Do you need a car if you live in Provo, Utah (Salt Lake City: apartment, rentals)

[Hatillana]

God willing, I am planning to relocate to Utah sometime soon. I've been in different parts of the state. I love the south and I like Salt Lake City, but I believe Provo would be better to find a job and life could be a little more comfortable or at least, maybe, less crowded. I'm still wondering if I should move to Salt Lake City or to Provo. My questions about the place are:

1) Is there reliable public transportation in Provo or do I need a car?
2) Is it easy to commute from Provo to Salt Lake City if you don't have a car?
3) How does the apartment rentals compare between the 2 cities in terms of prices?
4) How does life expenses (food, clothing, general home supplies) compare between the 2 cities? Is it more or less the same all over the state or SLC would be more expensive in general?
5) I like culture activities as art shows, theater, lectures, etc, but also love nature: walking trails, kayaking, going to national parks, etc. In which of the two cities is easier to get to these things? Again, do I need a car? I know that if I want to go to national parks, the woods, etc, I need a car, but to get to art galleries, theater, city parks, etc, do I need a car to get to these places or can I walk/commute to them?

Thank you for all your help.

[Coffeequeen]

You should visit before you consider a move because you seem to think Provo is some kind of metropolis. How long have you actually spent in SLC, as apparently your love of culture, theater, public transport and art is satisfied by SLC? You think SLC is crowded?
Yes, you need a car.
Are you LDS? If not, why would you consider Provo?
What job?

[Hatillana]

pharmaceutical job , quality control, quality assurance or at the beginning anything I can get. I have strong experience in quality control, but also managing art, because it was the family business for many years. I have been twice in SLC but never in Provo. My interest in Provo is work, I have read that it is a very good place to look for jobs. And no, I am not LDS, do you think that is a problem? I've seen some posts here with pros and cons on the subject. I'll be by myself, my children are grown ups. Probably SLC is better for me

[soccerscotty21]

Find a job along the Wasatch front first, then move out. Don't do it the other way around or you likely won't last long or you'll end up flipping burgers to make rent. Once you have a steady job lined up, find an apartment close to work. Could be anywhere from Springville north through SLC and Ogden. Yes, there are lots of jobs in that area, but also lots of very qualified people who are looking for jobs.

and YES you do need a car. Utah is not very public transport friendly unless you live and work within walking distance of trax, but even then your life will get boring quickly because you can't get anywhere else.

[Saint Invective]

Just adding one more voice to the choir here, singing that Provo (and really all of Utah except for Salt Lake City proper) is someplace you want to have a car. The light rail and FrontRunner commuter rail here are clean, safe, affordable, and relatively fast...if they actually cover your area. If you have to take the bus to the train station, or take the bus, period, it gets less efficient. Salt Lake City is very bike-friendly and relatively pedestrian friendly, but about four months out of the year, Mother Nature is not.

I'd say you should have a car, just to have it as an option. Or, if you don't think you'd drive more than once or twice a month, Uber and Lyft are doing amazingly well here. I have a car, but use them as my designated driver all the time.

[n7hmw]

1) public transit is not bad, but not designed to get into neighborhoods so much. It is generally only found on larger thoroughfares
2) yes there is good transit between SLC and Provo, but again, see #1, above. You might have to resort to other means to get to a park-n-ride or a train stop
3) that I can't speak to, but keep in mind there are over 60,000 full-time students between BYU and UVU, so for apartment-style housing, there is serious competition in Provo and Orem. Not a problem for young singles, but maybe not what you want to deal with. North of Provo is where the most new growth is occurring, south not so much.
4) other living expenses are fairly consistent across the whole Wasatch Front. Southern Utah will vary depending on how far off the beaten path you are. St George is large enough to be quite reasonably priced. It is used as a distribution location for some large companies like WalMart and being less that 2 hours away from Las Vegas, the cost of distribution of goods and services isn't bad from that direction.
5) you'll find plenty in both areas, but of course, SLC being much larger, it has, by far, more than Provo. It also has light rail through downtown and to the UofU campus, so it would be the more accessible without a car. Outdoor activities in the immediate are a reasonable tie depending on what you like to do.

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Provo is not so less-crowded as you might think. Provo (and Utah County in general), is very much an Information Technology hub and has been growing at an incredible rate. I don't know that I would label it as "crowded" because there is still lots of open space and agriculture in the area, but the population is definitely growing. Salt Lake County is too, for that matter, but again, there is plenty of room, so things keep spreading out more, rather than becoming much denser.

Salt Lake County, while also strong in IT is where you will find a strong medical industry. I don't know about pharmaceuticals specifically, but there is a great deal of research, including Merit Medical, Huntsman Cancer Research Institute and the University of Utah.

I agree with the others: 1. yes, you will need a car, even if transit is a viable option for your commute; 2. yes, there are many jobs, but many looking, so plan accordingly.

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And may I add:

One subject you will confront when you get here is the alleged LDS/non-LDS divide. Some think it is huge, others think it doesn't exist. I think it is what you make it for yourself. LDS church-goers already have a built-in social system of friends and activities, like active church-goers of any other denomination, they just happen to be in the majority of the population. You'll be exposed to the LDS vocabulary as a side effect. *BUT* don't be afraid to reach out and get to know your neighbors! Yes, you will probably be propositioned (more than once) about having the missionaries come teach you, but if you don't want them, politely refuse. If you don't understand a term someone uses, ask what it means, because even the non-LDS locals know and sometimes use them. I am LDS, but we have plenty of less active LDS and non-LDS neighbors. Our neighborhood is quite friendly and we all get along well, including social activities that all can enjoy.

Our neighbor's little girl came over one night to borrow some flour while making cookies. She came back a couple of more times that same evening because mom hadn't guessed correctly and needed a bit more each time. She was a little sheepish, but not too much so, so my wife told her to tell her dad that if they needed to send her back again, he owed us a beer! He did find some pretext to send over a beer, knowing full well it would never be opened! And some other time, a funny pretext was found to give it back to him.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but honestly, Utah is an awesome place to live! Quirky? Oh yes! But fun!

[Queen Quack]

You can get to SLC from Provo using the train, but you do need a car to get around Provo or any city in Utah. The public transportation system up here sucks.