Maybe moving to Utah

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

Well, it's likely that my family and I will be moving to Utah in the next 6 months or so. What can ya'll tell me about Utah in comparison to Colorado? Good areas to live, places to avoid, good schools, what to expect etc. My hubbys job will most likely be out of Salt Lake City but, we could live anywhere within a 50 mile radius of the city. Any suggestions would be of great help!

Thanks!
Psst

[Utah_Lefty]

1. Not sure how good I can compare to Colorado but I'll pass along some info.

First off I moved from Lakewood to the Salt Lake area in 1991. At that time I was renting a townhouse in Lakewood and found an almost identical one here. The difference in rent was substantial, if I recall correctly it was $395 here and $595 there. I'm not sure what you'd find now.

As far as other direct comparisons I'd say that Salt Lake is not as big/sprawling and the Denver area. I used to drive from Lakewood to Aurora quite frequently and it seemed like forever. Also you're closer to the recreation areas here, the ski resorts are not far at all.

As far as good areas to live there are many. If you're looking for nice walkable neighborhoods your best bet is the Avenues or 9th and 9th. Sugarhouse is also nice. The areas around the University of Utah are a good bet too, there is the Harvard/Yale neighborhood and the area above Foothill Drive. These are all within the city limits and would probably have some of the most expensive homes. Generally speaking the further west you go the less the houses cost, so areas like Rose Park, Glendale and Central City would have lower costing housing and a more diverse population.

The suburbs of Salt Lake County are about the same, west side costs less. So you would get more house for the money in South Jordan, Riverton and Herriman which are going through construction booms than you would in Sandy or Draper. I haven't included all of the neighborhoods, if you have any specific questions I can respond better.

As far as what to avoid everyone would probably have a different answer. For me the top place to avoid would be Utah County, it's about 40 miles south of downtown Salt Lake City and home of Brigham Young University. It certainly must be the reddest county in the state and overwhelmingly LDS. Also Davis County, which is just north of Salt Lake City is similar. I'm not saying they're bad places but I wouldn't care to live in either of them.

The public schools here have some of the largest class sizes in the nation. My own two kids had very different results so I can't say it's all bad or all good. Keep in mind you have to monitor their progress closely. I think since there are so many kids it's easier for them to fall through the cracks. Just my opinion.

I don't know if I've helped but would be glad to answer any other questions for you.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

2. We're in Colorado Springs right now

So, really red areas don't scare me off! LOL They just annoy me some days. Thank you for all of the great information. We've been looking at areas like Weber County, and other areas west of the city. The whole idea of relocating is still just so surreal right now. It's hard for me to do anything on it. If I have any more questions, I'll hit you up, thanks!

[klm55500]

25. i like pie

[on mango street]

19. Thanks for the info (realize this post is old)...I wanted to know about UT, too!

It was voted one of the best places to live, recently, and I was curious if the hype was true.

[klm55500]

26. not even close

[klm55500]

24. good info.

[Stainless]

3. Moving to Utah

Commuting in the Salt Lake Metro area is a nightmare. I would plan to try and find a place within a few miles of your work. You mentioned Weber County which is great if you don't have to commute to Salt Lake. Avoid Davis and Utah Counties. Definitely check back here when you know more.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

4. Thank you!

There won't be a daily commute into the city as hubby would be traveling several stores spread out from Boise, ID all the way to Grand Junction, CO and Washington, UT. Most of his work would be able to be done from the house, thankfully! How's the housing market out there?

[Utah_Lefty]

5. Here's a pretty good website to check...

http://www.utahrealestate.com/

It's sorted by county and after that you can limit your search anyway you want. It will give
you a pretty good idea what's available and what you can expect to pay.

I think it might be a good time to buy, there has been a house across the street from me that has been for sale for 7 or 8 months. I'm not sure about other areas though.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

6. Thanks

and welcome to DU! :party:

[klm55500]

29. thanks for the info

[klm55500]

28. terrible right now

[klm55500]

27. i can see why

[topaz_eyes]

7. I lived in Salt Lake for a while.

I loved it. I loved the people, the culture, the night life; the beautiful, well stocked library; the commuter rail; the bike paths, the coffee shops, the open minds.... I intend to move back as soon as I can. It's a great progressive city as long as you're in Salt Lake City proper, and not in the far-flung reaches of the SLC metro area. It's not San Francisco, but to this small-town Utah girl, it's close enough.

I don't know what you're looking for, but if it were me, I would live close to the city center, in the Avenues, Sugarhouse, or near the University. I lived across the street from Liberty Park and loooovvved it. If you get very far out of the city it's just like Utah County, all Mormons. If you're not Mormon, that would be a hard way to raise kids. Non-mormon kids have a hard time being accepted by their peers in heavily Mormon areas. I know about that from personal experience. However, if you are Mormon, you might be very happy in the suburbs around Salt Lake. But keep in mind, it's boring out there.

I can't tell you much about real estate prices because I was a renter, or about schools because I don't have kids. In general, Utah has good schools. I can tell you that my cousins who moved from Utah to Colorado when we were kids found themselves about a year or two ahead of their classmates in Colorado. Of course, they moved to the small town of Paonia, which is I assume is not typical of your state? Interesting town, Paonia. :hippie: :smoke: :silly: <<< (contingent of Paonians)

[Kitty Herder]

8. I agree. Would worry about the kids in a Mormon area.

I was raised Mormon in Utah, so it wasn't a problem for me, but I saw what happened to other kids who weren't. If you're not Mormon, and you move to a predominantly Mormon area, your kids could have it rough. The other kids will be nice to them until they realize they can't convert them. Then the gloves will come off. I had a friend who was literally scared for his life as a kid growing up in a Mormon area because the Mormon kids kept telling him there would be a war between the Mormons and the unbelievers(who were greatly outnumbered).

