Ok gang!!! I have a question for every Exmo that lives in the SLC area (or even UT)..... I have the opportunity to POSSIBLY move to the SLC area. What my question is: What are the pros and cons of being an Exmo living among the TBMs??? I am posting this on SEVERAL Exmo pages and forums. I need as much feedback as possible. Thanx for your help. For those that don't know me, I'm Agnostic and I live in Central, WA

It depends on where you move in the Salt Lake area how heavy the Mormon influence is. Salt Lake is less than 50% Mormon. Some areas are more like 70-80% some are more like 30-40% or even less.

I would suppose south salt lake. IDK

Salt Lake City in general is more of a safe haven than many other spots - especially South & West Jordan, Draper & Sandy. Good luck to you. Do NOT move to Utah County, as it has the heaviest concentration of Mormons in the state. Unfortunately, I lived in Orem, UT for 17 years as a non-member, and witnessed the worst of Mormonism.

Even though my wife and kids were with the LDS church at the time, we were marked people because we were not Utah natives or from pioneer stock. Once my wife and kids left the church, it was almost like that we didn't exist in our neighborhood. Kids who frequented our house were no longer allowed visit our house or hang with our kids. Yes, it is that bad here.

There are plenty of opportunities for non-mormons in Utah though. Find a local watering hole and you will encounter "real" people with whom you can socialize. Utah employers (if Mormon owned or run) will scrutinize you, and will hire based on your church membership status. Expect to get recruited into the fold. Expect nosy neighbors. Expect to feel like the plague. Expect neighbors to be nice, but not really friendly. Expect a social system that's about 50 years behind the times. Good luck to you.

Also avoid Davis County which is where I live. It hasn't been a bad experience for us. Our neighbors have been pretty cool and don't really bother us, but we are pretty surrounded by TBMs.

I moved from Moses Lake to West Jordan in the mid-80s. I was very TBM and it was still a big adjustment. I think the advice to avoid Utah County is good and I would add Bountiful. The Salt Lake area is a good bet. I'd only move here if it's a move to further your career or something along those lines. I ended up surviving by skiing a lot, hiking and now I mountain bike to ease my soul (Sunday's are good days to be out and about in Utah). Utah isn't that bad but it is an island like no other and it takes some getting used to.

don't move to Utah unless you ABSOLUTELY have no other choice. This place is the total vacuum of the soul...there is paranoia, elitism, arrogance and hatred in every single interaction. Move ANYWHERE but here.

PS I Can't Wait to Leave...

I lived in Utah County for about 25 years. Just sold out and moved out of Utah. The mormon control is not what it used to be. More non-mormon companies are moving in,,but it is always present. I found out being self employed was best for me. Not to far from Park City,,Wendover,,Wyoming,,etc. It is what you make of it.

I live in Utah and am working on getting out. Near downtown Salt Lake City is the only place I'd recommend. As others have said, I'd recommend staying away from Utah and Davis Counties.

Ditto YBU.

Utah is a wonderful place if you like Zombies.

My thoughts on living in Utah, what you find:

People without a soul.

People without joy or happiness.

People who only know Utah culture, even if you're not Mormon.

People who are devoid of FREE thinking or new possibilities.

People who accept the pollution in the city, the long dark dreary winters or summer heat. Anti-environment.

People who live excessively -- to much food, drink, money.

People who have no balance in their life.

People who want to conquer the outdoors instead of enjoy it.

People in politics -- the LDS church.

People who run the news stations -- the LDS church.

People who run the school districts -- the LDS church.

People who are self absorbed wing-nuts.

People who enjoy living under a stacked deck.

People who like being sucked dry of all bodily fluids.


It's time for me to say "Good night Gracie."

+1

why would you want to live in a state where the legislature pilgrimages to the Upper Room at the SLC temple and genuflects before the 1stP and Q12 at the start of every session, asking for their continued co-operation and blessings?

:::blargh:::

I would think Salt Lake would be fine. Living in Utah County has been okay(I have to make the best of it for my kids),funny thing is its taught me to stick up for myself more.I really do not mind being the neighborhood odd ball(sometimes its quite fun). We have had our share of bullying with my oldest son. We are teaching him to stick up for himself with love and kindness. I dont know what else to tell you but best wishes and good luck.

