In love with provo (Salt Lake City, Sandy: fit in, rent, chapel)

[ALECORDOVA]

I currently live in California and the culture is a bit to liberal for my taste. I love that Provo is a community with strong moral values. I was raised up that way. My husband and I are considering moving here because we have a 2 year old toddler and are worried for how liberal and expensive California is getting. We love the outdoors. The only problem I see is that we are from the "Church of God" denomination not LDS we are translators in our church and work with the worship group. We are Latin (come from educated families) and have allot we want to give in service. I have read so many articles on Provo, both amazing and scary. I see allot of people asking in forums about religious racism and some people are straight up saying "DON'T LIVE THERE IF NOT LDS, KIDS SUFFER". I am asking for help on clearing this out. Is it or is it not as bad as some people say? Will we fit in the community? Is racism (ethnic and religious) true? Will my daughter be rejected or left out in anyway? Can we make this our home?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by ALECORDOVA

I currently live in California and the culture is a bit to liberal for my taste. I love that Provo is a community with strong moral values. I was raised up that way. My husband and I are considering moving here because we have a 2 year old toddler and are worried for how liberal and expensive California is getting. We love the outdoors. The only problem I see is that we are from the "Church of God" denomination not LDS we are translators in our church and work with the worship group. We are Latin (come from educated families) and have allot we want to give in service. I have read so many articles on Provo, both amazing and scary. I see allot of people asking in forums about religious racism and some people are straight up saying "DON'T LIVE THERE IF NOT LDS, KIDS SUFFER". I am asking for help on clearing this out. Is it or is it not as bad as some people say? Will we fit in the community? Is racism (ethnic and religious) true? Will my daughter be rejected or left out in anyway? Can we make this our home?

I would suggest you consider Salt Lake City, one of its suburbs or another of the many communities along the Wasatch Front. You could fit in very well as long as you do not consider settling in Utah county (where Provo is located). Provo is a great place to live for those who fit the demographic. Otherwise, it's my advise that you look elsewhere. (By the way, I am LDS, as is my husband; he is also Latino.)

[AZCards]

Originally Posted by ALECORDOVA

I currently live in California and the culture is a bit to liberal for my taste. I love that Provo is a community with strong moral values. I was raised up that way. My husband and I are considering moving here because we have a 2 year old toddler and are worried for how liberal and expensive California is getting. We love the outdoors. The only problem I see is that we are from the "Church of God" denomination not LDS we are translators in our church and work with the worship group. We are Latin (come from educated families) and have allot we want to give in service. I have read so many articles on Provo, both amazing and scary. I see allot of people asking in forums about religious racism and some people are straight up saying "DON'T LIVE THERE IF NOT LDS, KIDS SUFFER". I am asking for help on clearing this out. Is it or is it not as bad as some people say? Will we fit in the community? Is racism (ethnic and religious) true? Will my daughter be rejected or left out in anyway? Can we make this our home?

Provos "morals" are spurious at best. People say Conservative and think they mean literally that, but it is different. There is also a Religious Glass ceiling in regards to careers, friendships and Schools in Provo. In my wife and I's experience(White male, Latina) there is some "minor" racism in the area around Provo, from both sides of the ethnic spectrum.

I would suggest avoiding anywhere between Nephi(the town) and Lehi(again, the town). IMO I would stick to between the boundaries of Sandy to Ogden. There is a bit more diversity while still being far more Conservative than California. Some areas can be pretty Liberal(SLC proper, Sugarhouse) but nothing as in your face as Cali.

[nascarmama]

Think hard about this. This isn't a regular change..it is a big change in culture that judges..make sure you can live with that. Rent for awhile at least and keep your options open. This is from one who has lived in Utah all her life and an ex-mormon to boot. I have lost friends and even family because of those family values..they are not the same as you think.

Good Luck!

[Geo-Aggie]

As another ex-mormon, just wanted to confirm all of this. The community and strong moral values of Provo are about 90% dependent upon your acceptance of LDS dogma and willingness to never stir the pot. You'll instantly be a target for "missionary work" and loved by everyone. If you join, you're in. If you have no interest in being Mormon the niceties of your neighbors will change, to what extent obviously depends on the specific neighbors you have of course.

I personally would never move to Utah County, because of the very strong monoculture there. Salt Lake County is much more accepting. Davis/Weber Counties are also better, but I might avoid from Kaysville to Centerville for the same reasons.

[madpacket]

We moved to Utah County (Spanish Fork, close to Provo) 5 years ago. This forum was very helpful in giving us ideas about what the area would offer. I cannot comment on the racial aspect since we are whiteys and "fit in" on that subject. However there are two hispanic families in our close neighborhood and they seem to get along fine. We too are not LDS and it was a big worry for us (we are Biblical Christians). We attend a Calvary Chapel about 24 miles North but the traffic on Sunday is non-existent.
Have found that our non-LDSness to not be much of a problem. The neighbors are nice and regularly invite us to LDS functions. Our kids play with them all the time.
We get asked often "how is your experience in Utah county?" by LDS members. As though they are expecting it to be troublesome. We have not faced much trouble, it's clear we are a little bit outsiders but that sort of thing doesn't bother us. They still help with whatever comes up (watching the house, shoveling the driveway when we were gone over Christmas).
Someone suggested we had it better because we live in a fairly young neighborhood (most are families in late 20s/early 30s still pumping out kids). Have heard that the older LDS crowds are less accepting, but I haven't personally experienced it. I work (in Provo) for all LDS folks and that hasn't caused any problems for me.