Considering relocating from CA

[hilgi]

We moved from CA last September and we love it. If you want to find a great place for kids check out Daybreak in South Jordan, they are building new apartments here that will be open in September. http://www.thecrossingatdaybreak.com/ Or there are plenty of condo's and houses for rent from $1,300 and up.

We are big on crime avoidance also and this place has been great, the only thing we ever hear about are people who leave their garages open all night sometimes get a couple things taken but that is rare. Kids leave bikes out by the street and they are still there in the morning, it is cool to see.

Don't worry about the driving, people drive slow here compared to So Cal, they do keep going after a light turns red but in the winter if it is icy, that may be a good thing. If you get used to the slower pace of life here, the driving is not bad.

It is a much younger demographic here so you will fit right in.

[eggalegga]

Originally Posted by 5sharps

...BEWARE THOUGH OF THE DRIVING HABITS:
Green light means go, yellow means go faster and red means keep on going. THEY DONT STOP OR MUCH LESS SLOW DOWN. Daily, I saw the local "UTARDS" run red lights. No wonder why they have 'no fault insurance'. Also unlike the green arrow we have here in CA for the left turn, the Utards keep turning left even after it turns to a green light, which they are "suppose" to yield to oncoming traffic.......

Utards! I haven't heard that in ages. Thanks for the laugh. And those of us Utahns who might normally stop after the green arrow has gone out, choose to keep going so the Utah driver behind us doesn't rear end us.

[dcisive]

Sorry but I agree more with 5Sharps than most of the others. I absolutely detest the drivers here. They either drive with a death wish or as if they are constipated. More often they just don't MOOOOOVE when the light changes, they daudle which makes me nuts. I can be halfway to the next light when the rest of traffic has barely gotten through the previous intersection. Oh and you have to LOVE kids.....LOT"S of em, or they'll make you crazy. I suppose I've been crazy now for some years as I stay here. Air quality is a fleeting thing at best as some have pointed out. If it's just rained you're good, if not, well you're NOT. Due to the burgeoning enrollment of kids in the already highly overburdened school systems here, plan on ever increasing taxes as they need more schools. I'll leave it at that, but there is more...........

[teraval]

Originally Posted by xMissPoisonGirlx

Hello,
My husband and I are in our mid/late 20's and we considering relocating. We are both currently living in Orange County, CA. We are looking for very specific things and we are thinking UT may be the place for us but we are not 100% sure. I was hoping to get some feedback about the state. We also had been looking at CO but like UT a bit more. We are planning a trip to visit this year also.
Im going to tell you what we are looking for and what we are looking to avoid so maybe residents of UT can tell us if they think this would be the right or wrong place for us. I apologize in advance if anyone is offened by my preferances but it would be hard for me to tell you what Im looking for without expressing them. Sorry if my preferances dont match your own.
My husband and I are looking for a safe community with friendly people and low crime rates. We are looking for an area with well behaved children and teenagers (parents who take an interest in raising their kids with manners). We are looking for an affordable place to rent/buy apartments/homes. We are looking to be around other faith-filled/religious people (we are Christian but any religion is fine). We are looking for an area with a low or decent unemployment rate. We are looking for a place in which it is affordable enough that with two working people we can afford an apartment in a nice area even with just average jobs. We prefer a suburb area that is within 20 minutes driving distance to the city.
What we are NOT looking for is a place that is strongly unreligious or pro gay marraige or pro abortion. We dont want a place with a very high unemployment rate or very high cost of living. We dont want to live in an area with high crime or drugs. Weather and outdoor activities will not be a deciding factor in where we move, as other things are more important to us.
Based on what we are looking to be surrounded by and the type of people we would like to be among would you say UT would be a good match?
Can any UT residents tell us personally what they think the main Pros and Cons are of living/moving there?
Thanks to everyone in advance for your honest suggestions!

Hi,

I live in Kaysville, which is about 20-25 minutes North of downtown SLC. The Mormon presence is strong here according to the stats but it's not in your face. I am not Mormon, nor do I profess to be Christian, but I was raised in a very religious household which in turn taught me a degree of respect a lot of people lack these days. If you're looking for a nice, quiet suburban type of area that is still located within driving distance of anything you would need, check it out. You could find jobs anywhere from SLC to Ogden and you're still centrally located. I would also recommend Centerville as I've lived there before. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[xMissPoisonGirlx]

