has two large shopping malls, a down town area with little shops and places to eat, and a few big parks. Each of the three towns I listed are on the smaller scale, with Spanish Fork being the largest of the three. My least favorite out of the three would be Springville, because its currently a very split community economically. The old money in Springville has moved towards the outside of town, building brand new beautiful homes, but leaving their older homes from the 30-50s for the new families that come in. By no means is Springville unsafe, or even dirty, but you can see a distinct difference in the economy within the city.

Utah county has a lot of festivals and events. Most of the smaller cities have fairs, and some sort of town festival throughout the year. Provo its self has 4 or 5 festivals every year, where the streets are blocked off down town.

Although in this day and age you think religion wouldn't/shouldn't be a factor in choosing a home, it is if you are considering Utah County as a place to live. If you are LDS, it's a wonderful place. Lots of LDS people and activities all the time. If you are not LDS you will be an outsider. It will be difficult to make friends especially for your children. They will have a difficult time and will be picked on. As for the adults, most of them just won't acknowledge you. Those that do will "invite" you to church and constantly pressure you to convert. The missionaries will be at your door every week. And if you are someone who likes to have an occassional beer on the weekend, you can forget it. It doesn't happen in Utah county.

[mizelle]

Although currently living in Georgia, St. George UT is where we have our permanent home. My husband is from Cache Valley, which I love, but its way too cold in northern Utah.
So. Utah is beautiful all year round, although summertime is nothing BUT hot. Its not unbearable, as it can get here in GA with the humidity, but its still hot.
Once the summer is over, its over. THere are no lingering 'dog days'. It goes from being 115 to 85 quite quickly. Housing is still 'affordable', if you're coming from California. If you have children, its very kid friendly. I am not LDS but my husband is. Yes, Utah is still very much a church-oriented state, but they do seem to be more willing to soften the box to make room for us non-LDS types. We have looked at several different places around the country in considering our next move, but St. George it is. Its safe, its clean and its close to Las Vegas (for the odd day trip). I was not enthralled with St. George at first, but have come to love it. Its a beautiful place.

[bsgjunkie]

Originally Posted by SElaine

Although in this day and age you think religion wouldn't/shouldn't be a factor in choosing a home, it is if you are considering Utah County as a place to live. If you are LDS, it's a wonderful place. Lots of LDS people and activities all the time. If you are not LDS you will be an outsider. It will be difficult to make friends especially for your children. They will have a difficult time and will be picked on. As for the adults, most of them just won't acknowledge you. Those that do will "invite" you to church and constantly pressure you to convert. The missionaries will be at your door every week. And if you are someone who likes to have an occassional beer on the weekend, you can forget it. It doesn't happen in Utah county.

I couldn't disagree more. Those comments are ignorant and uninformed. I lived there for many years and an associate just moved there two years ago, who is not a member of the LDS faith. I ran into him at a business conference just a few weeks ago and the first thing I asked him was how his family was liking Utah. He mentioned he was scared of an overwhelming culture, but instead found it exactly opposite. While he did mention there is many staples of the LDS religion found within the community, he didn't feel they were forced upon him.

Many wouldn't stop to think, but Utah county is slowing becoming a hot spot for homosexuals for the pure reason of not being harassed.

SElaine is obviously not from Utah County - those comments wouldn't be made by someone that was.

If there is one thing Utah county is good for, its raising a family.

[SElaine]

Originally Posted by bsgjunkie

I couldn't disagree more. Those comments are ignorant and uninformed. I lived there for many years and an associate just moved there two years ago, who is not a member of the LDS faith. I ran into him at a business conference just a few weeks ago and the first thing I asked him was how his family was liking Utah. He mentioned he was scared of an overwhelming culture, but instead found it exactly opposite. While he did mention there is many staples of the LDS religion found within the community, he didn't feel they were forced upon him.

Many wouldn't stop to think, but Utah county is slowing becoming a hot spot for homosexuals for the pure reason of not being harassed.

SElaine is obviously not from Utah County - those comments wouldn't be made by someone that was.

If there is one thing Utah county is good for, its raising a family.

I'm not from Utah County anymore, that's for sure. The reasons I stated above are exactly the reasons I moved from American Fork. I'm not "ignorant" or "uninformed" -- I lived with the persecution every day I was there. So did my children. I was simply stating my experiences and experiences I know others like me have had.

That said, I do think Utah in general is a good place to raise a family. I do appreciate the LDS sense of family and values that is apparent in most of the state. I'm sorry if my experience has offended you, but I was also offened by the way myself and my children were treated while we were there. But, there are genuinely nice, warm, friendly LDS people there as well; I just didn't find them to be the majority.

[lolagranola]

Small-er town feel in norther Utah, Fruit Heights/Farmington/Kaysville are great. (Davis County)

[thompson84606]

Originally Posted by SElaine

Although in this day and age you think religion wouldn't/shouldn't be a factor in choosing a home, it is if you are considering Utah County as a place to live. If you are LDS, it's a wonderful place. Lots of LDS people and activities all the time. If you are not LDS you will be an outsider. It will be difficult to make friends especially for your children. They will have a difficult time and will be picked on. As for the adults, most of them just won't acknowledge you. Those that do will "invite" you to church and constantly pressure you to convert. The missionaries will be at your door every week. And if you are someone who likes to have an occassional beer on the weekend, you can forget it. It doesn't happen in Utah county.

Having lived in Provo and Orem (and a wealth of other places outside of utah) I would say that Orem and Lehi have a much less "religious" feel. Utah Valley State College in Orem tries to be(as the U of Utah) very much the opposite of BYU and so do it's 30000 students. Provo has 35000 BYU students and the Missionary training center and is quite blatant in it's relationship with the LDS church. That being said Provo has a quaint downtown with good restaurants(try Los Hermanos and Bombay House) while Orem is strip mall city all up State Street. Both cities have healthy hispanic populations including large Mexican(of course), Brazilian, Columbian and Argentinian populations. I noticed an ever increasing Asian population in the area. Provo has some decent festivals downtown(non LDS oriented). Lehi is the Utah Valley boomtown and is very diverse religiously if not ethnically(I draw this especially from coworkers of mine). As far as associations...if you're quite young or a young family you're more likely to be accepted because of all the young nonmembers moving to the area for employ and cheap rent(not housing) Those in their late 30's and on who are not LDS may find it more difficult but here is my honest analysis. LDS who are wealthy are more likely to be exclusionary (as well as their children) while those of more moderate incomes tend to be more open. As a member of the LDS church myself this is my experience. I would not live in the BYU area( south of campus to center street or from state street east because the students tend to be stuck up and exclusionary even towards LDS who do not attend BYU. My experience, sorry. In all, northeast Provo or a number of areas in orem(especially north) are nice to live. The westside of Provo is less LDS but more run down. OH, the thing I hate the most about the area is that noone in town takes care of their home. I'm sure it's mostly students but most of the homes around Provo look abandonded but they aren't, very ugly. Hope this helps some, prices are rising in Utah county, I'd probably prefer Davis or Weber counties but that's me.