Sperling's Best Places Review is somewhat misleadi
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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.
Ann | Logan, UT