Where to move? (Salt Lake City, Provo, Orem: salon, crime rate, house)

[DonewithCali]

We are Southern Californians fed up with California. My husband is born and raised here. I have been here since I was 3. We have two young kids 4 and 8 and want to move somewhere within about 6 hours of here because our kids only grandparent lives here. We cannot afford it anymore and the schools are terrible.......Any suggestions for a family with young kids? We were thinking Nevada, Utah..........Arizona has not been so great, schools also terrible from what I have found......Any suggestions on a family town? All we need is affordable housing and good schools......Also, my husband works outdoors sometimes, so a place not completely buried in snow would be nice (we would like a little snow)...............

Also, we are Methodist, not LDS.....Some friends from our church here just moved to Salt Lake City and are having a very hard time. Not one of the LDS families on their new street has been friendly to them.....they have met only one other Methodist family and have found a Methodist church, but since the forum opinion seems to be that SLC is the MOST diverse and accepting and our friends are still having this problem, it does not give me much hope for the rest of the state.......Any thoughts??? I don't want to subject our young kids to this way of life (possibly not having a single neighbor family that will play with them....?)

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by DonewithCali

We are Southern Californians fed up with California. My husband is born and raised here. I have been here since I was 3. We have two young kids 4 and 8 and want to move somewhere within about 6 hours of here ...we are Methodist, not LDS.....Some friends from our church here just moved to Salt Lake City and are having a very hard time. Not one of the LDS families on their new street has been friendly to them.....they have met only one other Methodist family and have found a Methodist church, but since the forum opinion seems to be that SLC is the MOST diverse and accepting and our friends are still having this problem, it does not give me much hope for the rest of the state.......Any thoughts??? I don't want to subject our young kids to this way of life (possibly not having a single neighbor family that will play with them....?)

Even if you have found a sufficiently large gap in the minefield and concertina wire traps to bring your entire family out of the Democratic Free Peoples Republic of Kalifornia, make sure you have sufficient funds to bribe the Border Guards before you begin your escape.

Next, you state your Methodist friends report that none of the LDS families have been friendly to them. Does this mean they have been subject to open hostility, or does it mean no one has approached them? There is a big difference. If it is the latter, then this should not be a problem for you. I have a foot in both Utah and Kalifornia, and I know the culture in both states. In Kalifornia, neighbors usually do not talk to each other. You should be accustomed to this; thus, if this happens to you in Utah, you are no worse off than you were in Kalifornia. Try not to expect people to roll out red carpets before you and crown you with wreaths of laurel.

I don’t think SLC is the most diverse city in the state. You will find diversity all over Utah. Since you want to be within six hours of occupied territory, err, I mean, Kalifornia, you might look at places such as St. George and the surrounding area. Just keep in mind it gets hot as Hates there in the summer, and should be a factor you consider since your husband must work outside occasionally.

[DonewithCali]

Thank you for your reply....It sounds from your reply that we may face much more discrimination for being from California that for our religion ! My husband's two sisters (also born and raised in So. Cal.) made their escape in the past 5-10 years, one to Arizona and one to Idaho, and I am sorry to say they were initially both treated very badly (even their kids in school) because they were from California. We are not all tanning salon junkie, beach bums out here. In fact, our family is all very Republican ourselves and we are making our escape one at a time BECAUSE of what California has turned into.....

Hopefully we can find a community that does not hold that against us.....


Thanks again for your thoughts....

[fteter]

I can relate do the "Done With Cali" attitude. I've lived in California for 25 years. My wife was born and raised here - she's never lived anywhere else. We made the decision to get out a few months ago. We love the weather of Southern Cal, but we're tired of the crime, crowds, congestion and filth that have become a part of everyday living here.

We've checked out several spots in Utah, and found everyone to be exceptionally friendly. Although the fact that we're LDS certainly makes things easier, we've big believers in the benefits of diversity and have found adequate amounts of it in Utah (although the "bubble" is clearly not for us). Both Salt Lake City and Cache Valley are appealing, but we like the rural feel of Cache Valley a bit more than the urban environment of Salt Lake - I think we've had enough of the city life.

