Pros and Cons - 4/23/2018

First of all I like a lot about Logan. I am of the prevailing faith but think that, as no doubt elsewhere, there is sometimes a confusion between culture and faith in both outsiders and locally-born and bred. I would study the faith and the culture separately. The drivers are cautious, usually not deliberately rude but sometimes focused in upon themselves, or maybe their passengers. Accidents are rather rare but some drivers do not signal, so be prepared for some thoughtless driving in that respect. Reactions can be very slow so you may have to wait for a couple of light changes to get onto the main street (Highway 89) from a side road, even with traffic lights. Highway 89 is Main Street to all intents and purposes and is also the main route to points north and south so there often tends to be heavy traffic. There are some good restaurants and staff are usually polite. People generally are of good will without always observing conventional courtesies. Don't expect much of "please" and "thank you" in private discourse but I have found that people may be quick to help if you're stuck in the snow etc which is great. The people are generally very honest; this is a great plus. Being a smallish town (50,000 is probably during term time at USU and 20,000 less during the summer break) it's hard to get much selection in the way of dvd recordings or books in Logan. "Hastings" was the best store for recordings and fairly good for new books but it closed its doors recently. There are stores for musical instruments but don't expect to buy a Hohner harmonica except in the key of C without having to send for it; in which case I would send for it by mail. There are some bookstores certainly but they cater for local tastes naturally. The best book store, a used book business, closed down some years ago so you might have a problem even buying anything by Dickens, Austen or Shaw. Be prepared to send for such things or go to Salt Lake City, the only city of any size in the state. People worship their children (almost) so they can be a bit spoiled - but actually pretty good considering or they turn out so. Women are held in high regard in a pc sense with all that involves. The average inhabitant is not a political person and in this sense tends to be very naive with regards to voting, most often, for anyone recommended by the GOP or unaware of the more crafty politicians. Many such candidates are hardly conservative politically, or at least seem to know and care little about the national Constitution. The courts are 'liberal' in a modern sense so it may be well to be prepared for injustice unless you are a protected species in liberalism. Restaurants are clean, the food good and the service usually courteous. There is a fairly wide choice for the size of the town and there are Italian, Mexican, Pacific island, Indian, Chinese and American cuisines and one or two buffets. Service at the grocery stores I have found to be excellent. Those who work there are generally very nice, some of the sweetest people I have ever come across anywhere, who will often anticipate your needs by asking if you need help. Logan has a very nice bus service ('award-winning' in fact) although the buses are not very frequent but running an hourly service to most local places, which is to say within Logan and as far north as Preston, Idaho. Employment, as has been said, is limited and it can also be difficult to obtain a tiler or help from some other trades as some of these seem to be few and busy. Education is standard; levels of learning are not all that high, sadly the same low standard as nationally or pretty close. There are a fair number of teenagers, for example, who are still having trouble reading, again a widespread problem nationally. Snow can be fairly heavy in winter, delivering up to two or three feet a day on occasion, and very cold. Logan has about as high (mostly higher) annual precipitation as anywhere in Utah. Musical tastes are conservative: church music and country mostly.

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Sperling's Best Places Review is somewhat misleadi - 7/20/2015

