Possible move to Utah

[SLK1]

Not sure if anyone can help me here, but we just found out we might be moving to the Salt Lake City area. Can anyone shed some light on where would be a good place to live - schools are very important, and we are not LDS, so would prefer maybe an "LDS Lite" area. We can afford a house in the $600,000 to $800,000 range - at least five bedrooms. Oh, and I really, really want mountain views!!!

 

[twoDISNEYfans]

hi! i dont live in the salt lake area but my brother and sister-in-law live in provo about 20 min outside downtown slc- all i can say is it is very beautiful there and there is a mountain view EVERYWHERE!!!! Downtown salt lake has something called gateway center that is a shopping area and has a great kids museum- the gardens area outside the mormon tabernacle is gorgeous! i dont know much about price range of houses but my sister-n-law had mentioned that like everywhere else in the country you can get a great house at a great price- also utah is matching the 8K from the government for downpayment assistance. good luck with everything!

 

[MinnieVanMom]

Why not live in Park City just up Parley's canyon and only 20 minutes from SLC. The air is so much cleaner and it is not as LDS as SLC. We go to the airport in SLC, only a short 3.75 hours from our house!

The air is awful during an inversion but the area is pretty and they have culture not found in my serious LDS town!

Good luck with the move. And "keep it sweet"

 

[williamson_ja]

I grew up in the Salt Lake area. My parents still live there. What you want to remember is that the better part of town is the East side of town. The closer you are to the mountains, the better it is going to be. Park City is a great choice for a non-lds community, but you are going to pay twice as much for a house there. You could get a pretty nice house on the east side of town for that much money, but only a basic home in park city. Also, do you want a view "of" the mountains or a view "from" the mountains? A lot of the nicer homes in town are on the hillside of the mountain itself overlooking the valley. Hope that helps.
If you want a non-lds town, don't move to Provo. lol. I am lds, and even we laugh about how churchy Provo is.

 

[CandCMommy]

I've lived in Salt Lake for over 5 years and love it. I also am not LDS. My DH and I recently purchased a house in South Jordan in a community called Daybreak. It's a master planned community with a lake, community center, pool-things like that and the houses are modeled off of houses in the Northeast. If that's something you would be intersted in you might want to check it out. Like with most cities I can tell you where you do NOT want to live. PM me if you have any specific questions. Otherwise, I would check out Park City, Draper, South Jordan, Holladay, and Millcreek areas.

If you are looking to stay LDS lite I would not move to Utah County-very heavy LDS population. That's cities such as Provo, Orem, Lehi, American Fork, etc. Good luck on your move!

 

[Emmabean2000]

I spent 14 years living in Utah, mostly due to my parents moving there when I was 6 years old. Though I could not imagine living there again, it is a beautiful place, with an ideal climate. You get the snow in the winter, but very rarely the below zero temps. Salt Lake itself is more "liberal" than other areas of the state, typically with a democrat as Mayor. However, what Salt Lake considers "liberal" is what most states probably consider conservative. For the money you are describing, you should get a nice house. Just spend some time driving and looking at the areas. Park City is beautiful, but the commute may get old after awhile, especially in the snowy season. Millcreek Canyon area is quite nice as well. Be prepared for the liqueur laws, and you will be just fine!

 

[DisneyDizzy]

We just moved to Salt Lake City two weeks ago. So far, we really like it. We actually are living in South Jordan, in a development called Daybreak. We are renting because we only had two weeks to find a home. I can see being here a few years but we will probably save to move to something with more land. We're country people at heart.

I don't have much advise since I haven't been here long. I just wanted to say that even though it can be a bit of a culture shock, so far we have loved it. We are not LDS, either and I will admit to being concerned because people kept telling us stories about how we would be pestered to death or ignored all together. I will say in the two weeks we've been here, it has been a non issue.

We've met nothing but nice people since we got here and everyone has been very supportive.

Best of luck with your move. It really is very beautiful. Oh, and we LOVE Park City. We spent this past weekend up there!

 

[DisneyDizzy]

I've lived in Salt Lake for over 5 years and love it. I also am not LDS. My DH and I recently purchased a house in South Jordan in a community called Daybreak. It's a master planned community with a lake, community center, pool-things like that and the houses are modeled off of houses in the Northeast. If that's something you would be intersted in you might want to check it out. Like with most cities I can tell you where you do NOT want to live. PM me if you have any specific questions. Otherwise, I would check out Park City, Draper, South Jordan, Holladay, and Millcreek areas.

If you are looking to stay LDS lite I would not move to Utah County-very heavy LDS population. That's cities such as Provo, Orem, Lehi, American Fork, etc. Good luck on your move!

Gee, we could be neighbors! I'm in Founders Park area.

 

[DisneyNic]

If you want a non-lds town, don't move to Provo. lol. I am lds, and even we laugh about how churchy Provo is.

LOL.....this was going to be my only piece of advice!! I would definetly suggest staying out of Utah County. Anywhere else, you should be fine.

 

[EthansMom]

We lived in Utah for a few years just 5 years ago. You should be able to find a decent house for that price range.

I found most of the people in Utah to be very nice. But my friends there (in our playgroup) who had older children said that they often had social problems in the schools because their children weren't LDS. For instance, a child would have a birthday party and only the LDS children were invited, leaving out only 2 kids from the class. Also, Utah spends some of the least $$$ per child in their public schools of any state. School fees (book "rentals", sports participation fees, etc..) can run expensive. If we'd stayed until our kids started school, we would have put them in private school.

 

[CandCMommy]

We just moved to Salt Lake City two weeks ago. So far, we really like it. We actually are living in South Jordan, in a development called Daybreak. We are renting because we only had two weeks to find a home. I can see being here a few years but we will probably save to move to something with more land. We're country people at heart.

I don't have much advise since I haven't been here long. I just wanted to say that even though it can be a bit of a culture shock, so far we have loved it. We are not LDS, either and I will admit to being concerned because people kept telling us stories about how we would be pestered to death or ignored all together. I will say in the two weeks we've been here, it has been a non issue.

We've met nothing but nice people since we got here and everyone has been very supportive.

Best of luck with your move. It really is very beautiful. Oh, and we LOVE Park City. We spent this past weekend up there!

That's crazy that with this big board of people we are practically neighbors! We bought in Eastlake one block from the lake and we absolutely love it! I can't wait until they get the retail and restaurants in so we can walk there with the family. Welcome to Utah, neighbor!

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack!

 

[Lilo'sMommy]

I have lived here in Utah for most of my life, and agree with most of the comments already made. Utah County is definitely the most conservative part of the state, but the rest of the Wasatch Front will surprise you. You should have no problem finding a great house for the price you are looking for. I would reccommend looking up in the Avenues area of Salt Lake or Millcreek or the Harvard/Yale part of Salt Lake.
I think you will be surprised about some of the great things Salt Lake has to offer, and I ave a link to a great city guide. If you want to PM me I will be happy to give it to you.
P.S.- The crazy liquor laws we had here have recently changed, so hopefully that stigma will be gone soon too!

 

[SLK1]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice! I thought it was a shot in the dark to ask such a thing on the DISboards, but I was very wrong! I have been playing around a bit on realtor.com and a few other boards...someone said Herriman was a good city. I will also check out the others too. I'm perfectly willing to move; the rest of the family is totally against it, even DH - and he's the one with the job!!! We will see what happens. I think in this economy, you're lucky to have a job!