Big Scary move to Utah... (Sandy, Murray: cul-de-sac, for sale, new home)

[Jen38]

Melinda, wow that's good to hear! I lived in TX and Fl as well. Why are you choosing Park City over Salt Lake? Does your husband work in Salt Lake? Did you choose a subdivision? I'm assuming if you are a native Texan then you are not a skier so that can't be the draw to Park City.

BTW, is your son the 9 or 12 year old? And I have to know why are you so excited to move to Utah? I guess I really need to come out and have a look!

[malindall]

Hi Jen!

We are choosing Park City because my daughter (the 12 year old) has really bad asthma. The inversions that SLC gets in the winter can be really bad, even for those that don't have a breathing problem. It is also a good commute for my husband. He works in North Salt Lake and I believe his commute will be about 35 minutes. He is from western Colorado and is a great skier. LOL My son is the 9 year old. We also looked in Jeremy Ranch but decided to move in closer to town. Jeremy Ranch is very nice and has some beautiful homes. I guess I am excited to move to Utah mainly because our family will be together again, although, I really loved Austin. Utah seems somewhat exotic to me. I really love animals and have seen a lot of wildlife on my 2 visits. Hope I am not rambling!!! I would go on but my daughter is reminding me about the dangers of the internet. (Hey they DO listen sometimes) LOL

Malinda

[lemon&lime]

Originally Posted by Jen38

We are thinking about a transfer to the Sandy area and would love to get some feedback. We are looking for a family friendly area. Lots of stay at home moms where kids are outside playing sports.(The latter is a request from my two sons!) We are a Non LDS family, Catholic actually. I haven't seen a lot of Catholic churches out there? Are they hard to find?

Also, What is life like in Utah?? We are from the East coast. How does it differ? Will we enjoy Utah? We have a lot of "keeping up with the Jones's here", and a alot of traffic but we also have family and great friends. It's definitely a scary move.

I know I've asked a lot of questions here but any feedback on would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

The Sandy area is a pretty conventional, family oriented area with lots of strip malls that is fairly clean, new, safe, yet slightly boring. The area is heavily LDS.

I could not tell you whether you will like it or not. I am single and a native Texan and I dislike it. The winters will not bother you most likely if you are from an area with snow and the area can actually be quite pretty that time of year. The Valley has horrible smog and something called an inversion, and not just in the winter but year round. It makes the whole area seem dull and heavy in my opinion.

If you like sub divisions there are plenty to choose from, however I have heard that many of them are socially stratified due to the Mormons.

People say the Mormons are nice and that you won't have any problems and I hope that is true for you. Some people just fall in love with the area and decide that the Mormons are a good factor, because they are so family oriented. If you are at all free thinking, harbor any unconventional beliefs, or just generally like to do your own thing, or are liberal, then I would think Utah a poor choice. I was raised in Texas by staunch conservatives but have slightly libertarian bent, and I have never felt a more facist or controlling vibe in my life. You would have no idea the extent to which the Mormon Church controls the peoples lives, it is very organized. I am uncomfortable with it and will never say otherwise.

But hey, you won't get mugged and there are great schools to choose from... even though charter schools are popping up everywhere, probably due to the Mormons.

I am not popular on the boards I know because I have my opinion which might upset some people. I suggest you read the boards carefully and get both sides of the story. Maybe fly to Utah, rent a car for a day, and go with your gut reaction. I wish I had.

[Jen38]

Thanks Catrinac for your honesty. I'm glad you are posting what you feel. I realize it's only one person's opinion but it helps to form my own. From what I have read, it seems to be tougher for a single Non-LDS person to truly like the Salt Lake surrounding area than for a family. Although there are mixed reviews from families too. I used to be much more of a free thinker until I had children. Now I too tend to be more on the conservative side mostly due to trying to raise my children in a safe and healthy environment. Just riding the school bus has them coming home with things that you have to combat! I feel like summer time is when we have to de-program them! I think between school, sports and CCD, I probably spend on average 3.5 hours per day with them. They are with others who influence them more than they are with their parents.
I'm not sure living in a densely populated LDS community is my thing but it would be nice to have some of the morals and values around my children when they are out of the house. I would like to try to find a happy medium. I am leaning towards the Park City area more and more. And I like to ski!

Also, what is this "inversion" that everyone mentions?

[AnnasDad]

THis is an old post- but funny you say Maine. Its almost just like it weather wise. COLD in the winter with a LOT of snow, but I have to say MUCH hotter here in the summers. It can get to 110 degrees- but its dry heat. I dont care what they say- this dry heat at 110 is nothing compared to Maine at 95 degrees with 100% humidity! SO, take it from there

[lemon&lime]

I don't really understand the whole inversion thing. It has to do with either temperature changes or changes in atmospheric pressure which causes the smog to pushed in to the valley. The smog is year round though and I think the inversion is something that occurs in the winter. There is a wikipedia article explaining it.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by catrinac

I don't really understand the whole inversion thing. It has to do with either temperature changes or changes in atmospheric pressure which causes the smog to pushed in to the valley. The smog is year round though and I think the inversion is something that occurs in the winter. There is a wikipedia article explaining it.

