Help with possible move to Utah (Salt Lake City, Provo: sales, home sales, find a job)

[cordell]

Ok, just found this site, what a great idea. My wife and I have been thinking about a move to Utah but are starting from square 1. We are from MN and have lived here most of our lives except she lived in Wyoming for a while and I lived in Montana and we both fell in love with the mountains and want to go back. We are in our mid-30's with 2 small children. She is a school teacher so we don't think it will be too hard for her to find a job but mine may be a little harder. I currently work for a large software company and in my limited searching we are leaning toward Ogden or Provo areas. I currently drive 70 miles to and from work each day so a longer commute doesn't bother me if we can find a nice area. MN pays well with a fairly low cost of living but we both want a change in scenery and climate. We are very outdoors hiking, biking, camping type people but the summers here are so hot humid and buggy and the winters are very cold we are lucky to have 2-3 months of decent weather.

Any ideas about where to start looking for tech jobs or suggestions on places to live are most appreciated.

[BorderGirl]

Hello! What part of MN are you from? I'm from the I. Falls area and I've been living here in Utah for a year now! I know nothing about the software industry out here, but I do know a bit about teaching. Two of my former roommates are teachers. They couldn't get a teaching position in Minnesota, North Dakota, or Wisconsin, just because the jobs weren't available. They both work in Tooele, which is about 40 miles West of Salt Lake. Keep in mind they pay a bit less out here compared to everywhere else. I think the Granite school district is held in high regard as being really good, but I really have no idea.

I think it is a good idea to come out here first to check it out to see if it is something you'd really like. I really only know the Salt Lake area. I mainly stick to the east side of the valley because everything I need is over here. The weather change is great. I love not having humidity, even though it has been close to 100 degrees in the last couple of days. If you can handle a MN winter, you can handle a Utah winter. It barely gets cold here, in my opinion anyways.

[eggalegga]

From Ogden southward to Provo, there are several canyons where you could hike, bike and camp.

I don't know much about software or anything regarding computers. My cousin's a programmer and he's had no problem finding jobs along the Wasatch front. I'm sorry I don't know of any specific websites to refer you to to help with your job search. It seems as that your future job might be deciding factor on where in Utah you live.

Good luck with it all and I hope you and your family like it here.

[EdLo]

Forget the newspapers. They're a thing of the past. provo / orem software/QA/DBA/etc jobs classifieds - craigslist
Try:

provo / orem software/QA/DBA/etc jobs classifieds - craigslist

These are listings for the Orem/Provo area. Click on the area you want if Orem/Provo is not your interest.
Eddie

[The Casselli's]

Hello, just want to tell you that I have met in this past week 2 couples from MN that recently moved here to St. George, UT. However, they are retired and their children are adults, so no need of employment and taking care of raising small children.

Teaching positions here in St. George start at low wage. There is a stortage of teachers but best to contact the school district about openings. As far as software, not much here in St. George but things are changing very fast. However, even if there were jobs available for you in the software field, the wages in St. George are very low and most people have to get two jobs to make it here. I myself moved here from CA making good income in the legal field but was not aware that there are few law firms and do not specialize in my field. Now I'm just seeking anything that can provide benefits and a so so annual income but it's not been easy.

[carlymac]

We're in Rochester. I love the family oriented feel here and the schools are good. But OH how I miss the drier air and the mountains. My husband has been looking for a job back in Utah for 4 years with no success. (He's very specialized.)

So knowing both states, I would recommend Cache Valley (Logan, Providence, Mendon). We lived there for 7 years and felt very comfy there. It's much like the smaller towns in MN. More rural and it smells like cows when you first drive into the valley. (But you get used to it.) ANd housing is much more affordable there as opposed to anywhere along the Wasatch Front ( the cities sitting at the base of the mountains from Ogden to Provo. )The area around Salt Lake City has such inflated housing prices right now. It would be hard to find a decent house in a reasonable price range. We sold a little old 900 sq ft. starter home 15 yrs ago for $85,000. Those same houses in that neighborhood (east bench of Salt Lake) are now selling for over $300,000. Ridiculous!!! Putting a granite countertop in those dinky kitchens couldn't possibly raise the value of those homes that much.

Way out in the south part of the Salt Lake Valley housing is more reasonable...newer homes and nice neighborhoods with lots of kids. And from what I hear there is a dire need for teachers out there.

As far as mountains and recreation, the canyons are not hard to get to from anywhere in Salt Lake City or Cache Valley. But they will be more crowded in Salt Lake.

Now with all that in mind, my heart still longs for the mountain views from the Salt Lake valley. That's where I grew up with a huge picture window looking toward Mt. Olympus. I guess more people like those views, too since the valley has almost filled up completely.

Good luck in your search!

[GEMx3]

I don't know much about the software industry other than my brother-in-law has worked for a few in Orem. My husband was a teacher in the Jordan School District and I would avoid that one. Way too big. Salt Lake District pays better than most here, as well as Park City. But Park City is supper expensive to live.

Orem and Provo have a high percentage of LDS people, but that shouldn't be a problem. Most people find us friendly.

Daybreak(South Jordan) is a nice new community with lots of parks and even its own lake filled with fish. You would have about a 45 min. commute to Orem from there. Homes on the west side are less expensive for what you get. You should have no problem having a mountain view. They surround the whole valley.

Good luck with your search.

[cordell]

Thanks to all of those that responded so far. Now for some more generic questions. What would you list as the top paying salary areas? Downtown Salt Lake City? Orem? Provo? Ogden? St. George?

From searching it sounds like St George is growing fast but does that area also generally have higher paying (50k >) jobs?

Also, what is the general housing market like in different areas.

For example, we have about 2700 sq ft, 4 bed, 3 bath, normal lot, and it's currently valued around 190k I would guess, based on other home sales around us.

We would like a bit more land and would be ok with a bit smaller house if that was the tradeoff. Not quite the country but more than a normal city lot if possible. A place we could have an outside dog, a nice big garden, etc.

[eggalegga]

Originally Posted by cordell

Also, what is the general housing market like in different areas.

For example, we have about 2700 sq ft, 4 bed, 3 bath, normal lot, and it's currently valued around 190k I would guess, based on other home sales around us.

I would say that for that size of a house, in the Salt Lake Valley you'd pay closer to $250k. Here's one of my favorite house hunting links so you can look for yourself.

[dogmom]

Remember, if you are considering southern Utah...it is lovely in the winter,but those summers will kill ya...then again, ok if you don't mind 4 months of 100+ temps. Yes, the air is dry...makes no difference in that kind of heat, and the dry air dries out everything, skin, feet, furniture, plants...You get the picture. Snowbirds do ok here.