I live in downtown SLC and love it. I have lived in two other major cities, and find I want for nothing here. It has come a long way. Mormons are rarely encountered downtown, but they do run the state. And their decisions can be maddening. But I love the community I have found in SL County. I even grew up here as a Mo and started over from scratch just fine. You'll be fine, too!

I lived in Utah County (the horror!) for the first 26 years of my life. Left the church at 17 (and officially resigned a few weeks ago :) )

A lot of people say Utah is pretty... I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought Utah was mostly ugly. Nothing really grows there so the dominate color is brown.

The people are all the same: same color skin, same color hair, same religion, same clothing, etc.

The state is a de-facto theocracy and as others have said, you WILL be discriminated against when looking for work (it happened to me). In addition to running the state, the church runs almost all the media and schools as well. George Orwell's 1984 comes to mind.

The summers are DRY and HOT and the winters are DRY, COLD, and POLLUTED because of the inversions. The Great Salt Lake and Utah Lake are essentially toxic to be near these days as well.

If you HAVE to move there, go to SLC as others have said. It's slightly more tolerable than the rest of the state.

Sorry if this offended any Utah lovers out there but I am so happy to be away from there :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2012 02:32AM by cecil0812.

Same skin color? Same religion?

Have you have nipping at our Cuervo?

Signed,

West Valley
Rose Park
The people in Park City that do the real work

Don't do it unless you are getting a major pay raise. Utah is not a place to raise children who are not Mormon. It's not a place to find nonmormon friends easily. It's almost impossible not to be judged and shunned by Mormons everywhere in your neighborhood and work. If you love being the "rebel" , come and enjoy yourself.

Where are you going to find a Mormon in Rose Park, The Avenues or The People's Republic Of Park City?

Stay away from Utah County. I moved here a few years ago for school and have seen too many broken spirits. It's a social, cultural, and spiritual black hole where gossip, slander, and shaming are the vernacular. There's so much artificial friendliness that you feel like you've gotten lost inside a wax museum. There's also a lot of religious nepotism and favoritism built into the economy so it would be hard to gain fair employment here.

Only a few good things I've personally found in Utah County are Velour Music Gallery, any of the canyons, movie theaters on Sunday mornings where it's just you and other real people, and any Utah Lake harbor at sunset.

Not trying to scare you off--if this is the place where your employment may lead you to. Just giving you some fair warning that I wish I had been given before moving here.

+1

Exactly!

I live in West Jordan and this is my experience.

Weather:
Summers are hot (95-100) and Winters can be brutal if a bad inversion settles into the valley. Freezing temperatures and the pollution keeps building and building until a storm clears it out. Really sucks if you have breathing problems. On the plus side, there is nothing more beautiful than the sight of the mountains following a storm before the haze starts to come back. Sometimes it seems that spring and fall get skipped altogether.

Neighbors:
You may find a few that you are close to but in general, Mormons will either "love bomb" you to try to get you to join their church and when that doesn't work they will just ignore you. Your kids may be shunned as well.

Churches:
You can't throw a dead cat without hitting a LDS church. Other churches are fewer and farther between. If you like to go to church be prepared to drive a bit to get to one you like. The LDS ward you live in will likely hold a few events each year where the whole neighborhood is invited. It's a good chance to at least meet your neighbors.

Schools:
Jordan school district is dead last in per-pupil funding in the entire country. Other districts are not a lot better. There are some very good charter schools out there though but again, be prepared to drive your kids across town to get there. Also, if you're not LDS your kids will have a hard time making friends.

Recreation:
Lots of outdoor activities. Lots of family oriented businesses too. Lagoon amusement park, Boondocks, Salt Lake County recreation system are all great.

Crime:
Generally low but some areas are worse than others.

Transportation:
The highway system was rebuilt to help support the 2002 Olympics. There is also light rail and buses and a heavy rail train which runs from North of Davis County to SLC and will be expanding service to Provo by the end of the year.
http://rideuta.com

Government:
Everything is pretty much run by the LDS church. They stay out of most day-to-day stuff but if they want something they get it, period.

Housing:
I saw in the paper that housing prices in Salt Lake County were up for the first time in years. It may be a good time to buy.

