do your homework!
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7/10/2006
I have lived in utah for 38 of my 40 yrs, mostly in provo/orem but also in Salt Lake City. I think if you are planning on moving to Utah you need to be aware of what you are getting into. Utah has a lot to offer by way of outdoor recreation. The housing prices are somewhat low but recently have really taken off. Also many careers/jobs seem to not pay as much as they do outside of the state but I think maybe living costs are somewhat less. The big factor here as you may guess is religion. The vast majority of Utah's population is LDS or Mormon. There seems to be a big distinction between well to do neighborhoods and those that are low income, as far as their acceptance of non LDS people. The upper class areas I think, tend to be more aware and concerned if you are not a "member", while the more poor areas seem to be less interested in what you are. The church is involved in many buisness's in the state in various ways (directly or indirectly).The majority of the community & state leaders are LDS as well so there is definitly a religous influence in buisness and gov. in most communities statewide. Although a lot of the mormons are really nice people to live among there are quite a few who will push their ideas on you as well. The problem is that they may mean well but they don't seem to understand what "no thanks" means, or they seem to think if they push hard enough you will let them in, and once that happens you will come to see their way. Also they do tend to be rather exclusive if you are not a member. Oh sure you'll probably get invited to the neighborhood barbeque, just don't expect to develop any personal friendships with any of them- probably won't happen. You'll always be an outsider. There are people of other faiths here of course but you really have to take the initiative to meet anyone on a social scale as most of the social activities in the community are church/school sponsered and by far the biggest majority of students are -you guessed it, Mormon! It's not that they don't like other people they just want to convert you and if you're not interested then they tend to ignore you. If you are single it will be hard to meet someone but it does'nt get any easier if you are married. People here are ultra conservative and tend to stick with their own kind. If you have children I would say think long and hard. Our children pay a high price for not being LDS. It's heartbreaking somtimes to see them struggle, and when they grow older they will either be
cindy | Orem, UT