sounds to me like you want the salt lake area. St George would probably be a little better because of the weather.

Salt Lake is the only city that might qualify for those requirements.  But, it's not at all major compared to Miami, and it's definitely a different feel, she may not like it.  She may not like the winters, either.  Plus, we have very little migrant community.  In terms of diversity, Florida and Utah are kind of at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Take a trip out and visit before you commit.  You might like it, you might not.

There are a lot of returned missionaries here that speak second languages, so being able to speak Spanish might not necessarily set you apart like it might in some other places.

There's exactly one "city" in Utah, and it's not that major (which is good, bad, and otherwise).

You're going to have a hard time finding number 8 & 9 as well as the nightlife in Utah.

What time do the bars close on the weekends? I mean I get that there probably aren't a lot of raves with naked chicks doing molly all night, but SLC isn't Mayberry either...

One thing you could consider is maybe moving to the St. George area or whereabouts, thus putting you within striking distance of Vegas. I have nothing to back this up, but given your criteria I'd think that you'd generally like Vegas over SLC.

Dude, it shouldn't be difficult to get you to leave Florida. You should already have your bags packed


I don't think there's much of a latin population unless you count West Valley City

It gets cold here. If she hates cold, she'll hate our winters.


Everything else on the list, we've got. Affordable housing and land, oodles of freedoms, etc. I love this state. Only way I'm leaving is if they kick me out, screaming and biting.

Id just stay away from vernal if I were you.

Have you considered a place like San Antonio, Texas?

It sounds like you want to live in AZ, not UT...

Also, you didn't have to tell us which one of you was the cop and which one was the CPA, we can tell that you have issues with numbers...

1. Major Cities (She's a city gal)  (There is the Urban SPRAWL of Salt Lake County which has an Int'l Airport - then there is DAVIS COUNTY to the North and SAINT GEORGE to the SOUTH)

2. Affordable Housing ($175 to $50 a square foot)

3. Good Gun Laws (Hell Yeah)

6. Business Friendly (Eh.  Taxes aren't HORRIBLE)

7. Strong Economy (Its growing, a good supply of educated people that WANT to work)

8. Large Migrant Community (She's a Foodie like me)   (Usually the migrant community isn't so restaurant centric - perhaps you mean EMIGRANT community?  YEP!)



9. Large Hispanic Community (She's Puerto Rican, I'm Cuban)  (Not large.   But established.  )

10. Good Outdoor Activities (Hunting, Hiking, Kayaking, Camoing, etc...)  (OH YES!)

11. Good Schools (We don't have kids yet but that is one of the reasons we want out of FL) (Utah is one of the worst when it comes to spending $ per child - in 2012 Utah ranked 42 out of 50 for education SL TRIB STORY

perhaps UT just realizes that there is a difference between quality education and spending a lot of money on public schools. With the right teachers/policies, you could learn more in a cave by candle light than you could in a billion dollar American-style education palace...but that's a whole 'nother thread...

Salt Lake City would really be the only place in Utah that would fit the things you are looking for.  I lived most of my life in San Diego, then several years in Phoenix before I moved to Salt Lake City.  I like it in Salt Lake City just fine.  I moved here for the outdoor activities, expecting to be here for 1 winter.  This is now my 7th winter here.  My wife and I also enjoy the nightlife, and there are several bars in Salt Lake City that we like to go to.  We don't really go to clubs or anything, but they are around.  We also eat out often, and there are a bunch of great restaurants in SLC.  It took me a little bit to find Mexican food that was as good as what they have in San Diego and Phoenix, but they do have it.  There are awesome Vietnamese, Thai, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, and several other types of restaurants all within walking distance from our house.  Some of the bars and clubs I mentioned are also within walking distance.  All of the outdoor activities you mentioned are within a 1 hour drive or less from our house too.  The Salt Lake Airport is about 10 minutes away from us, I could also ride Trax to the airport.  The gun laws here are excellent, and I was able to find a great job within a month after relocating here in the middle of the recession.  

IM me JBT. I'm from there originally and now live in your neck o the woods. I know both sides of the street.

We're doing OK on 3, 6, 7, and 10, but ... We're not batting so hot on the rest.

imho as a SoCal native I feel like there's a lot that Utah has to offer, but it really is a weird place.   Some people put up with it, some people enjoy it, and some people hate it.

How so?

There's little respect for private property. Rarely anyone has a fenced in front yard, and front fences are considered un-neighborly.  I have kids walk across my yard with regularity, touch my stuff, and so on.  People are pretty lax about their kids doing things like that, because they're "just kids."  Oh, and about kids, there's a lot of them around here.

For lack of a better term, people here tend to go hard when it comes to the party scene, where those that do are making up for those that don't.  Finding a casual party crowd is pretty tough.

