Ogden up or down? (Provo, Orem: real estate, foreclosures, crime rate)

[powerlumina77]

Hi- Wife and I are moving out to the Ogden area April 30. Just wondering where some of the negative rep comes from. We like older, smaller homes, and coming from Philadelphia, we're thrilled at how affordable they are in town. But we keep hearing that Ogden itself isn't the best place, better to be outside it. I drove through it and liked the town feel as opposed to the sprawl we're leaving. Any reason other than you can get a bigger, newer house somewhere else? Thanks for any help!

[Western Man]

I can tell you my perspective as someone on the Wasatch Front. I live in Utah County. My sister lives in Ogden (actually, a little outside Ogden now, which is nice), and I feel like I'm in the armpit of the Wasatch every time I go up to see here.

Crime seems quite a bit higher there than in Salt Lake or Provo/Orem. The town is also more run-down looking and dirtier than Salt Lake and Provo/Orem.

Another factor in the bad reputation is probably the racial composition — fewer white folk from old-line Mormon families than in Provo/Orem or the nicer, older parts of Salt Lake. It's sad that that contributes to the bad reputation, but racism is very real in Utah, even though it usually shows up as ignoring and gossiping about people rather than direct (verbal or physical) attacks. Not that everyone is racist, but it's no utopia, either. Ogden seems to have undergone quite a bit more white flight than Salt Lake or Provo/Orem, both of which have older neighborhoods still full of descendants of the original settlers. So the suburbs of Ogden is where you seem to find the children of the old city-dwellers, unlike Salt Lake or Provo/Orem.

I can certainly understand not liking sprawl. And the whole Wasatch Front is seeing unbelievable sprawl — places where I used to go rabbit hunting out in the middle of nowhere ten years ago are now little housing developments. I'm glad you don't want to contribute to all of that. But living in Ogden itself sure wouldn't be my choice. I'd rather live in downtown Salt Lake and commute!

That being said, I can say that I know people who live in Ogden and love it. So my attitude toward the city certainly isn't the only one possible. Maybe it has to do with the kind of mindset a person has. One man's meat, and all that. If it seemed like an attractive town to you, then perhaps you'll like it a lot — and at the end of the day, it's your happiness that matters, rather than what other people say to you.

I would suggest making sure you get the chance to drive through town at night before making a decision, though. That's when the cops seem to have their hands full.

[lolagranola]

I'm in Davis Co. From what I see when I drive north on Hwy 89, S Ogden has some attractive qualities. Looks like it was built up in the '50s, but just to the S has alot of new developement (like the area by the hospital). Our neighbors say they loved living in S Ogden, but they needed a bigger house (big mormon family!).

[powerlumina77]

Really appreciate the help! Especially the tip on driving around at night. I've been watching these boards since the job offer in January, and we're arriving May 8th! Gotta love the community here. I've been inspired to reply to some posts for people moving into Philly.

[RockyMtnr]

When I first moved to the Salt Lake valley many years ago, I started watching Ogden. Being from the "east", Ogden seemed more normal to me. It had the look & feel of a small factory-town reminiscent of Buffalo, Columbus, Milwaukee, etc. Never had much occasion to go there for the longest time.
Then a day came and I moved to Huntsville - which is up a canyon from Ogden. I got plenty of chance to view Ogden from up close. My opinion after that went way downhill.
However, if Ogden is going to be a base of operations, South Ogden is not so bad, as stated but better is Layton. Easy commute to Ogden or Salt Lake. A mixed but "headed-toward-the-upper-end" financial group. Not clustered and matted in like Roy, Sunset, Clinton, etc. All-in-all, for living anyplace between Ogden and Provo, Layton has my vote. Lots of foreclosures from a heavy but wanton building spree in the 80's and 90's. Plenty of Mormons but also plenty of non-Mormons so, whichever preference you have can be filled.

[powerlumina77]

Will do. I'm taking a job at Hill, so we will definitely be checking out Layton as it's very commutable. Drove into Huntsville on a short visit, wow, what a place. Maybe later on down the road, when we're not tied to the 9-5. Ogden definitely has made some good moves when it comes to PR. Most articles I've run into portray it as an up-and-coming adventure town. It's even in April's National Geographic Adventurer as their featured town.

[docow34]

Coming from a person who swore I would never live in Utah...I now consider Ogden my "adult home" even though I live in West Jordan and will probably be moving to Wyoming shortly.

Had 2 of my 3 children in Ogden. They attended schools there for their elementary years, some of those right in central Ogden area, the "bad area".

It completely depends on where you live. I always felt safe. I locked my doors at night, but that's smart.

There's plenty to do if you look. The city has cultural things going on, the university has things going on, there's stuff everywhere. It's not as big as Salt Lake, but that's a plus in many ways.

You can find some incredible older homes there. You can find incredible people there.

As far as crime, it's getting a lot better. My brother is a cop there and I'm a very protective older sister...I feel a lot better about his safety now than I used to.

I've moved a lot in my life and have come to the conclusion that a place is a place is a place. People are pretty much the same everywhere..with a few environmental factors put in such as outdoor lifestyles...farming lifestyles...those things do effect an area. But Ogden is where I have spent most of my adult life and every time I head into that area, there's just a nice feeling of coming home.

It's a good place.

[wally99]

I like Ogden. Nice town and real estate is very reasonable. Check out the North East bench for some of the best deals.

Found this article from 2006 about Ogden: Ogden Rising (broken link)

[RockyMtnr]

Originally Posted by powerlumina77

Will do. I'm taking a job at Hill, so we will definitely be checking out Layton as it's very commutable. Drove into Huntsville on a short visit, wow, what a place. Maybe later on down the road, when we're not tied to the 9-5. Ogden definitely has made some good moves when it comes to PR. Most articles I've run into portray it as an up-and-coming adventure town. It's even in April's National Geographic Adventurer as their featured town.

The state of Utah has been on a big PR roll for a couple of decades now.
Most of it is not true - or is so obscurely-true that the avg Joe will never see it.
However, I've seen it done; People can be happy there - and enjoy it but be careful and not overly-expectant. The PR monkeys lie.

[shanenlori]

I am a little amazed at the way people percieve Ogden. It has a bad reputation for crime, but I just don't see it that way.

I moved to Cleafield from Mesa, AZ (or the getto as we called it). We had police helicopters flying overhead all night, swat teams in our backyard, a drug dealer on one side, a child molestor on the other side, a neighbor 2 doors down stabbed another person in broad day light which led to a stand off and police in our front yard. A drop house for illegals right across the street. Yet, it wasn't so bad most of the time. The nightly news would go on for 10 minutes with stories of murder, drive bys, drug deals, and all sorts of crime. My kids played outside, and had friends in the neighborhood. We even left our cars unlocked in the auto theft capital. We never had a problem. (I don't know, does attitude play a part?) What I have see in Ogden doesn't even come close to what I lived in. I have yet to see a part of Ogden at night that I would be afraid to walk in. I actually enjoy Ogden at night, it is very peaceful and quiet. I gets a bad reputation, because it has a higher crime rate than most cities in Utah, but it is still not as bad as most cities in the USA.