North Salt Lake- pros and cons (Salt Lake City, Sandy: real estate, apartments, renting)

[LibraryGirlSLC]

My husband and I are moving to Salt Lake City next June and are trying to figure out the best place to purchase a home. He is a lawyer who will be practicing in downtown Salt Lake City. We are not Mormon and have a seven year old son, so we are looking for an area that is accepting of non-Mormons and has an excellent school district. What do you think of North Salt Lake City? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks!

[dcisive]

Uh....North Salt Lake? Well it's got a refinery to the North of it, the Great Salt Lake to the West of it (which stinks plenty of the time) and to the South of it is one of the worst neighborhoods in all of Utah for crime. You may want to rethink that move my friend. If you want a better choice think perhaps about Sugarhouse, a 10 minute drive from downtown but very family friendly and far less crime and issues. The further south and east the better in that regard but your commute time increases. Do some more homework and think "EAST" of Downtown for the better choice.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

What is your budget? That would help in recommending areas although dcisive has given you great advice.

[rallybug]

Unlike dcisive, I live in NSL

The refinery is to the south-west, Great Salt Lake to north-west, both can produce a smell but only a couple of times a year, along with some dust from the gravel pit to the south, although the part of that that used to affect the city the most is now filled in and new apartments being built on it (rather them than me!), and even then it only really affect people like us at the extreme south end of NSL.

Orchard Elementary (on Center St) has a very good rating, there's very little crime - I mostly see the NSL police cars parked up at the Chevron on South Orchard/Center St getting coffee - dcisive is probably talking about the Rose Park area of SLC (the center of which is about 5 miles from the center of NSL, and not contiguous).

Newer houses are up the benches on Eagleridge Drive area, but I'd try stay away from them, partly due to the climb up which can be a pain in winter, but also there are a small section of houses east of us up the hill that are slowly sliding down it So try looking in the flatter areas (pretty much South Orchard Drive and west.

Commute is around 12-15 minutes to South Temple in SLC - add or subtract to that depending on where the job is.

Streets north of 100 N also have Bountiful street names, up until around 600 N (3500 S in Bountiful) as the two cities are contiguous.

[LibraryGirlSLC]

Thank you for the suggestions! Our budget is between $350-$450,000. We did some house hunting in the Avenues, Yalecrest, and Sugar House as well, and I thought the neighborhoods were charming and walkable. North Salt Lake is an option (around Eastridge Drive) because it is only 10 minutes from downtown and you get a lot more house for your money. The views on the hill were nice and the backyards were incredible. Obviously, these are not benefits if your house is sliding down the hill, as rallybug suggested.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by LibraryGirlSLC

Thank you for the suggestions! Our budget is between $350-$450,000. We did some house hunting in the Avenues, Yalecrest, and Sugar House as well, and I thought the neighborhoods were charming and walkable. North Salt Lake is an option (around Eastridge Drive) because it is only 10 minutes from downtown and you get a lot more house for your money. The views on the hill were nice and the backyards were incredible. Obviously, these are not benefits if your house is sliding down the hill, as rallybug suggested.

If your budget is between $350,000 and $450,000, you could probably buy two houses in North Salt Lake -- seriously. I'd say the Avenues would be a great fit for you. The homes in the "Lower Avenues" are older than those in the "Upper Avenues" but the area is, on the whole, very desirable and would be within your budget. Also keep in mind that your husband could easily commute to work in under a half hour from a number of locations, including Holladay and Cottonwood Heights, both of which are nice areas.

[LibraryGirlSLC]

Thanks, Katzpur. I did notice that the $400,000 North Salt Lake are really, really nice (like crazy nice) whereas $400,000 in the Avenues will buy you a house with loads of character but less significantly less space and amenities. One question that has not really been answered yet in the thread is whether or not a non-Mormon family would feel accepted and comfortable in the Eagle Ridge area. I spent half a day in Sandy/ South Jordan and knew it was not for us (it had a bit of a Truman show vibe though the houses were lovely). Any thoughts on that?