The population really is 50% or more LDS (Mormon).   This brings a lot of cultural oddities along with it, and people will generally assume you're Mormon too.  Some folks are put off by non-members, whereas others are not bothered.  

Everything is closed on Sunday.

Door-to-door Halloween is dead, thanks largely in part to "trunk or treating," where local church branches will bring their kids to trick or treat out of the trunks of cars with other members.

The liquor laws aren't horrible, but they're not great, and are continually in flux between getting better or getting worse.   For example, I can't have more than one drink on the table at any given time, and I'm unable to go to the bar at an establishment and have a beer while my wife finishes shopping, unless I get food too.

If you're under 30 and don't have kids, prepare to have a really hard time with your social circles.

It's not just the kids that don't respect private property.  My friend has 90 acres in Alpine and constantly has people trespassing on it even though he has spent thousands on no tress pass signs.

We finally fenced out yard last year, because with a corner house everyone thought cutting through our backyard yard was a great shortcut. -- That and the neighbors kids thought playing in our yard was an acceptable thing to do.

If the 4th of July falls on a Sunday, it won't be celebrated that day.  Plan on Saturday for the fireworks.  (coming from somewhere else that really irritated me - the 4th is the 4th.)

My dad owns those pretty sand caves out by Kanab.

We had a family of crows that nested every year there.

One day we went to picnic and play and found all our beloved crows - the parents and all the babies - shot to death and scattered on the ground below their nest.


Private property means nothing to people. You're right out that.

Damn... Arizona looks better.

 

I was born in AZ and lived there for a good portion of my childhood. It's nice. I like deserts. Dry hot, dry cold. Bearable.

I was raised here, and I pretty much refuse to leave, I even turned down a better job offer in Seattle WA because it's not Utah...

Utah is not perfect, but a few things keep me here, gun laws, family is here, lots of open country land, low crime, and my family helped settle...

A better story about education & Utah: KSL Story on Education in Utah








Utah is weird when it comes to kids.  Mostly Mormon folks take their kids EVEYWHERE.  And I mean EVERYWHERE, and then let them run LOOSE and explain it away like responsible parenting has NOTHING to do with raising children that behave appropriately in public and at another persons house.

Me personally, I think it stems from the HIVE mentality.  LDS = Socialism at its best.  EVERYTHING FOR THE CHILDREN.  Nope.  Parents are supposed to PROVIDE IT or they don't get it.

 Case in point: My wife is going through CHEMO.  The out-patient CHEMO clinic HAD to post NO CHILDREN due to visitors bringing their clan in and letting them loose!  (little GERM carriers!)  The unattended kids even sacked the fridge with snacks and juices for CHEMO PATIENTS (due to nausea its good to have a selection to see what stays down) - RAIDED - gone like a pack of wolves.

 "BUT ITS FOR THE KIDS"  - Take them shopping at a grocery store, not a Cancer Treatment Clinic

It wasn't just one family either!  UGH.  A years supplies gone in a MONTH once the free loaders got a whiff of FREEBIES.




Liquor laws are funky.  If you are at a place that has a LIQUOR license, and NOT a with food permit, you can have two drinks served to you, just not the EXACT same drinks.  For instance, you can order a shot of GOLDEN tequila with Jose Cuervo tequila (1 oz) and can have ANOTHER 1 oz shot also, but it CANNOT be the SAME GOLDEN Jose Cuervo tequila.  It can be TEQUILA, it can be Jose Cuervo SILVER tequila, but not the exact same.

You can also order a PLUS drink with 1.5 oz of alcohol (same 1 oz max of ONE kind though) but cannot get a "sidecar" then.

 In Utah alcoholic beverages cannot be served FREE or on discount, EVER.  Meaning NO HAPPY HOUR.  NO DRINK SPECIALS.  The drinks HAVE to be sold for what they were bought at from the STATE price, NO LESS or can lead to a fine or loss of alcohol permit.

Its REALLY stupid laws.  But that's what happens when the ultra-religious are in power and writing the laws.  The STATE.



State liquor tax is supposed to be going up in 2015 too.

Whatever.  I get my lottery tickets in Idaho and alcohol from the on base CLASS VI so I am not contributing to the Utah Sin Tax anyways.



These are just my observations of the FEW negatives.  EVERY state has negatives, and there are MUCH worse places to live than Utah.  There is NO PLACE I'd rather be, than perhaps back at Kwajalein.


~Will

not covered yet but here it is.
Fireworks laws.  
Take you normal Safe and sane fireworks and then add Aerial cake fireworks to it.
no mortars no firecrackers no rockets no roman candles but yes to cake aerial fireworks.
for instance this 3" 9 shot beauty is perfectly legal and can be shot in the city. "remove cat first"
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and this is not.
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