As soon as I can score a job somewhere within reasonable driving distance of Logan, we're gone...and, yes, it's true that finding that job is the challenge in making this move

As I write this post, it's 11:30 at night. I'm overwhelmed by the throbbing base of the rap music from the backyard party a half-block away (generally nice neighbors, but they just don't get the hint about the problem with all their loud partying), and wishing for anything I was already experiencing the nice, quiet evenings we'll get in northern Utah. Hope I can connect with that job soon!

Anyway, I have empathy for DoneWithCali...right there with ya! Good luck and stick with the escape plan.

[SergeantL]

We are not all tanning salon junkie[s]

Your statement sums up the actual problem. My wife and I are from California, but we are building our retirement home in Utah. A number of folks in Utah, or any other state for that matter, have a skewed perception of Californians. We are both LDS, but you would swear some Utah Latter-day Saints think we perform Baptisms in hot tubs and have a champagne brunch afterwards. It takes time for people to get to know you, so as I told you, don’t expect red carpets and laurel wreaths when you arrive with the loaded moving van.

As I write this post, it's 11:30 at night. I'm overwhelmed by the throbbing base of the rap music from the backyard party a half-block away (generally nice neighbors, but they just don't get the hint about the problem with all their loud partying), and wishing for anything I was already experiencing the nice, quiet evenings we'll get in northern Utah. Hope I can connect with that job soon!

Ahem, we need to talk about this for a moment. Be very careful where you jump to next. You may just jump into the same kind of problem, or worse. Make sure you check with your neighbors and the local law enforcement agency before you buy.

My wife and I looked at a lot of property in Utah, and I can tell you some of our potential neighbors were straight out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre XXX. Needless to say, we didn’t buy in those areas. I am in law enforcement here in California, so dealing with oddballs or having a few as neighbors doesn’t bother me, but I don’t need Jethro knocking on my front door, asking to borrow a cup of meth and offering his false teeth as collateral.

[ms.froggy]

Hmmm... I don't get it. I am from California and moved here about 20 years ago. Sure Utah has own bubble, but, it isn't that bad. Just have little culture difference perhaps. (??!) Anyway, Utah Valley (Provo/Orem) area is pretty nice area. I have always like this part of Utah. There is enough job around here, I think.

Sometimes, it takes to time to get to know people, here. But, I thought it was like that in California.

Good luck

[ScottDaMan]

I just moved here from California a year ago and absolutely love my area.

If you are from the desert areas of So Cal, check St. George. If you would like to see some trees and snow, try Cedar City.

We moved to Cedar and love it here.

[DonewithCali]

Thanks for all your input! It is much appreciated!

[fteter]

Originally Posted by SergeantL

Ahem, we need to talk about this for a moment. Be very careful where you jump to next. You may just jump into the same kind of problem, or worse. Make sure you check with your neighbors and the local law enforcement agency before you buy.

My wife and I looked at a lot of property in Utah, and I can tell you some of our potential neighbors were straight out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre XXX. Needless to say, we didn’t buy in those areas. I am in law enforcement here in California, so dealing with oddballs or having a few as neighbors doesn’t bother me, but I don’t need Jethro knocking on my front door, asking to borrow a cup of meth and offering his false teeth as collateral.

Point well taken...great Jethro visual

[cathead]

My wife and I cashed in on our San Diego home in early 2005. We bought a nicer, somewhat bigger house in St George. We're in a new, relatively upscale development at the edge of town, near Ivins and Santa Clara. About half of the neighbors seem to be from SoCal... We are not religious, my wife doesn't work, we have no kids, and I am an independent contractor who works from home.

Bottom line: we like it here. I like it better than my wife does because she doesn't like the desert dryness. If I had to work here that would be a different story though. Yeah sure the unemployment rate is low in Utah, but it's mostly crap work- at least around here. I briefly looked at taking a job with the city, but the pay was about half of what it would have been in, say Las Vegas. I'm still much better off with my hit-or-miss contract work than the steady low-paying Utah wage.

Some neighbors are LDS- they're cool. We haven't had any problems whatsoever. The crime rate is low. I don't worry about it too much. Some of the neighbors put in home alarm systems (including those that moved down from Salt Lake City), but with my dogs and guns I figure we're in good shape given the slim chance of any problems.

I could blather on for quite a bit about this, but I guess that's enough for now.