The worst thing that I saw happen to my non-Mormon peers, is that they were labeled as bad kids (by teachers more than anyone) because they weren't LDS, and so they believed it and became bad kids, drinking, doing drugs, and getting bad grades. Make sure your kids know they're good kids even if they don't believe the same things most of the other kids believe. They'll need all the support they can get.

If I had kids, I wouldn't raise them here in Utah, unless I lived in Salt Lake City(the parts mentioned in previous posts), or Park City. Those places wouldn't be so bad.

Of course, if you are LDS, this isn't a problem. And I hope I haven't offended you. That's not my intent.

Wow. I hope I haven't put you off Utah entirely. It really is a great place. But there are things you should be aware of.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

9. You guys are the greatest!

No, we aren't LDS, so all of that advice was something that I never would have thought about. Thank you!

[Kitty Herder]

10. Don't mention it!

Glad to help. It truly do hope I haven't put you off Utah. It's great!

Maybe I'll see you around!:hi:

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

11. Love your name!

For awhile there we kept taking in pregnant cats. For some reason, people would find "lost kitties" and bring them to us and 3 times in a row they ended up pregnant! For awhile we had 9 cats, mostly kittens and hubby would joke that we were giving up our jobs to become cat herders.

These days however, we have more dogs. We decided that it was time to get a dog and I adopted from the local animal shelter. I adopted an adult, female, Great Pyrenees/Husky mix and low and behold, you got it, she was pregnant too! One night 8 puppies just showed up! Now we have 3 very large dogs (7 month old pups are 75 pounds already!) and we're down to one cat. Here are me and my "puppies":

[Kitty Herder]

12. Your dogs are beautiful!

I love huskies.

I chose my name after herding my cats away from each other, one out the front door and one out the back, for like the hundredth time that day. They wouldn't stop fighting. Hey, at least I don't have nine!

Although, when I was a kid growing up on a farm, we frequently had as many as fifteen cats.

[totodeinhere]

13. It can get really smoggy in SLC.

You can get some pretty nasty air inversions there which will trap a lot of smog. I live in Nevada but I often travel to Salt Lake and while I am there I can just smell all of the gunk in the air. Whereas in Elko where I live the air is very clean.

[Vet31203]

14. Loved SLC

travelled there quite a bit when I was in the service.
Hopefully we can turn it blue in November.

William J Meyers for House 2008

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

15. OK, so one more time

Where are the most diverse areas of the state? Other than SLC? Are the ski areas more diverse? I'm just concerned because diversity has always been important to me for my kids sake. It just seems by the research that I've done that Utah is the whitest place on earth?! We are not LDS, or any organized religion and I'm concerned about what my young teenaged boys will face when they go to school. I have one son who is very acive in activities like forensics (speech not CSI), theatre and football. He's very outgoing and has a raw talent in performance arts. I would like to continue that with him and have both of my boys get a well rounded education. Am I asking for too much in Utah?

[Utah_Lefty]

16. Some info on public schools

Here is a link which provides some detail on public schools in Utah. West High School This specifically points to West High School in Salt Lake City, which probably has the most diverse student-body in the state. In addition to being ethnically diverse the boundaries include some of the wealthiest areas in the city and some of the poorest as well. It also is one of a few schools which has the International Baccalaureate program.

You can use the link to check different schools in every county in the state. Just click on counties at the top of the page, not too hard to figure out. The counties which contain most of the ski resorts, Summit, Wasatch, are not very diverse at all. I hope this helps.

[Kitty Herder]

17. Yeah, I think the ski areas, especially Park City are more diverse.

Moab is pretty diverse. Price thinks it is, but it's not. It's just a red-neck heaven where people happen to have Greek and Italian names.

[UtahHouseFly]

18. Have you considered Tooele County?

The Tooele exit(exit 99) on I80 is only about 18miles from downtown SLC and it has a very low LDS population so you won't need to worry about your children being targeted.

Also, you can get a lot more home/land for your money. It sounds like you have lots of animals so a little more land might be handy. I have 4 dogs and I'm very happy I moved from Holladay to Tooele.

Go to http://www.utahhousefly.com if you're still looking for homes.


FYI-Diversity in Utah might be a tough one though.

Good luck!

[yeswedid08]

20. Suggestions

I suggest moving to the kaysville/layton area, especially the latter if looking for cheaper houses. If any of your family is of college age I suggest attending Weber State University, it is filled with professional and helpful Professors and is host to a nascent,but dedicated activist movement.

[Jessielynn]

21. Did you end up moving to Utah and What was your experience

We are thinking of moving to Utah with similar concerns. We would move from California where we have been for the last two years, prior to that we were/are from Vancouver, Canada.

[helderheid]

22. She is here! :) We've hung out a couple times!

I'm happy to help you if I can. I'm a Realtor and property manager here. When are you thinking of moving?

There are some GREAT liberal neighborhoods. My favorite is Sugarhouse.

:hi:

[klm55500]

23. Worse than Colorado

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TeeYiYi]

31. So, what part of Utah did you choose?...

Just curious about where you ended up and your experience so far re: diversity ...

TYY...who is currently residing in the Marmalade District of SLC.