I've lived in Logan 5 years, was raised in SLC, Utah, moved to the recreational area of Bear Lake for 10 years and then to Logan in 2010, unknowingly and foolishly thinking I could get a job there, as there were none at Bear Lake after real estate tanked (other than making raspberry shakes). Everyone touts Logan as a growing job market and it is, if you only require 22 hours per week at minimum wage (call center) because that is what you will get no matter what type of college degrees you have because Logan (being the transient town it is) is inundated with college students and unemployed college graduates. Probably 50% of the population is students. If you can get a faculty job at USU you will be okay and those people add whatever diversity there is in Logan because otherwise it is a very closed Mormon community. The good jobs go to friends, family or neighbors of the already employed who live in their ‘Ward’ and they don’t take kindly to even ‘out of state’ Mormons. Mind you they are very nice to your face but to live amongst them with a need to make a living is a different story. They are more than happy to help you out, but expect you at church or to convert, otherwise you are discriminated against (that’s how I landed at Bear Lake, sucked up into the niceties of the community (they were SO NICE…)). They didn’t want me once I (a well informed Methodist uninterested in converting (and My how they tried, to the point of literally putting their foot in the door…not kidding)) moved there and after being laid-off, needing a job. Now I say my biggest personality fault is being Too Trusting. That move cost me a life and a career (luckily I was vested). I’m not complaining, I’ve lived amongst it my whole life, I was looking for a better one and believed their BS. It is just a hard learned fact and difficult for families with little kids because they too will be discriminated against. For example: We thought it was great that my 4yr old grandson had a playmate next door to me and expected attendance from his little invited friend to his/our family birthday party with a water slide/bounce house and such. Not Happening! It’s sad, this being his first bout with Mormon discrimination (luckily at 4 he probably didn’t realize it), and we live in a ’diverse’ neighborhood of Logan. Even though our kids were glad to have a good friend, their kids were more interested in quoting scriptures to us, (probably to gain acceptance thinking Everyone is Mormon). There is No exaggeration whatsoever in these comments, it is true to life happenings. As a Methodist I felt dumb because I didn’t know how to respond to whatever scripture they were quoting, but felt it was inappropriate to try to gain new friends that way. Utah is a right to work state so employers take advantage of staff and the bigger companies are known for their massive (usually yearly) layoffs. Herff-Jones lays off seasonally, ATK continuous threat, ICON closing, I was a victim of a Moore BCS (now RR Donnelly) layoff of over 390 people, with 20 years IT experience, now the only thing here for me is a call center job. However, at least there is someone here who will hire me, for which I am grateful. Logan has a lot of illegal immigrants (Hispanics) due to one large company that hires them and they get $12 p/hr regardless. I have known employers in Utah who pay these folks to come back and forth across the border with their friends in order to get cheap labor, one of the criteria on their application and to work there is “Do you speak Spanish?”. It Does affect the workforce in Logan The cost of living is better than SLC only because homes are priced about 30% lower, and rent is about 40% cheaper but wages don't even begin to compare to SLC, food is about the same as in SLC but gas is higher and utilities are higher because they are provided by Logan city. Grocery store sales tax is 9.6% - broken down by 6.6% for ‘Tax A’ and 3% for ‘Tax C’ – that’s a lot of tax on food. So figure 10% tax at the grocery store. Sperling’s weather review is totally wrong, far from being mild in any season. Logan is in Northern Utah, It Is Cold November thru April. A ‘dusting of Snow'? I think not. There is usually snow continuously on the ground during that time, 2 feet or more falling at once, the only reason it doesn’t snow sometimes is because it is Too Cold. Because it is a valley surrounded by mountains, very beautiful, but the air never goes anywhere, there is always an inversion in the winter, so the air quality is very poor. They just implemented emission control standards for cars 2 years ago. In the summer expect cooler than SLC weather, but it is a desert and July-September it stays in the 90’s (or higher) during the day and cools to about the 60’s at night, but it is very dry air so swamp coolers work great giving that extra added humidity. In the winter a lot of relocated people have problems with altitude sickness (avg. 5,000 ft), the dry air and dry heated homes causes nosebleeds, dry sinuses, headaches. We do have great individual seasons, however short with the exception of winter. The spring and fall, growing seasons are very short, however the mountains are close with a multitude of lakes, a couple of small ski resorts up to 8500 ft elevation and canyons and trails for hiking and recreating. So instead of driving 100 miles to recreate it is less than 50 and mostly within 10 miles because one of the Pros is you can drive from one end of Logan to the other in 15 minutes, including to the canyons. There are no freeways and within the last 10 years they have improved several north/south streets besides the highway to get you where you are going. So that is very nice (moving away from the SLC psycho freeway killers). The best thing I like is the weather is versatile enough to not make me crazy for too long of time and non-traffic. However the population changes, winter is students with crazy kid driving and ‘stupent attitude’ and summer they are replaced by retired snowbirds who house the multitude of student rental apts. with “inattentive, don’t know where I am going” drivers, so it always seems difficult to drive on the few ‘through’ streets Logan has. Forget about it when there is USU graduation or a big USU/BYU game – just stay home. If you are looking to buy a home in Logan there are a huge amount of battered rental homes, there is the city center which Should Be Historical but are a mish mash of ‘whatever’, ‘whoever’ decided to build there, shacks next to mansions, “the island” (that is popular for whatever reason) in a ravine below the dam between legs of the Logan river and newly developed suburban housing on the outskirts. Logan has a Very small amount of uniformity in building, suburbs are better for uniformity and quality because current builders have to follow UBC, any other areas, you’re on your own, no building codes followed ever and there are many a ‘crooked home’ in Logan by the river (or not) that buyers should steer clear of. Most of these older homes have had a tendency to sink due to the high water table or insufficient settling time. The Cliffside area usually houses diverse professionals and USU affiliates, nice homes built from 1975 on, some mediocre, some elegant. Diversity. It’s reputation is affluence but stable. I am retiring in 3 months and would like to move somewhere there is milder weather possibly Pacific Northwest with less discrimination. My son-in-law has a job interview in Houston Texas (which brought me to this website) even though they may want me to move there with them I don’t know if I could, I hear the Baptists are just as bad as the Mormons (I know my Baptist cousins are) and one summer living in the South Carolina heat was enough of that type of weather for me. Love it or leave it. Any out-of state mormon or non-mormon should leave it. You’ll be hating life as there is no real community for other faiths even though there are a couple of other faith churches in town compared to 6 or more LDS churches JUST On Campus. Get your education and move on.

