Question About Utah (Salt Lake City, Provo, Sandy: affordable house, tech jobs, neighborhood)

[whttigr]

Hello Everyone,
My family and I are looking at moving to Utah this summer. We are not LDS and we wont become LDS either. We are looking for cities or towns where this will not matter. We have some great friends that are LDS so that is not a problem for us. We are also looking for somewhere that has 1/2+ acres without the cost being too expensive. We live in Arizona right now (phoenix area). I have children that range in age from 3yrs up to 11yrs. I would also like to make sure the schools are decent for them. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. We have been to SLC (too large for us but outskirts would be ok), Sandy, Provo, Cedar City, and some others that I can't think of at this time. Again, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Jennifer

[askslc]

Jennifer-

Glad to hear you are considering Utah. I wouldn't worry about the non-LDS thing one bit. You can be as involved in that community as you want or don't want to be. I think it will be a little more complicated for your kids, as many of the youth activities are centered around the LDS community (youth groups, some sports, etc.), and they'll initially be invited. You'll just have to decide if you want them to participate or not. There are a lot of us non-LDs and things tend to just work out just fine.

As for where to live, that is pretty broad. I think that really depends on employment and the type of recreation you want. If you want to ski, Salt Lake is a great choice and Ogden would be OK too. If you like hiking, just about anywhere works. If you want more of the desert camping environment, Cedar City isn't bad.

I don't know about all the different school districts, but in general the comments are that they are all pretty much underfunded and class sizes are big. I don't have kids, so this is only what I hear but it seems to be the constant buzz. I don't know that any one area is know for being better than another (except maybe Park City--more hearsay, but that is going to be pricey).

If Utah is your oyster and you can go anywhere, your choices really boil down to:

Logan
Ogden
Salt Lake
Provo/Orem
Cedar City
St George

and each of the outlying areas. You mentioned Sandy and that is really just a suburb of Salt Lake City (and I might argue it is busier than Salt Lake itself). If you are trying to find a little quieter place that isn't too expensive (i.e. finding your 1/2 acre in the 200s), here are some places to look:

Logan
Ogden (some in the 100s here)
South/East of Salt Lake (Riverton, Herriman, South Jordan)
Cedar City (also some in the 100s)

So, some of the zips you would search on the real-estate sites include:

Salt Lake Area:
84095
84096
84065

Ogden:
84401
84403
84404

Logan:
84321
84341

Cedar City:
84720

Anyhow, hope that gets you started. There are plenty of other more remote places (very nice places), so let us know if you need more info.

-askslc

[chazcrew]

I adore Provo, but you won't find a much more LDS-intense atmosphere in the state. So if that will bother you, then I'd take Provo off the list. You've listed both northern and southern Utah areas, so I guess you don't have to live in one specific area for work. I guess it depends on what sort of climate you want (because it is very different between northern and southern Utah), and what you're looking for in your surroundings.

[whttigr]

We have looked at all those areas, but we are open to other areas too. I live in the desert now, but want all 4 seasons. My children love the snow. As for employment, I am a homemaker and my husband works with computers. He doesn't mind the commute as he drives almost an hour to work right now. We moved to the outskirts of Queen Creek (another part of the valley that we all seem to call phoenix) because it was getting to be too much "in the city." We would like a place that isn't too expensive as we have 5 children to take care of with 1 income. I have done some looking at other cities/towns and some look perfect until I see the housing cost. I liked Summit County, but I know for a fact that we can't afford that. Is there anything similar that has a more country living feel that is affordable? We also liked Alpine (again, too expensive from what I have seen). As for living around people who are LDS, that doesn't bother us (there are a lot where we live already). Some of our greatest friends are LDS. Thank you for your help so far it has been greatly appreciated.

[chazcrew]

You could check out Heber. It's less expensive than Park City but still has the mountain, rural feel. Or you could look at Logan. If you like the Alpine area, you could try Highland or Cedar Hills, both slightly less expensive but still nice and quiet, with pretty mountain views. Or there's southern Utah county; Spanish Fork and Mapleton are still somewhat rural, and you get a little more bang for your buck. Does your dh have a job yet? Because that affects the target areas too.

[whttigr]

He doesn't have a job there yet. That is why we are doing all the research before we decide on any place in particular. Thank you for the info so far it has been appreciated.

[coolcats]

The whole strip called the Wasatch front is pretty much a metropolis these days. Maybe not as big as Phoenix but getting there. Of course that's where all the tech jobs are too. There are a lot down in the Provo/Orem area. You could live in Southern Utah county near Payson and Santaquin and have a decent commute and more affordable house perhaps. Houses are cheaper in Tooele also. If you live in Southwest Salt Lake county you might get that rural feel, but there are not very many good commute options because the infrastracutre has not kept up.

[LlasaLost]

I just checked the MLS for the Logan area---and houses (and land) seem to be quite a bit less expensive there than in the Davis, Salt Lake, or Utah counties. Of course, there's always trade-offs.

[whttigr]

Thank you everyone, this information has been extremly helpful. I appriciate all the help you have given us. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Jennifer

[Chris Lemmon]

I live in North Ogden and think it is the best kept secret in the state. Prices are still reasonable here. Schools are great. The neighborhood is diverse with practicing LDS and Baptists and Jews and I don't know what else. We all just like each other. Pleasant View is great too. For the most part, I would not recommend Ogden. South Ogden and Weber are nice, but more pricey. Go to (broken link) You can see what the views are like. Skiing is 10 minutes away. Good luck. Feel free to ask any questions.