Jobs:
Utah has a relatively strong economy but be careful. Mormon business men can be terrible to work for. Non or ExMormons probably won't fair well working for a LDS employer no matter how hard you try to keep religion out of the workplace. Mormons tend to give perks to other Mormons whether they deserve it or not.

That's all I can think of right now. Good luck.

I forgot culture and a few other things:
Children's museum, natural history museum, Clarke planetarium, Libraries, Utah Symphone, Ballet West (best in the West), Hogle zoo, lots of public parks, Jordan River parkway system, golf courses, Red Butte gardens, International Peace garden, Real Salt Lake soccer, Utah Jazz basketball, Salt Lake Bees baseball, many shopping malls.

Higher Education:
University of Utah, Weber State University, Utah Valley University, Salt Lake Community College all very good.

Stay away from Utah County and BYU!!!

Stay away from Utah County and BYU!!!

Stay away from Utah County and BYU!!!

Stay away from Utah County and BYU!!!

Stay away from Utah County and BYU!!!

Salt Lake City and Park City are the most liberal and have the fewest Mormon.

Utah County and Davis County have the most Mormons by percent of the population.

Very Republican state. Hard to be a Democrat.

Utah Valley University in in Utah County.

I agree -- stay away from Happy Valley.


Twilight Zone and Step-ford Wives put together.

I just moved to Utah this year. Life time northern ca native. My job was relo'd. I will just quickly share some of my experience so far.

Finding a rental was a challenge. The rumor was it was more affordable..... but the reality was the pricing was very similar to California. So next we hear.... but the houses are bigger.... well the sq ft in the classifieds is "bigger" but when you look at the houses they must be claiming non livable areas such as the garage which is illegal in California. I found the rental market to be very competitive and loaded with fraud. We found a nice. Place in Bountiful that has a MIL space we are sharing with a coworker so our cost is the same as what we paid in Cali. Renters rights are non existent. Like the houses have no standards for repair or cleaning. I was lucky because I had a cousin I could stay with and be pickier than some of my coworkers before I signed a lease.

One of my coworkers found a place in Herriman. Paid first last and deposit. Another coworker had done a walk thru and she paid and planned to arrive and move in. When she got here with moving truck and keys in hand the house was boarded up and the locks were changed. They had the lease agreement and broke into the house. Next day the bank shows up and says the house was foreclosed. They could not get the landlord who had moved to Washington state on the phone until they worked with PayPal to get their money back. That was lucky :on their part. They negotiated with bank.and.land.lord a fair price for a half month stay until they could secure a new home. Now they are settled.

Another coworker found a lot of problems with plumbing and electrical after moving in. Lucky husband is handy and they are deducting rent.

Schools were another un expected hurdle. My son is 9 and pretty smart. If you go to greatschools.com you quickly notice an interesting pattern. Poorly performing schools are by city... in nor cal you chose your neighbourhood for the school but that would be right next to a struggling school in the same district. In Utah they have districts of high performing schools and districts of all low performing schools. And then you hear stories of political maneuvers like when South Jordan weathy higher tax bracket chopped off the West Jordan schools and you get a feeling of a culture of "whats in it for me" vs "we are a village". Crazy.

School hasnt started but we did start youth football. There were enough kids thst the teams were split. And I will say it seems most of the parents on our team sport tank tops. Interesting observation no?

First day at new house the neighbor introduces himself and asks what church I go to.... I say I dont go to church..... to which he replies everyone in my new neighborhood is Mormon. If I am going to get along I should check it out. Arrogant much? Within the hour the bishop was on my door. I was straight up with him I was born Mormon. But I dont go. My family is never mo. I offered to share why I dont go. He seemed like a nice enough guy and declined my offer.

Generally my neighbors are nice. My mom curse her sweet little soul finally called for my new address. I had not volunteered it. She did not disappoint me. Two days later an older gentleman was on my with a request to know who was living in the house... as if that was a perfectly normal request. It was 9am and I was still in my nightgown and robe. And I tell him I was his only member of record and I had no names in participating. To which he responded there are other people living in the home and wanted their names. And I assured him they didnt want him to.know their names. Had a good laugh with husband on that one over how he would have perceived a stranger at the door demanding the names of each resident.

