Moving to Utah County

[Nessa]

So my husband starts a job at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in July, and since we don't plan to commute from Salt Lake, where we are now, we have to find a house. We will begin the 'offical' househunting in February.

Anyone have recommendations? I'm leaning toward Springville because the grade schools are supposed to be better there (I will have a 2nd grader next fall). Plus I'd like a house attached to a decent-sized lot, being a gardener and all. Not one of those fancy new houses with a yard smaller than the driveway. Age of house isn't really an issue, but I'd like a nice neighborhood. Nothing really close to the Y, but not a far commute from the hospital (this means NO to Saratoga Springs and the like).

[42]

Springville has one of the highest heroin usages per capita in the state. That's not saying much. It's still a nice town.

Pleasant Grove and Lindon are very nice and less expensive than American Fork, Highland, or Alpine.

Lehi and Payson are...um...well if you like western music, rodeos, and cow-tipping.

Spanish Fork can be about as bad, but I can't bash it because my outcast reletives settled it.

[stacer]

I liked living in Spanish. I lived there before moving up to Provo when I first moved to Utah (had a cousin who lived there). Certainly gives you easy access to Spanish Fork and Diamon Fork Canyon, if you like the outdoors kind of stuff. We went repelling up Diamond Fork when I lived there--good times.

Other than Provo, though--and working in Orem--I never lived anywhere else in Utah County. 42 is correct about Payson being pretty redneck, but then, so is a lot of more country-ish Utah. I don't mind it, but then, I grew up on a farm and it makes me feel more at home.

[Oldie Black Witch]

There are quite a few new housing tracts in the Lehi/Pleasant Grove/Alpine areas. Housing is growing like crazy around here, and many of the new homes start around $130K or so for a three bedroom home. Some of them even have decent-sized yards.

[42]

Unless you expect to make a lot of money, I would avoid Alpine.

American Fork has a few good deals left, but the closer you get to the temple the more expensive things get. American Fork and Lehi are getting more businesses and other developments, so it's not quite the wasteland it was when I went to high school.

[Nessa]

There are quite a few new housing tracts in the Lehi/Pleasant Grove/Alpine areas. Housing is growing like crazy around here, and many of the new homes start around $130K or so for a three bedroom home. Some of them even have decent-sized yards.

I'm trying to avoid those because they are track housing (my husband is very particular about this...yes, he is a snob sometimes). They will be too small anyway.

Unless you expect to make a lot of money...

My husband will be ending residency at the U in Salt Lake and will be working as a doctor at the hospital. So we will be able to afford a decent house.

Alpine and Lehi are too far away. And he would hate the commute on I-15 into Provo. We want to avoid that.

Pleasant Grove might be OK. I will have to investigate.

[42]

Actually, if you can find one, the benches in East Provo offer the best schools and are some of the nicest neighborhoods in the valley.

And refering to Alpine, first, there is an ordinance in Alpine that mandates the home there must be very large. The friends I knew from Alpine had things like ballrooms, indoor pools, and 7 car garages in their homes. Not all of Alpine is that way, but it is for the wealthy in general.

[Entsuropi]

There are quite a few new housing tracts in the Lehi/Pleasant Grove/Alpine areas. Housing is growing like crazy around here, and many of the new homes start around $130K or so for a three bedroom home. Some of them even have decent-sized yards.

...a three bedroom house starts at like $750,000 in Britain...  

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

Ent, this is Utah. My town house would cost me at least $500,000 if I was buying.

I looked at buying a house for $120,000 a while back (before the bubble), it was drafty, had one floor, 40 year old wiring, bad plumbing, a decent sized yard (but it was full of chest high weeds), and a kitchen/dinette/living room about the same size as my last wymount apartment. plus the driveway wasn't paved and it needed major renovations.

Yeah, If it weren't for the fact that salaries out in Utah are pitiful, I'd be jealous of your housing market.

My finance advisor sold his house out here, paid cash for a house in Utah, and it using the change to pay for his kids' college.

[42]

Actually, Utah is far from being one of the cheapest housing markets in the US (25th most expensive state to be precise). Places like Tennesse and Arkansas are a lot cheaper. Yet, compared to states like California and New York (the 2 most expensive states in the Union), Utah is a bargain.

[Spriggan]

Idaho is dirt cheap too.

[Nessa]

When we were living in St. Louis, Missouri, the market was pretty good there, too.

But we'll be able to afford something decent in Utah County. We're selling our house and we're in Salt Lake's east bench. Not a ritzy neighborhood, but it should still sell for a tidy profit.

[The Jade Knight]

I really enjoyed living in Pleasant Grove.  I was there for a year some 7 years ago.

[The Lost One]

Utah's housing market has had slow and steady growth over the years and so it isn't going to see the crash in real estate prices that is expected in parts of the coasts (such as Boston, San Fransico, New York, and D.C.). So I won't worry about buying a home in a more expensive area of Utah County if you can afford it.

Having briefly lived in Utah County, I would recommend living in Provo or north of Provo (like P.G., Lindon, Orem, American Fork, or Lehi). There are lots of advantages of being either in Provo or north of Provo. The biggest is that it is easier to get into Salt Lake from those locations then if you're down in Springville or Spanish Fork. But really, I don't think you can make a mistake, Utah County really doesn't have any bad spots to live (i.e. places with high crime rates and horrable schools), just some spot that are a little better than others.

[Nessa]

... some spot that are a little better than others.

I guess that's what I want to figure out. Which spots would best suit me and my family.