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Safe, Scenic, Healthy, Performing Arts - 7/8/2014

Logan and Cache Valley provide a wonderful place to live. Crime is low. Look out the window and see a Mountain Range Wilderness Area to the East; look out the other window and see another wilderness area to the west. Bicycling, hiking, skiing, bird watching, hunting are all at hand, in their seasons. Good medical services and medical professionals at hand with excellent backup in Salt Lake City. Thanks to the School of Arts at the University, as well as other community programs, there is plenty of live theater and musical performances as well as visual arts production throughout the year. Probably the only down side is when we have a stagnant high pressure winter inversion and the pollution builds up to newsworthy levels for days or sometimes weeks at a time. Some escape to the adjacent mountains where the air is still clear and often warmer.

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weather - 10/22/2010

weather isn't bad

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Red air Day - 1/24/2010

Winters are horrible because of the inversion. A grey smog sits over the valley for the whole winter time blocking the views of the mountains and causeing you to be inside all the time. You also get more cold and sickness because of the bad air quality. Don't get me started on the public education here. I can't wait to move!!!

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Lots to like... - 9/16/2009

I moved here to attend Utah State University and ended up staying. I am originally from central NYS. I felt at home in Logan as soon as I arrived because it has a small town feel (even though it was and is much larger than my hometown). I am not a skier but life here would be more satisfying in the winter if I were. There are amazing outdoor recreation opportunities of all kinds here; rock climbing, kayaking, hiking, hunting, fishing, biking, etc. I have learned to love hiking here. There are a number of trails that vary in length and intensity. Some are disability-friendly. They also have a dog park (new and improving). Logan is a very conservative community with a growing diverse population. A large number of individuals that move here are from South America. I appreciate the diversity they bring, but not everyone here does which is hard. There is much to say about Logan. There is constant construction going on. Too many townhouses however! It has been said that Logan is one of the cities that has fared the best in this economic recession. TONS of young families with children. Cultural and education opportunities galore. A great place to live for families. Unfortunately, I am single and my family is back East. It can get pretty lonely for folks like me despite all of the beauty of the land and amenities. I am trying to move back East so I too can enjoy my family. :)

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a very good place to live - 7/27/2009

There is a river on the edge of town on which lovely homes have been built. As you drive by you swear this has got to be one of the nicest places in America to live. Everything is clean, people are friendly. I assume most are Mormon and ,as I am not, I expected a coolness. I was very mistaken. This is America as it once was. Industrious, law abiding, friendly, helpful. You've got a great town here.

