Questions about Utah

[TWilkening]

This last week I went with the folks to visit some family who live about 2 hours east of Salt lake City (Roosevelt). He is a welder who does alot of work on oil refineries. He hinted more than once that he needs a welder's helper badly, and wanted to know if I'd be interested. Utah is quite different from good old Iowa. I'm considering it but want some input from those here who live there. I noticed fuel is quite expensive there, at least compared to Iowa. How is everything else priced there? Also, what's it like dealing with Mormons? It seems they are all over there. I don't have a prblem with them, but I am not and will not be a Mormon (I am Baptist). I've heard they do not take very kindly to outsiders.



Anything else you think I should know would be appreciated. I will say that it's sure some pretty country out there, but irrigating sucks. :-laf

 

[azpete]

One of my friends retired early and moved up there about 4 years ago to work as a contractor. He still had kids in school and they were treated like outcasts for not being mormon. After two years moved back here. I'm sure it's not like that in all towns, but I sure would do some checking.

 

[jrobinson2]

I was born and raised in southern Utah, lived there until I was 26. My family and I are non mormon and my brothers and I never had any problems at all ever, I have many mormon and non mormon friends and it was simply a non issue . Most people I know that have had problems in Utah are anti mormon, if you just don't care you'll be fine, if you move in with a chip on your shoulder and a lot of preconceived notions you will probably not like it.



Jared

 

[TWilkening]

Got some more questions. What's the state sales tax? All in all, is it cheap or expensive to live there? I seen a couple of inspection stations when I was there. What do they do in these inspections, and what can you or not get away with?

 

[TWilkening]

To the top

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Heck, all you need to do is become a one God, apostolic, tongue talking, holy rolling, born again, believer in the liberating power of Jesus name fanatic, like moi.



Then you will think you've died and gone to evangelistic heaven. Nay, I say, look unto the fields for they are ripe unto harvest (and we are not talking I. . OH. . WAY... CORN here). Anyone give witness with an amen. Yeh. . a! Brother, thats it, thats it! :-laf



One taste of those UT canyon lands and them corn fields will be left behind forever... . except an occasional visit to the relatives.

 

[KBennett]

We moved here last July from Colorado and so far we really like it. I am a conservative Christian and I agree with a lot of what the Mormons believe in but I can't join them because of the Joseph Smith thing. All of the Mormons I have met have been very friendly and good neighbors but that may not be in all areas.



I lived in the Chicago suburbs for twenty years and Denver suburbs for five and this place beats them both. It's costing me less to live here than the other two places but I can't compare it to Iowa.



The only inspection I know of is when you register your vehicle you have to have it safety inspected for $8. My wife took them in so I don't know all the details but some of the items are simple things like turn signals, tire wear, and wipers. I have not received any notices regarding any other vehicle inspections or emission tests but I live in Northern Utah so they may not apply to me or maybe it's because all we drive is diesels.



Feel free to PM me with any more questions.

 

[jrobinson2]

Got some more questions. What's the state sales tax? All in all, is it cheap or expensive to live there? I seen a couple of inspection stations when I was there. What do they do in these inspections, and what can you or not get away with?

I think the state sales tax is just under 7%, sales tax on food also.

Its a lot cheaper living in southern Utah than in southern Nevada... .



Are you talking about the Commercial vehicle inspections at the port of entry, or the service stations advertising Utah state safety and smog inspections? As mentioned above, safety inspections are no big deal, lights, wipers, horn, brakes, exhaust, tires, windshield, bumpers... ...



Jared

 

[CJ8Rockcrawler]

Most job sites... monster.com, jobbing.com etc. Have cost of living comparisons by city or zipcode (It's been awhile since I've looked. ) I used the comparisons before I took my current position to compare some of the offers I had in different cities etc.

 

[BarryG]

I used to live there many years ago but it has been over 40 years and I was kid. However I do travel there frequently. My Grandparents(who are not Morman and have lived there since the 30's) still live in Price. We spend many a day in mostly southern Utah each year hiking, canyoneering, camping, 4 wheeling and we have never had an issue being a gentile and all. We have never been treated anything less than great by locals in the rural areas we travel there.

 

[biggieou]

In one of my classes someone did a presentation on Utah's demographics and they said by 2020 its predicted that Mormonism wont be the predominate religon anymore. A good site to check out some info is the www.census.gov. Also check out Utah's state government page. Usually on the state websites you can find more info then youll know what to do with.

I'm actually looking at going to Wyoming and have started my "research".

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

I'm actually looking at going to Wyoming and have started my "research".

Please, let me save you the trouble. It is a horrendous place to live, even worse to visit! But don't take my word for it. Do a search on the various forums, probably Other and General Diesel and you will see for your self. It actually use to be called WhineOming or WHY..... OH..... ME, or something to that effect, until the local chamber of commerce thought that might hurt tourist sales a tad. They even removed the hole from Jackson Hole just to try and spiff up the image a scosch. Heck, even the trappers called it Coulter's Hell. I could go on, but now I'm just too depressed thinking about it anymore.



