Utah Filter: Life in the valley

June 28, 2010 12:47 PM

I'm moving to Orem, Utah in a few weeks. What are some of the "nicer" neighborhoods?

Details: I'm a nervous driver and would prefer access to public transportation (I know this is a a big constraint), female, single, am not LDS, not from the US, and am from a visible minority (I mention the last since I notice a distinct lack of heterogeneity even among my future colleagues).

I am looking for rentals. However, online listings seem to be mostly for students and I want to avoid predominantly student housing. I can't find many townhouses or condos, and not many individual listings. There are several listings for professionally managed apartment complexes and all these seem to have negative reviews (even after factoring in the mostly negative tone of apartment reviews in general). My colleagues are helpful, but they live outside Orem and commute, which I would be willing to do except for the driving thing...

I've seen some very useful posts about this area, but not specifically about renting. Anonymous since I don't want my future co-workers to know about my misgivings.

posted by anonymous to home & garden (10 answers total)

There are more listings on KSL.com than on craigslist around here, so you might want to check there. Here is a link to a quick search for Orem rentals.

Would you feel ok me-mailing me? I'm also non-LDS, relocated here for work, am renting and decided against the commute to SLC. If you me-mail me, I can ask you a couple of questions on your preferences and budget and give you more info on relocating and renting here.
posted by BlooPen at 1:11 PM on June 28, 2010

Public transportation is not that great in Orem--the buses are about 30 minutes apart, and, in my opinion, saturation isn't that good.

I will ask my colleagues if there are any decent apartments for adults in the valley and post back here. You might be able to find a decent house for rent. Although everyone says this about their state, Utah drivers really are pretty terrible.
posted by mecran01 at 1:59 PM on June 28, 2010

You can look for all your public transit options at http://www.rideuta.com/. I would suggest getting housing in the south end of Salt Lake Valley (Daybreak, Herriman, Sandy, Draper) and then taking the bus to Orem. Happy Valley has it's own mindset and while you might have a bit of a commute, remember that by doing that you are going against traffic (mostly flows south to north in the morning, reverse at night). Stay out of Utah County. Seriously. And yeah we do have awful drivers.
posted by msbutah at 4:29 PM on June 28, 2010

Specifically, have a look at the system maps to see where your bus access is best, whether you decide to live in Orem or not.

Daybreak has kind of crummy transit access, if I recall.
posted by eritain at 6:26 PM on June 28, 2010

Daybreak? Daybreak is what you suggest for escaping the Utah valley homogeniety? Daybreak is a factory for stepford people.

Ok, as a white (liberal) Mormon my opinion arguably doesn't count, but Sandy (I grew up there) is a wasteland that is five minutes from becoming the next Kearns. It's only redeemable feature is that you are closer to SLC, via the train. It will be years before a train comes to Utah Valley, and riding the "express" bus (40 minutes?) into Orem will get old in a hurry.
posted by mecran01 at 8:49 PM on June 28, 2010

What about Condo rentals? Would that get you out of student-infested housing if it were in Springville?
posted by mecran01 at 8:55 PM on June 28, 2010

Riding the express bus may get old, but so might living in Orem without doing a lot of driving. If you do decide to live outside of Orem and commute, you might as well go all the way to Salt Lake City. Public transportation within Salt Lake is pretty good, for all of your not-going-to-work transportation needs, there are a ton of rentals, including townhouses and condos, and demographically Salt Lake is really different from Orem and Utah County in general (not the suburbs--unless you are an avid skier, listen to mecran01 and avoid Sandy; even if you are a skier, avoid Daybreak).
posted by freejinn at 9:11 PM on June 28, 2010

Agreed, Orem would be very tedious with only public transportation. It is kind of tedious with a car. There are three good restaurants, the Provo library is pretty good and there are a million chain restaurants. The mountains are great, but you need a car to do that. Park City is an hour away--by car. Ok, just rambling now.
posted by mecran01 at 10:10 AM on June 29, 2010

Daybreak itself is not a bastion of inner city liberalism and car-less lifestyle. It is however on the correct side of the mountains and close enough to Orem to remain accessible via public transit. FWIW I moved from Sugarhouse to Daybreak and all of my neighbors are nonmormon, childless liberals. We often hang out on weekends swapping Evanston beer that we've found. Then again we live in the newer townhome area of Daybreak, not the Wisteria Lane area. What I'm getting at is that it puts the OP next to Bangerter as a means of commuting into Orem. Just like the other places I mention (Riverton, Herriman, etc). Plus there are a lot of perks from living there - a lake with running/biking trails, a community center with a free gym and classes, schools, connection to Trax (forthcoming).
posted by msbutah at 11:04 AM on June 29, 2010

FWIW I moved from Sugarhouse to Daybreak and all of my neighbors are nonmormon, childless liberals. We often hang out on weekends swapping Evanston beer that we've found.

I stand corrected! I was equating DB with Eagle Mountain, both of which seem to get a higher than normal percentage of stuff like this.
posted by mecran01 at 11:37 AM on June 30, 2010