[skibarbie]

I don't live in NSL but do know someone who is trying to get out of there....they are a younger couple, early 30's with a new baby and an 8 year old. They both bought in the area when they were single because it was cheap. They met, they dated, they married, got pregnant etc....were able to unload her house after coughing up about 5K and are resigned to stay in his until "things" get better. From what they have shared with me, they do not like NSL at all as a young family that is not LDS but have not come right out and said that but I get the gist of it.
Both have also realized that the refineries really are not something they care to live near, especially after the big explosion a few years back.
As Katz and D explained in the comments above, there are way better places to live and still have an easy commute to downtown too.
Search some of Katz's posts about living in the Harvard/Yale area. Most of those houses are quite close to one another and small on the square footage too. I love those big trees and the non-tract housing feel though.
Look at the Aves again. You can get a decent sized home and yard up the if you look hard enough and are patient. The views from 11th Ave Park are fantastic and the homes up that way have the same views.
Besides Sugarhouse, look at the 15th and 15th neighborhood too...
Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Olympus Cove and Good ole East Millcreek aren't bad either. I would say that they are all very family friendly and non are "super" LDS either. You may not get as much "house" as you would in NSL but do you really want to clean, heat and cool more than 3000 square feet for 3-4 people anyway?
It may be worth renting for the first year to get a feel for the entire area before taking the plunge but,,,,,prices are finally starting to rise again.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by LibraryGirlSLC

Thanks, Katzpur. I did notice that the $400,000 North Salt Lake are really, really nice (like crazy nice) whereas $400,000 in the Avenues will buy you a house with loads of character but less significantly less space and amenities.

Well, as they say, the three most important factors in choosing where to live are location, location, and location. I honestly can't imagine your family fitting in in North Salt Lake.

One question that has not really been answered yet in the thread is whether or not a non-Mormon family would feel accepted and comfortable in the Eagle Ridge area. I spent half a day in Sandy/ South Jordan and knew it was not for us (it had a bit of a Truman show vibe though the houses were lovely). Any thoughts on that?

I'm afraid I really don't know much about the Eagle Ridge area, so I'll leave it up to someone else to comment on it. Sandy and South Jordan are pretty varied. I can understand the Truman Show vibe coming from parts of those areas, but I don't think it would be that way in all parts of both areas. Speaking very generally, I think your chances of fitting in as a non-LDS family would probably be better the closer to downtown you end up. In other words, the suburbs are more heavily LDS than the areas closer in to town. Still, it's really hard to say, and it's almost just the luck of the draw.

For instance, my husband and I are LDS. About 31 years ago, we bought a home in the Harvard-Yale area, which is just two or three miles southeast of downtown Salt Lake City. It turned out to be the biggest mistake of our life. I don't really know how many of our neighbors were also LDS and how many weren't, but I can tell you that I've never run across such a bunch of snobs in my life. We stayed there six months -- yes, even though we'd bought the house -- and ended up taking a loss on it in order to get out. When we left there, we moved out to Cottonwood Heights, about fifteen miles southeast of downtown Salt Lake. We've been here ever since. Cottonwood Heights would probably qualify as "the suburbs," so you'd maybe expect a greater percentage of LDS people here. On my street, there are twelve households. Of those, five are practicing Mormons and seven are not. One of the non-LDS families is Catholic, one is Muslim and I don't even know about the others. A realtor friend of mine told me that Cottonwood Heights is thought of in the industry as being "non-LDS friendly" (although protocol forbids realtors presenting any specific areas in that way). I really can't say enough good things about Cottonwood Heights. I'm a native Salt Laker and have lived in a number of Salt Lake neighborhoods in my lifetime. Of all of them, I prefer Cottonwood Heights.

I honestly don't think religion is going to be a huge issue. Most people in the Salt Lake area are going to be pretty open-minded and don't care all that much whether their neighbors worship in the same way they are.

[LibraryGirlSLC]

Katzpur and skibarbie, I really appreciate your feedback. It sounds like we may be better off looking east than north.

Real estate seems to be in demand closer to Salt Lake as well, so I imagine that homes retain their value pretty well in the Aves and Sugar House. Katzpur, I will make sure to steer clear of the Harvard-Yale snobs.