Farmington & surrounding areas - which to choose? (Salt Lake City, Bountiful: school district, pharmacies)

[Durannie81]

After doing lots of research & reading on here & else where; I've narrowed my search to Farmington & the Davis school district (read that it was a good school district).

Now my next set of questions are:

~are there any good & close mountain biking trails there?
~how bout shopping (clothes, shoes, pharmacies, grocery, farmer's market)
~fitness gyms?
~we're non-LDS, is it going to be hard for our son to meet new friends (fyi, we have a lot of friends w/different religions & backgrounds, it's never been a factor for us until now)
~hows rush hour there am/pm? husband's job moving to slc by early 2012

Like I said, looking more in Farmington, but is there a "better" place near there & still in the Davis school district?

Thanks for your time.

[Chango]

Here's a big hooray for Farmington (yet again). You'll find everything you want in Farmington execept for a non-mormon social life.

There is a new development in Farmington that will be quite the shopper's paradise when it's all done: Farmington project to break ground | Deseret News and it's generally a very pleasant and safe place to live. I particularly like all the trees.

I commute from there to SLC every day and traffic sucks as usual; I still average 20-30 min during rush hour, which isn't all that bad compared to going Southbound from downtown on I-15.
Centerville, Bountiful, Kaysville and Fruit Heights are worth a look too; all these communities are very much like each other and offer similar benefits.

[Durannie81]

Chango~ 20 - 30 mins in rush hour is doable for the hubby. We live in the 'burbs of Boston & it takes us that & maybe even longer to visit the city, that's not even in rush hour.

Thanks for the info.

[RSFMomma]

I can't answer your questions, but i just wanted to share that Farmington is #12 on CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" list.

[DelaneyRudd]

I don't think the lack of social life in Farmington is necessarily religion based. It's a commuter suburb where everyone has kids and soccer games and yard work to do. The LDS lifestyle keeps these people very busy, so while your neighbors may be super friendly and always say hello, you probably won't be in a social environment often. If you have a religion then your life would probably revolve around those groups of peers. If you don't then it would be hard. The kids at school won't be ostracized. There are sometimes a family won't let a non-Mormon be friends with their kids but there's a larger number who are horrified by the idea and make up for it.

[DelaneyRudd]

Best Places to Live 2011 - Top 100: Town details: Farmington, UT - from MONEY Magazine

Just on this list. Remember too, just because it's one thing now doesn't mean your very presence doesn't make it more like you. A lot of people get moved to Utah via jobs and such and as this happens the diversity changes with every immigrant.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL4955210.html
North Salt Lake is even better for new comers. It's separated from Salt Lake City by a small mountain and some industrial area; but it's certainly close enough that you can have access to all of Davis and Salt Lake County. I give out advice to people about working in Weber County but wanting to be close to Salt Lake County; I totally forgot about NSL. It's a nice bedroom community.

[skyla78]

I actually live up north in this community.

are there any good & close mountain biking trails there?
Yes, lots of trails out here, to ride, walk, bike.
~how bout shopping (clothes, shoes, pharmacies, grocery, farmer's market)
There are two farmers markets in kaysville, and you can find lots of produce along hwy 89
~fitness gyms?
Several gyms to chose from mostly in layton or bountiful which are close enough to travel.

~we're non-LDS, is it going to be hard for our son to meet new friends (fyi, we have a lot of friends w/different religions & backgrounds, it's never been a factor for us until now)
We are from here, but are not mormon. Some people will not befriend you due to the religion thing. My son has managed to make some friends who are mormon. We keep it strictly for the kids though, as I myself have a hard time having anything in common with their parents.

~hows rush hour there am/pm? husband's job moving to slc by early 2012
Rush hour is better now that some new lanes and legacy hwy was opened. My husband travels about 20 to 30 min daily each way to SLC for work. The davis county schools are excellent which honestly is mostly the thing keeping me here. We love the recreational stuff, some of the people and social aspects not so much.

If you move north feel free to friend me.