Here you go, a fairly staightforward explanation of the process:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/climate/...Inversions.php

[Jen38]

Thanks for the attachment. That definitely explains it, although...eww. Pollution stuck where we live just doesn't sound good. Hmm, Park City is sounding better and better. After reading that it kind of grosses me out having to breathe that air in.

[DessertRat]

Originally Posted by catrinac

If you are at all free thinking, harbor any unconventional beliefs, or just generally like to do your own thing, or are liberal, then I would think Utah a poor choice. I was raised in Texas by staunch conservatives but have slightly libertarian bent, and I have never felt a more facist or controlling vibe in my life. You would have no idea the extent to which the Mormon Church controls the peoples lives, it is very organized. I am uncomfortable with it and will never say otherwise . . . Maybe fly to Utah, rent a car for a day, and go with your gut reaction. I wish I had.

Hmm . . . I've never lived in Utah, but I've spent a lot of time there on vacations, and it's definitely high on my list of places I'd consider moving to. I love Utah. I've loved the people I've met from Utah, too. Yet, you can't get much more Libertarian than I am--I'm a pretty extreme Libertarian "minarchist"--those weird folks who tend to look at liberals as if they're "evil socialists".

I haven't had much experience with Utah's politics or legislative tendencies, and I'm sure I wouldn't be happy with all of that, but given my extreme political views, there's no place in the US where I am happy with the politics and legislative tendencies--heck, even the more Libertarian counties in Nevada have lots of policies that I strongly disagree with. Where the heck could I go that I would think has sensible laws and politics? Probably Mars with a bunch of other minarchists. So I know I'm going to be disappointed on that end no matter where I live. Whether you're in New York City, San Francisco, or Podunk, Iowa, you're not going to suddenly run into a lot of hardcore Libertarian folks. I'm in the New York City area now, and if you ask me, it's socialism central. I'm definitely not happy with that.

I have no problem with the Mormon church controlling folks' lives when they choose to be controlled by the Mormon church. They should have that choice. And heck, at least some Mormons are pro polygamy. It's ridiculous that polygamy is illegal.

[nicoolio777]

Originally Posted by Jen38

Is there more to do with kids in Sandy/Salt Lake area than in the Park City area?

I'd love to hear from any stay at home moms in the Park City area. Our experience in moving around has been the more expensive the area the more you have dual incomes, less stay at home moms. I want to be careful of that otherwise it's a very lonely summer with most other kids in camps or daycare and mine trying to find people to play with.

Does anyone have pools? We've never been without a pool in our backyard. That's what we do all summer! It's great when my husband comes home from work or on the weekends for all of us to be in the pool.

Which brings me to my next question...Exactly how cold is it out there? Is there a state on the East Coast that you would compare it to? Please don't say Maine! We have lived in MN before, I don't think I want to go back to that weather. We had to plug in our cars at night!

Also, what does IMHO stand for? Is it the Catholic Church name?

Thanks again for your replies!

I live in Draper and as far as my neighborhood goes, it's great. I have moved nine times in the past 8 years and we have never been in a neighborhood like this (we moved from Phoenix, AZ). We have only lived here 2 years and we already know almost everyone in the whole neighborhood, we go go to dinner with our neighbors, their kids play in our backyard, and I don't feel weird at all about asking my neighbor if they have an egg I can use (or something of that sort!).
There are some really incredible charter schools here (the Summit Academy and Channing Hall are great). I'm LDS but my neighbors are Catholic and they really like it here too. Their kids go to Juan Diego High School. It's a very good school and it happens to be Catholic. I don't know if all Catholic schools are like this, but if your kids goes there you have to attend mass there. One of my best friends from high school moved here from AZ this year. They are Catholic and they love it too. Yes there are a lot of LDS people here but there are other denominations too. I grew up in a small AZ town where I was one of the few LDS people and I was a little weary about moving to Utah because I had heard so much about "Utah Mormons". What I have found is that people here are like people all over. You have some idiots and you have some really incredible people too. My advice to you would be to try to throw out any pre-concived notions you may have about how people are going to be and just take people one at a time and decide if you like the indivdual. That's what I have done and I have really ended up loving it here.
I'm recently coming from the Phoenix area so I will say that I freeze my butt off during the winter! But at least there are plenty of winter sports to keep your mind off of it until spring arrives. I don't think it's anything like Maine though! Park City is colder than the Draper/Sandy area and I you won't find as many kids - but there are still a lot of them! Draper really is great and if you have any specific questions about it I would be happy to answer them. Good luck to you!