Quick question....how dangerous exactly is the air quality? I have been doing some reading and it has been said that the air can be the worst in the nation and can cause respiratory problems even resulting in death. I thought the smog in L.A. was bad. I have allergies and dont want respirtory problems. Somthing about pollution getting trapped by the high mountains and being stuck in cold air low to the ground. Not sure exactly how this works but just how dangerous is it??? Also I am a person who prefers warmer weather. 40 to 80 degrees. I dont really like 95 or 100 degree weather either. I know living in the snow would be a huge change for me. Im willing to do it if there is enough pros of moving there. If I am a warm weather type person who likes wearing tank tops and enjoys a breeze and sunshine is this an awful choice for me? Will I have to bundled up head to toe 6 months out of the year? Has anyone that has come from CA to UT had problems dealing with the change?? UT sounds like a wonderful place to live. The air and weather are the main worries I have. Also the job market as it seems like there are lots of people and maybe not enough jobs.

[5sharps]

I was a mild winter, all the locals even said so, at least those at Hill AFB.

Air quality in OC/LA has gotten better. Again when it blew in the North SL and Ogden area, we at the Commissary had many people out sick with respiratory illnesses. There were days this WINTER that KSL and Fox News asked people not to drive or go outside as the air quality was so bad! As far as driving, its not good, you have to be very defensive. We in Ca. have for the most part have crowded fwys, and we do pay attention.

Utah very open and no cell phones laws, so the locals dont use an earpiece to drive. As far as red light runners just wait and look both directions before crossing.

In the low of winter I was out walking in shorts and shirt, the altitude is high and the sun is very warm even at 22 degrees. I rarely wore a jacket, just a t-shirt, the locals thought I was nutz. The summer will get hot.

Daybreak area is nice. Ivory Homes are nice! Overall majority of people are very nice, more so then, CA. Saw little to no graffiti.

If you decide to relo there, go visit the local Wal-Mart in the morning and then again in the evening. See if you have the same class of people shopping, ie: Mission Viejo and Irvine to Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

And not to worry but: Wasatch fault is located in the middle of northern Utah, just to the east of the Great Salt Lake, and is in fact one of the largest and most active normal fault in the world. It however has not caused any large earthquakes since pioneer settlement in Utah. 80% of Utah's population near here.

[hilgi]

Originally Posted by xMissPoisonGirlx

Quick question....how dangerous exactly is the air quality? I have been doing some reading and it has been said that the air can be the worst in the nation and can cause respiratory problems even resulting in death. I thought the smog in L.A. was bad. I have allergies and dont want respirtory problems. Somthing about pollution getting trapped by the high mountains and being stuck in cold air low to the ground. Not sure exactly how this works but just how dangerous is it??? Also I am a person who prefers warmer weather. 40 to 80 degrees. I dont really like 95 or 100 degree weather either. I know living in the snow would be a huge change for me. Im willing to do it if there is enough pros of moving there. If I am a warm weather type person who likes wearing tank tops and enjoys a breeze and sunshine is this an awful choice for me? Will I have to bundled up head to toe 6 months out of the year? Has anyone that has come from CA to UT had problems dealing with the change?? UT sounds like a wonderful place to live. The air and weather are the main worries I have. Also the job market as it seems like there are lots of people and maybe not enough jobs.

We lived our whole lives in CA and we are much happier here than in CA. In the winter when it is real cold we get inversions (smog trapped in the valley). Our son is asthmatic and we had to use his nebulizer at least 3 times a week in CA and we have only used it a handful of times since we moved here 8 months ago.

The inversion looks bad but you really won't be outside much when it is cold enough for inversions, it is too cold for outside fun. I have noticed that on the "West Bench" it doesn't get up here as much as it does other areas, you can see it in the valley but I didn't feel it very often.

As far as getting used to the cold, it has been easy for me, I like the change in seasons, 80 degree Christmases got real old. My wife is a “California Girl” and she is not a fan of the cold but she got used to it fast. At first she was in hats, gloves, etc but other than real cold days (under 30) she got to the point of only bundling up on cloudy or windy days. It sounds funny but it is a dry cold, it is not the kind that goes right through you. We missed the main months of summer last year but we hear that it does hit 100 several days in summer but again it is dry. It hit 117 at my office in CA a couple years back so 100 sounds nice.

As far as jobs it is much better than CA but it is still not as good as it once was. I telecommute to my office in CA but I am also expanding here. It doesn’t “feel” like it does in CA, you see lots of building and not near as many empty stores etc. It is a much younger (age wise) state so the long-term economic prospects are MUCH better here than CA, this was one of the main things that brought me here.

Every night I ride around the Daybreak Lake and think how glad I am we moved here, it is a great place.