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Logan UT - 2/14/2009

I moved here almost 40 years ago thinking it would be a great place to begin a career and then move on. Haven't left yet and never will. This has to be one of the best kept secrets in the USA. Lowest crime rate, lowest unemployment rate, among the top two or three for living the longest, marvelous outdoor recreation and scenic beauty, a top notch university, and more cultural arts activities than one can possibly participate in. An ideal place in which to live and raise a family and retire in!

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Cost of Living - 11/17/2008

Logan, Utah is a great place to live with respect to the cost of living. Salaries tend to be lower in Logan as compared to other parts of the country, but housing and other expenses also tend to be lower which makes affordable living very realistic.

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Logan is Safe. - 10/4/2008

Logan is Safe. That's one thing I really like about it.

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The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - 5/9/2007

THE GOOD - No matter where you live, you have breathtaking views almost 360 degrees. - Low crime - Good place to raise a family - Affordable place to live - Slower-paced life - Enough amenities to suffice for a city lover - Educational options - A handful of religious options other than LDS - The LDS make great neighbors: clean, quiet and nice. - Hiking and outdoor activities galore within minutes THE BAD - If your child isn't LDS they commonly get ostracized to some degree in public schools, even starting in 1st grade. - If you're not LDS, you literally have a neighbor assigned to proselytize you. - Jobs, though available, pay less than other places. THE UGLY - LDS controls politics, the courts, everything. You are truly at their mercy and, as with any area that's dominated with one affiliated group of people, they will side with their people. This is a BEAUTIFUL place and we would've stayed but the LDS factor was something we couldn't live with any longer. This is such a great place to live because of the Mormons and a place you can't tolerate because of the Mormons (if you're not Mormon). Even some of the Mormons we knew who were transplants from another state had a hard time fitting into the Utah Mormon culture. I wouldn't recommend anyone living here if they're not Mormon - there are so many horror stories we have from personal experience and from the other non-LDS people we knew.

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I promise... - 8/8/2006

If I move to Logan, I promise I won't tell anybody how great of a place it is, I'll just tell them where I live.

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Enough for many, lacking for some - 6/16/2006

Logan is nice because it's fairly small, but you have everything you need. 2 hospitals, a small mall, walmart and enough businesses and restaurants to satisfy basic needs. Having Utah State University at Logan's heart is a great intellectual addition, especially with the visually stunning new library just erected. There is a good sized group of international students at USU, and they hold various cultural events which adds some nice diversity to Logan. However, Logan is predominantly LDS (Mormon), and if you do not share the faith you might find Logan very "undiverse," even with the characteristics I mentioned above. During the summer Logan attracts senior citizens, and this brings high-quality shows and events to Logan. The climate tends to be about 5-10 degrees colder, on average, than Salt Lake City, and the inversion is a huge problem. On "red days," when the air quality levels are dismal enough, everyone is encourage to stop driving and take public transportation and asthmatics and elderly are cautioned. Given that the snow and cold weather can last almost into May, winter gets tiresome after awhile. However, things warm up nicely in the summer. Overall, Logan has enough to keep things interesting but not enough to stimulate those accustomed to "city living."

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I love it here. - 4/28/2006

I love Logan so much but I don't want to say too much because if everyone knew how great it is, they would all move here.

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Great Place to Live!! - 3/24/2006

Cache Valley is nestled in the rocky mountains of northern Utah. A community that offers it all including low crime rate and excellent schools. The next few years show a growing trend for economic growth. Housing costs are affordable. Varios employement opportunities exist. visit cachecountyliving.com for more information.

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Mountain Valley - 1/6/2006

It's a nice mountain valley!! Very beautiful in the spring time. Colorful fall leaves!! The winters can be very cold getting below zero (F) and the inversion can last for days.

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