Interested in Relocating to the Sevier Valley area (Provo, Orem: best towns, living in)

[DessertRat]

--Salina, Aurora, Richfield, etc. . . . anywhere in that area would be fine.

BUT, I do not know anyone in the area; I just know I like it. My wife and I currently live in Jersey City, NJ. We've traveled extensively in Utah and the West.

What are the best places to look for work in the Sevier Valley area (best towns, best companies, etc.)?

I'm middle-aged, and I've done a bunch of different kinds of work in the past, although my blue-collar skills are somewhat lacking. But I'm willing to do anything for work that would pay me a sufficient living wage.

My wife also needs to find work. She's worked almost exclusively in banking and finance, and she's not as open to a wide variety of work. I suppose a good bet for her would be a bank. What are the best banks in that area?

I know work would be easier to find in the Provo/Orem area (and especially in SLC), but we do not want to be too north in the state--we want to be closer to the national parks in Southern Utah, and we want to avoid living in a "big city". So, one more question: how ridiculous would it be to live someplace like Nephi or Fountain Green (I wouldn't want to go further north than Nephi probably) and commute to Provo?

Another possibility for us was to live somewhere that we could commute to Las Vegas for work (maybe outside of Mesquite, Nevada, for example), but that would rule out the ability to do weekend trips to the parks in southeastern Utah.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[DessertRat]

Yikes! No Utahns have any of this info?

[sorryville]

I can't help you too much on the Utah area's you were asking about...but I can help you on the statement you made concerning Mesquite and commuting to Las Vegas. That's 90 miles one way. There really isn't a whole lot between Mesquite and Las Vegas. Mesquite has grown quite a bit in recent years and you might be successful in finding work there. My concern for you would be that drive in warmer months as this desert heat can take quite a toll on vehicles. Having made the drive from Vegas to Cedar City, Ut thousands of times I know that road well. There's no way I would do it for work. Some people I know have tried commuting from St. George or Mesquite and it never lasts long.

Hopefully you get answers to your Utah based questions.