PS: No need to thank me for saving your marriage :-laf

 

[CumminsPower98]

I have lived in Moab Utah all my life and I love it. We have the canyons the river and the mountains all within sight of each other. I couldn't stand to live in the plains. As far as mormons go, that will depend on the town I'm sure. Where I live it's pretty divers but there are other towns that are mostly mormon. Like others have said if you just mind your business you shouldn't have any trouble as they are generally nice people. I'm not mormon but my great great grandpa was the 4th president of the church (Wilford Woodruff) so I have lots of mormon relatives that I don't even know.



I agree on the Wyoming statements and I haven't even lived there, LOL. I just know any time I drive through it's either wind or snow or ice or all of the above at once so I don't like what I've seen.

 

[DBoggs]

I moved from California to Salt Lake in 93, then to Roosevelt in 97. When we first moved to the state we received some less than nice treatment from Mormons but I haven't had any in years so that was just an isolated few times. As far as Roosevelt goes with the oil fields booming so much now there are almost more outsiders than natives here anymore. If you are looking at coming to the Basin this is the place to find a good job. They are plentiful and very well paying up here. Lots more jobs than people. The cost of living is going up like everywhere else but it is still cheaper to live here than say California or Arizona or some parts of Nevada. If you get back this way look me up, it would be nice to meet another TDR member in my isolated part of the world.



Duane

 

[TWilkening]

He wants me to work with him badly and I'm seriously considering it. Is there really much to do there? I'm 20, so I'm always looking for a little something to do. Also, what does land go for around there? I'm just curious but I doubt it brings $3000 an acre like it can here. If I decide to take the plunge, I'll definitely look you up.



Aus,

TW

 

[DBoggs]

Much to do as far as jobs? Welding, rig hands, driving jobs galore if you have a CDL, all paying extremely well. Lots to do as far as outdoor and recreational stuff, you name it we got it. Mountains, desert, snow, hunting, fishing, boating, 4wheeling and on and on... ...

Land is getting pricey around here because of the housing boom, 3000/acre would be cheap if you could find any for that.

What is your relatives name if you don't mind my asking, maybe I know him.



Duane

 

[Rman]

I'm looking at buying rural farm land for 5000 and acre and think that's a steal. In the city here an acre parcel will bring about 80-90k around here, south in SLC and surrounding area it's triple that.



I still think it's cheap to live here. So must many others, there's some very expensive housing in some of the surrounding valleys. It's becoming a lot like Sun Valley around the ski resorts.



If you like skiing, my god what are you waiting for, truly some of the best snow in the world and some top notch terrain all within a few hours of each other. I'm a powder w*ore bigtime, and can easily ski 20 bottomless powder days a year. I never have any sick leave because of those pesky storms, just forcing me to ski.



The hunting is fabulous, the fishing is soso if you like trout fishing. As others have said, it's an outdoorsman kind of place.



Don't worry about the religion thing, it's no worse than all the other places I've been. Try living in MA and not being catholic, or TX and not being baptist. It's all the same. It's those with preconceived notions that have the problem. Just accept that it's the way it is, and it'll be easier to understand. Took me several years to "adapt", but it's just normal to me now. Been here 11 years now. Short of the shotty schools it's a wonderful place to raise kids.



Good luck

 

[TWilkening]

Dang! That's alot higher than I expected it'd be, especially with all the work you guys have to do to grow anything out there. DBoggs, you got a pm.

 

[KBennett]

You should consider what is the pay like in Iowa and Utah? How about property taxes?

Sure, you can find land for less than $3K an acre but you will be out in the middle of nowhere. Link to Land



I looked at five acres west of Ogden for $125K. It had city water, gas and electric were close by. I almost did it but it needed to be perc tested for septic and that scared me away. I ended up buying a place on one acre with large parcels surrounding me on two side.

 

[Silver_Ram]

My dad's family is from Roosevelt and I spent a lot of time in the area while I was growing up. It has agrown a bit, but Roosevelt is a fairly slow town, alot of farming & ranching. The roads roll up at night. They have softball leagues & team roping.



There is the mormon thing and you also have the small town nosyness. There are a few different religions in the area. Vernal is 45 minutes away and is alot bigger with stores like Wal-Mart, K-mart, and Smiths grocery store. You also have the Ute Indian reservation nearby. The official borders changed around & I can't remember if Roosevelt is in or out of it.



Salt Lake City, the major metro area is 150 miles away.



There is alot of good hunting, fishing, animal watching, water sports, off roading, sight seeing in the national parks as well as the Dinosaurs. Flaming Gorge resevoir is about 2 hours away and has some big fish.



If I could find the right job I would move out there.