Last Sunday two deacons were on the door step asking for our last name delivering a ward news letter. Next day my husband is home and the missionaries knocked asking for previous resident. Day before they knew us.... next day they want the previous resident. Nice game. He said he had o tell the persistent one 3 times he wasnt interested and finally have an awkward stare down at the door before they left. I wonder how long this will keep up. So far our goal is to be friendly good neighbors.and laugh at the foolishness.

We did have a good experience today. I had to change.health insurance due to the move. We had an HMO in California. My husband lives in chronic pain from arthritis. He is bone on bone in his knees. He has not worked for the last 6 years. He has been filled with shame and self loathing because his dr only told him to loose weight. He has weight to loose but needed some treatment because the he hurts too much to be active. So our family has catered to the stand off between dr and patient in a.fragile male ego battle. I even went in and had word with the doctor. My husbamd refused to change doctors as if he had something to prove. But he would not keep going back more than a couple times a year. So he gets to the point that he is in so much pain he cant get through a grocery store and we cant go anywhere else because MR I am not disable wont press his dr for a handicap parking sticker so we spend more time driving around parking lots waiting cor a close enough space than we actually spent being there cuz he hurt so much. Frustrating? Yup.

So on the new insurance I dont need a referral to a specialist. I just went and found a pain management dr. Today husband had steroid injections. Its going to take some time and I dont think we can hope for complete recovery.... but there was a noticible relief that he actually had a sense of happiness that has eluded him for a while. I almost cried with joy. He is my best friend. Son and I will push him in a wheel chair. But I cant do for him what he has to do for himself. I am so happy he has seen it makes a differenc to do something instead of manning up to suffering. His dr without batting an eye signed off on a handicap plaque. It might not be Utah that made the difference. But this has been a happy day!

My DD and her BF live in Sugar House (both were raised non-Mormon in Utah Cnty). They LOVE it!!

They live within walking distance of shopping, restaurants, bars, etc. The rent is affordable but they are looking to buy while prices are still down and have found some really nice places to consider. She works at UofU and is able to use public transportation.

NONE of their neighbors are Mormon.

I know lots of people who live in the Avenues and in the Capitol area. They all really enjoy it.

The politics can get kind of mind boggling here, but that's true lots of places. I have very little close interaction with Mormons here. My biggest complaint is it is too hot in July and too smoggy/inversioned in February. Otherwise, Utah has much to recommend it.

Stay away if possible. The majority of people I talk with wish they were not there or they have already moved. Church influence in every place of society is the main reason I hear. Utah County is the worst and SLC is the best.

As a counter point to some of the answers above about the weather, it all depends on what you are used to, and what you like.

Summers are not as hot as parts of Colorado I was used to. That's good, because they are over 100 about everday, and have had several days over 110 this year. Summers in UT are typically 90s, with only an occassional 100. Don't believe the "official" airport temperatures, as it is usually about at least 5 degrees cooler where I am in the southern suburbs of SLC. Same at night. When the weather people give their predictions at 10 p.m. on an overnight low, I'm usually already down to that temperature (around 70), and it drops at least another 10 degrees by morning (around 60).

For much of the winter, the temperature is pretty much always a high of about 25-30. There are not the cold "highs" that I experienced several places in Colorado of multiple days of a high in single (or negative) digits. Very seldom is the high in the SLC area less than 20. On the other hand, those same places in Colorado that have highs in single digits, will also have some winter days of highs in the 60s. That doesn't happen in SLC. Rather than having highs of anywhere from negative 10 to 60 that you can have in most parts of Colorado, in SLC the weathercasters could just predict "high of 25-30" and be right about 95% of the time.

In other words, winter days in SLC are like the local culture. Not much variety.

I grew up in SLC, went to college in Logan, and worked elsewhere for 6 years. I later returned to Utah for 8 more years before leaving again. I'd never go back. The culture and atmoshphere is stifling. It's basically a theocracy run by LDS Corp.

Stay in WA. The air quality is terrible in many parts of Utah. I'm making plans to leave in the next few years. And WA - Seattle/Tacoma area is my target.

Google "Salt Lake City earthquake"

That alone's a good enough reason to not move there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-205_162-578208.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2012 08:30PM by lostinutah.