PROS and CONS of Salt Lake City (and Utah) for prospective transplants (West Valley City: apartment, to rent)

[Strawberry Love]

I'm very interested in Utah but I'm not an outdoors person.

However, we do have a lot of kids. Would that make up for the non-outdoors? I'd like to move to a place that is very family friendly.

I'm relgious (Baptist) and I'm looking into the LDS.

[kaytidid]

I am not a huge outdoors fan. I like chillin' by a swimming pool in the beautiful summers, but I don't camp, hike, fish, ect...and

I LOVE IT HERE! DH and I don't have a large family (two daughters) and we aren't LDS, but I don't think we have ever lived anywhere that we like as much as here.

[Strawberry Love]

Katidid,
Oh, that is great to hear!

I like to go the parks once in a while but I'm not an outdoors person and neither is my husband.

I just want a family friendly place!

[hilgi]

Strawberry,

This is a very family friendly place, we have only been here over a week and I just love it. I took the kids down the street to a park and it was loaded with kids, even kids from my kids classes.

I have four kids so it is great to go into a restaurant that has plenty of tables for 6 or more.

Come and check it out a couple times, that is what we did. Once we settled on Daybreak in South Jordan we then focused on that area for a house. www.daybreakutah.com

[Strawberry Love]

We are hoping to drive cross country in October. We'd move in a second but my finances are in shambles and I'm not so sure we'll be able to get a mortgage. Plus, the housing market is slow and we'd have to sell in this tough market.

I'm still optomistic though about a a year or two!

Oh, I love the family friendly talk! I can't wait to visit!

[cominback]

I moved away from Utah when I graduated high school with the attitude of it being small town and wanted to get out in the real world. It is funny how when you grow up you realize what you have been missing. I miss the scenery, the low crime rates, and the plus of having family in Utah. Now that I am a family man myself, I can't wait to get back. I just need to find work..

[silvad242]

Pros:
- Family friendly, moral place (no porn mags in the gas stations, very low number of strip clubs and porn shops, per capita bars = very low)
- Beautiful scenery and almost every outdoor activity imaginable within a 30 minute drive
Cons:
- Wages are low (I've been offered a 20-30% increase in salary in other parts of the country WITH a lower cost of living)
- High cost of housing
- Mormon culture (I'm LDS, but it really bothers me)

The last three definitely out-weigh the first two, which is why we're very much considering moving.

Jonah Hex: while I love your screen name (I'm an avid fan of DC comics), I was sorry to see your opinion of Mormons so low. I've been involved in many hiring decisions at my work, and a person's eligibility for heaven has never come into the equation. Also, what's the number of children where the line would be crossed where there would be too many resources consumed? If you have kids, you understand that parenting is one of the most selfless thing that an individual can endeavor to do it. I stand by the idea that a child who was raised in a loving, moral home will contribute more to society than they will take away in the form of 'resources.'

[Zionide]

Originally Posted by silvad242

Pros:
- Family friendly, moral place (no porn mags in the gas stations, very low number of strip clubs and porn shops, per capita bars = very low)
- Beautiful scenery and almost every outdoor activity imaginable within a 30 minute drive
Cons:
- Wages are low (I've been offered a 20-30% increase in salary in other parts of the country WITH a lower cost of living)
- High cost of housing
- Mormon culture (I'm LDS, but it really bothers me)

I agree with your first and third cons (and consider your first pro a con!), but I really don't think the housing costs are bad at all. Yes, prices are higher than the midwest or Texas, but you get so much more environmentally than in those places. And SLC is much cheaper than anywhere on the west or east coasts.

I also don't think anything could outweigh your second pro.... there is no other place in the country that can claim the access to so much recreation so close. As that aspect is truly unique to the Wasatch Front, it's not easily overshadowed by the 10-15% pay difference. You could equalize the difference in salaries just getting to recreation frequently in other areas!

And a note about the Mormon culture: it annoys me, too, as a former member, but I've found that I can stay in a nonmember bubble very easily when living downtown. There just aren't that many Mormons I have to socialize with, and incidental contact in public is mostly tolerable.

[Jonah Hex]

Originally Posted by silvad242

Pros:
- Family friendly, moral place (no porn mags in the gas stations, very low number of strip clubs and porn shops, per capita bars = very low)
- Beautiful scenery and almost every outdoor activity imaginable within a 30 minute drive
Cons:
- Wages are low (I've been offered a 20-30% increase in salary in other parts of the country WITH a lower cost of living)
- High cost of housing
- Mormon culture (I'm LDS, but it really bothers me)

The last three definitely out-weigh the first two, which is why we're very much considering moving.

Jonah Hex: while I love your screen name (I'm an avid fan of DC comics), I was sorry to see your opinion of Mormons so low. I've been involved in many hiring decisions at my work, and a person's eligibility for heaven has never come into the equation. Also, what's the number of children where the line would be crossed where there would be too many resources consumed? If you have kids, you understand that parenting is one of the most selfless thing that an individual can endeavor to do it. I stand by the idea that a child who was raised in a loving, moral home will contribute more to society than they will take away in the form of 'resources.'

Dear Silvad242,

My opinion of Mormons is not at all low, please see my previous posts. I dislike religious predominance, but particular lds individuals have shown me nothing but great traits.
I simply experienced certain hiring practices that are questionable, that is all. My guess of why that was could be wrong. It is a little strange though the way you put that....and a person's eligibility for heaven has never come into the equation... Huh? (I understand what you mean, I guess being humorous and all but still)
Moderator cut: off-topic

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by dcisive

I totally agree with Chango on THAT one. Whenever I get out of the Wasatch Front (Ogden to Provo) I fell I am seeing the REAL Utah. But then I am very pro open space so I need a bit of room to breath....literally. On the Wasatch Front the air is quickly becoming some of the worst in the country. I well remember last winter there were 14 days the air exceeded the poorest quality found in Southern California, New York, Chicago and Houston by a considerably margin. Some friends of mine that have allergies and troubles with their lungs had to go on oxygen just to make it through. And yet we all still have to commute polluting the air continually. They are not removing all of the junky older cars and especially those annoying older pickup trucks that belch out huge amounts of these hydrocarbons and yet even give them special allowances to remain on the road when they get smog checked because of their age. I say TUFF, either comply with TODAY"S air standards and get that piece of junk off our roads or not have a license to drive it. Sounds tough but you have to be tough in order to get this air quality problem under control. Frankly......I don't see it happening any time in the foreseeable future....so each winter we will suffer mightily. No telling how many more cancers we will see as a result let alone asthma and other respiratory problems

Study up a little on the inversions in the Salt Lake Valley. They have been going on forever, as far as we know. I've seen pictures of the inversions dating back 100 or so years. And they used to be worse when everyone used coal for heat. Even though the population was a lot lower. You could take all the cars out of the Wasatch Front and there would still be inversions/pollution in the Winter.