Considering a move from So Cal to UT (Provo, Sandy: rent, home)

[craftytam]

Hello! My husband and I are in our mid 40s with 3 kids (11, 13 & 19). The younger two are both in middle school and the older is in college. My husband is self-employed and I am a SAHM. We have lived in Southern California our whole lives, but are considering moving.

We are non-LDS and have spoken with friends in UT who have assured us that this is not an issue. Having lived in So Cal all our lives, we are definitely "weather wimps" and realize that this will be a major transition for us!

We are taking a driving trip to UT during Thanksgiving week to get a lay-of-the-land. We'll be traveling up Hwy 15 and plan to make stops along the way. We figure we will get maybe just above SLC before we will turn around and head back home.

Are there any suggestions on cities to research? We've always lived in the suburbs, so I don't know think we want to live anywhere as large as SLC, but also don't know if we could handle a very small town either. I've been doing a lot of online research an am taking lots of notes, but there's nothing like first-hand experience.

Thank you for your help!

[hilgi]

We are from So Cal also, we have been here three years and love it. The snow takes getting used to but for the most part it is not bad, it is not like Big Bear, here it is a dryer snow, not the wet, harsh cold kind.

We first came to check it out in Nov of 08, this is a good time of year to get a feel for it. Most of the areas around SLC are suburbs, actually SLC isn't like a BIG city, you need to go way far out to get rural. They way I describe it is take Orange County, LA County and Ventura County , there are about 14 million people there. In 3 combined, larger sized metro areas here, we have about 1.5 million people.

But you still have all of the things you need and shopping.

I live in a master planned community and love it but there are a lot of great areas to check out, look at Cottonwood Heights, Sandy, Draper, South Jordan (I am in Daybreak in South Jordan), West Jordan, Riverton and further out less populated Herriman.

Check out google maps to see the layout of the county.

[J_Holley]

I live about 30 minutes North of SLC in an awesome town called Syracuse. I love it here, great people, awesome schools and just an overall nice place. Its about 15 minutes from Ogden too. So right in the middle of two larger cities.

[Calibelle]

Originally Posted by craftytam

Hello! My husband and I are in our mid 40s with 3 kids (11, 13 & 19). The younger two are both in middle school and the older is in college. My husband is self-employed and I am a SAHM. We have lived in Southern California our whole lives, but are considering moving.

We are non-LDS and have spoken with friends in UT who have assured us that this is not an issue. Having lived in So Cal all our lives, we are definitely "weather wimps" and realize that this will be a major transition for us!

We are taking a driving trip to UT during Thanksgiving week to get a lay-of-the-land. We'll be traveling up Hwy 15 and plan to make stops along the way. We figure we will get maybe just above SLC before we will turn around and head back home.

Are there any suggestions on cities to research? We've always lived in the suburbs, so I don't know think we want to live anywhere as large as SLC, but also don't know if we could handle a very small town either. I've been doing a lot of online research an am taking lots of notes, but there's nothing like first-hand experience.

Thank you for your help!

I am from southern California, the Ventura county area, born and raised. I can tell you. Salt Lake city is NOT big, by any means, compared to what you are used to seeing in Southern Cali. In fact, most of the Salt Lake valley, is a giant mess of safe suburbs, and you won't feel like you are in a big city at all. Anywhere you choose in this valley, will not feel too big. If you are weather wimps, then don't go anywhere further north than North Ogden. Although North Salt Lake, and above, tend to get a lot more snow than cities below it. As for cities I recommend, it would really depend what your budget is, and if you plan to buy or rent first. Also on what your husband does for work. Because Utah, Salt Lake, and Weber counties are the place to be for jobs right now. Smaller towns like Cedar City, St. George, and Logan, do not have a ton of higher paying job opportunities, especially if your household depends on one income.

I can tell you, stay away from Magna, west valley city, most of Taylorsville, Glendale, parts of Ogden, Roy, and Clearfield. A general rule... anything that is east of 700 east on the grid system, tends to be a good area.

Areas I like in the Salt Lake Valley (again, I don't know what kind of properties you are interested in or your budget), are Sandy, Draper, Cottonwood Heights, Sugarhouse, Holladay, and East Millcreek. We bought our first home here in the west side of Draper, and we love it here. I am more of an east side girl, if we get equity in our home, we would like to sell and move closer to the east side and the mountains, and have hiking trails in our back yard. But it's not always possible to buy in those areas as a first time home owner, so we will work our way towards that.

We love the Logan area. The issue is jobs. Not many jobs there It is SUPER cold there though, lots more snow than further south on the wasatch front.

[mlb]

Moved from Chatsworth, CA 22 years ago. Husband was an LA native.

Job situation is getting better - but it's best to have one before moving here. Particularly if you have kids. Salaries are much lower - but cost of living is as well.

I think suburban Salt Lake - east or westside is a good fit for any escaping Californian.

I have noted, however, in the past year how traffic has increased here... I live in Sandy and the traffic during the holidays reminds me alot of the San Fernando Valley.

[TCAS007]

We reached our limit of Californians. Sorry.

[irman]

Hah, my wife attended UCPU
University of California at Provo Utah ...

[Aerorick]

What do your friends already in Utah say? Where do they live? It would probably help if you mentioned what your self-employed husband does. Have you considered what effect a move to Utah as non-LDS could have on a couple of middle-schoolers? Not that it would make any differance. But changing schools while in middle school can be hard enough on kids even if your in the same city. There seems to be quite a few people posting from Southern California with surprizingly similar generalities about their backround asking about a move to Utah. My only suggestion is to DO your homework on the areas as you've been doing. Utah isn't like moving to Ohio or Iowa.