Question (Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden: fit in, find a job, living in)

[kerrymac]

I have been reading this Utah forum for a while and I am very curious.

I notice people say if your non mormon move near Salt lake...Provo is very Mormon.
St George area is about 80 pct Mormon.

I mean what give in Utah are you people that much at odds with each other?

I mean I am non mormon so that means I cant move to a mormon area? Am I going to get "beat up".
I would assume if I am nice to someone I would get the same treatment.

And if someone doesnt like me because I am non M then so be it..who give a . Stay out of my way and Ill stay out of yours...No?

Is it that bad living in Utah if your a non-Mormon?
I notice there is a Catholic church in St George..so someone is a non M.

Just my observation...I am not trying to offend anyone, I just find it all pretty childish.

[kaytidid]

You are right. It IS pretty childish. LDS and non LDS can be friendly. If they don't get along, generally (I have found in my own personal experience) that it is because of personality differences, not religious ones. LDS are very welcoming and would give you their shirt off their back.

If you are nice, they are nice. If you are rude, they can be rude. Hmm....sounds like LDS are human.

The only reason it is recommended to move to Salt Lake is because it is more diverse and you might find people with more interests that are in line to yours. I am Catholic and could move to Provo and not have any trouble at all.

[lolagranola]

Annoying, isn't it?

You certainly won't get beat up, but you may feell uncomfortable.

Not my experience, BTW

[kerrymac]

It just seem strange thats all..I guess because I am the type of person who is just very easy going when it come to childish things
.
From my experience in this world there are far far greater things to waste my time thinking about.

Like I say..." If you dont like me then its YOUR lose".

[eggalegga]

Some people are more concerned that their non LDS children will fit in and make friends. They don't want to move here and have it be a bad experience for their kids. What parent wouldn't be concerned about their kids fitting in regardless of what city they are moving to?

I grew up in Utah county and I am not LDS. I had a very negative experience with a Mormon when I was young that I still remember 35 years later. Of course not all Mormon's treat non Mormon's badly. But when you're young and very impressionable, it leaves a mark you never forget.

There was never a threat of physical harm. It's more of a feeling of being excluded or ignored.

I have two siblings who have converted to the LDS faith. They are both very happy with their religion. Our family is very supportive of one another regardless of religious, political, lifestyle or financial differences. Sure we don't all agree but we all respect each other enough to tolerate our differences.

[Joey8360]

No one will beat you up, and most of them will be friendly. Some of them won't. Within the first five minutes of conversation, expect religion to come up. In some small towns the Mormon culture is so pervasive, folks may be curious as to why an outsider would want to move there (especially if they are eager to move away). I spent five years in Northern Utah, three in Las Vegas, and my parents spent ten years in St. George. Also fifteen years in Idaho which has a large Mormon population. Lots of Mormon men stick with the church to keep their wife happy.

My parents had a good motorcycling friend who joined the church so his kids would fit in. Once the kids were grown, he found that he was doing more than his fair share of "leadership" crap at the church, so he up and quit.

A good way to stir up trouble would be to talk in an exaggerated east coast accent, drop the f-bomb, and ask questions about finding booze and hookers. A friend who worked with me in Vegas (originally from Brooklyn) did that in St. George, didn't go over too well.

Ironically, Salt Lake City itself is now minority Mormon. I would expect Park City to be the same. Not sure about percentages, but Ogden seemed a lot less Mormon than other areas on the Wasatch front.

[Joey8360]

But the big question is why Utah? Why put up with it? What's so damn special about Utah? Central Idaho (once you get north of the flat agricultural valleys in far southern Idaho) and Western Colorado are prettier and the weather is no worse. Northern Arizona is just as pretty but with better weather (except Flagstaff). Skiing? Summit County (Park City) is an island unto itself, religion not a factor.

Utah can be OK for a non-Mormon if you are financially independent or work for a large out-of-state company (but not in sales). I worked for IBM servicing the federal government, so my lack of religion never hurt my bottom line. But if you are selling or providing services to the general public or to local businesses, your church status WILL be a factor (explicitly or implicitly) and your bottom line WILL suffer.

[kaytidid]

Originally Posted by Joey8360

But the big question is why Utah? Why put up with it? What's so damn special about Utah? Central Idaho (once you get north of the flat agricultural valleys in far southern Idaho) and Western Colorado are prettier and the weather is no worse. Northern Arizona is just as pretty but with better weather (except Flagstaff). Skiing? Summit County (Park City) is an island unto itself, religion not a factor.

Utah can be OK for a non-Mormon if you are financially independent or work for a large out-of-state company (but not in sales). I worked for IBM servicing the federal government, so my lack of religion never hurt my bottom line. But if you are selling or providing services to the general public or to local businesses, your church status WILL be a factor (explicitly or implicitly) and your bottom line WILL suffer.

Nobody says that anything is so damn special about Utah..except some of us that love living here. My family is non Mormon and we certainly are not financially independent, but yet, somehow are still very happy living in Utah. I have said before and will say again, Utah is NOT Utopia. It has its faults just like anyplace else you can move to. There are some that love living here and can deal with those faults, others choose to find the those faults in another state. However, busting on Utah solely for the fact that that there is a higher percentage of LDS living here is not fair. I don't hear any derogatory remarks about the South or the Bible Belt, or Boston with their high percentage of Catholics. Utah deserves the same consideration. If you don't like it here, (in general, not necessarily you per se) you don't have to live here. If you are here for employment, unless you are military, you can find a job someplace else. I will even help you on your job search! Really.

I get sick and tired of people thinking that Utah is some Hell on Earth. Why is it so hard to imagine that some would love it here?

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by kaytidid

I don't hear any derogatory remarks about the South or the Bible Belt, or Boston with their high percentage of Catholics. Utah deserves the same consideration.

I get sick and tired of people thinking that Utah is some Hell on Earth. Why is it so hard to imagine that some would love it here?

y

A good point Kaytidid - I can just imagine if I went into the Oklahoma forum and asked...what about the baptists, will I be able to live there...etc etc. I live here. There are TONS of baptists. I respect their religion and their beliefs. I would never think of putting down the state because it is predominantly baptist.

Seriously, how many threads can there possibly be about "I am moving to Utah what about the mormons" There has got to be hundreds. People need to search the site before asking questions. This is really like beating a "dead horse"

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Chickrae

y

A good point Kaytidid - I can just imagine if I went into the Oklahoma forum and asked...what about the baptists, will I be able to live there...etc etc. I live here. There are TONS of baptists. I respect their religion and their beliefs. I would never think of putting down the state because it is predominantly baptist.

Seriously, how many threads can there possibly be about "I am moving to Utah what about the mormons" There has got to be hundreds. People need to search the site before asking questions. This is really like beating a "dead horse"

LOL! I can relate to that! I'm a relative newbie here, but the first time I visited I saw one of those threads. I thought, "Oh neat! Here's a thread that interests me!" I went in an posted an answer. The next day, there was another one. I thought, "Hmmm. Okay, I guess I got lucky twice in a row." After about the sixth or eighth thread, I started thinking, "Jeesh! This is stupid!"