Well, it's happening. I'm retiring. I want desperately to go back to either Washington or Oregon, but DW desperately wants Utah, because I have a son in southern Idaho, and a daughter in SLC, and essentially no one except a non-helpful sister in Portland. So I have been trying to work out a compromise. I need rural, mountains, distance between me and SLC, houses less than $285,000, stuff like that. So Cache Valley seems like a compromise--university, pretty countryside, tall mountains, and situated roughly halfway between SLC and Pocatello. Housing is far less expensive, and fairly plentiful.

I figure some of you might live there or have lived there. What can anyone tell me?

Unfortunately, part of my consideration is for my son with a brain tumor. When he is no longer able to be on his own in NYC, I wanted him to be with us and close to a major cancer center. Portland has a well-known one, but SLC has Huntsman. What they don't have is medical cannabis, because Utah. My son needs it to help with his seizures, which the anti-seizure meds can't totally handle. Plus, I had this vision of me finally being in a position to smoke a little weed myself.

(I have told DW that moving to Utah means concessions. I've said this to you guys before: Limiting Utah Valley to I-15, except in cases of medical or automotive emergency (or, peradventure, some kind of ex-Mormon thing), and never-ever setting foot on BYU campus again due to bad personal memories.)

One of my cousins commutes to Logan from Preston where she recently bought a house. Her husband's a rancher. She works for the university. She likes the Idaho side. It's close to Cache while close to points in Idaho. It's also on the I-15, and a straight drop to SLC. Out of a couple places I was looking at to retire she recommended Bear County, ID, 45 miles away from Logan. But I loathe the winding canyon drive connecting them. The drive between Bear Lake and Pocatello is straight througb but a speed trap. So, you've been warned. :)

while no longer living there, i was born and raised in one of the small, outlying hamlets of southern cache valley. while it is a beautiful place to live, there are plenty of threads on this forum that speak to the negatives, and those should not be discounted. the small "towns" of cache valley are clannish and insular, focusing on the pedigrees of when their family settled the area.

if one can view all of the mormon antics as theater, then it could be a terrific place to live. otherwise, the whole charade will slowly gnaw at you and portland would be a far stronger choice...the gorge, the ocean, easy drive north to the olympic peninsula, and on and on.

i hope your son is doing well, and i hope you are too.

I sure hear what you're saying. Maybe exposure to these types would finally push my wife over to the enlightened side. But she descends from the Martin handcart people, so she, herself, can be a little too proudly Mormon. As for me, I'm in-your-face with Mormons, so I think I could deal with it. I'd make sure to cut my front lawn on a Sunday followed by a beer on my porch, then make my neighbors love-hate me even more by cutting their grass and minding their property when they're traveling.

My fear is that I have a problem being around a non-progressive environment. Summer rightly points out that my son, if he were with us, would need that art scene. He already views leaving NYC as compromising himself.

August 31 is my last day at work. The government promises that I'll go about 6-12 weeks without pay before it all catches up.

if you're moving to cache valley, then move to mendon, there's a gaggle of willie descendants there with whom your wife will find an affinity for.

why not move directly to SLC? you may be able to find an affordable house around liberty park, or directly east of there. there are also some lovely homes west and below the capitol building...both areas are less Mormon-y.

Sugar House area in SLC seems to be a popular place for the less mormon with reasonable prices.
The Avenues south of the capitol are quite expensive.

IMO, Portland would be best for your son. Good medical facilities, good art scene, mormons aren't the dominate culture at all.

Cludgie, congratulations on your retirement!

Is it a given that your son will be moving back in with you at some point? If so, I think that you should seriously consider the Portland area. As long as you can find agreeable housing there, it would meet his needs and yours. Plus I'll bet that it has a pretty decent arts scene.

If you get to a point where you and your wife need extra help as you age, then you can consider moving to Utah to be closer to your daughter.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this next move doesn't have to be the last move that you make.

I've lived in Cache Valley for +25 years. Became an exmo 12-ish years after moving here. It took a while to find my exmo legs, but I've come to enjoy living here. If the university weren't here, Cache Valley would be a pretty uniform, provincial mormon community. Instead, there are very nice pockets of non-mormon community and activities. I love the outdoors scene that Cache Valley offers. But, I'm not much of a winter person so January and February are tiresome.

cludgie, I'm happy to chat on the phone, exchange emails, or meet up for lunch if/when you visit or move here.

I think Cache Valley is beautiful. Of course, many parts of Utah are pleasing to the eye and very desirable. It's just, you know, the things you said. Of course, the best place to live in Utah is Moab. They have one of the best small emergency trauma centers in the country (because of the number of accidents from extreme sports), but other than that, there is no decent medical care. So unless you have your own plane, probably not a good place.

So go with Cache Valley. I know there is a cohesive exmo presence there and interstate access to SLC. And raspberries. I hear you about the medical cannibas--it's the thing that helps my kid with chemo side effects better than anything else. So glad he lives in California. But I seriously would not be surprised to see Utah pass it. And that would be a good half-way point between your kids.

Idaho has the lotto. Just saying. :)

(The busiest point of sale in the state of Idaho for lottery tickets is right over the border from Utah in Malad... Uh huh, and that's why. Malad's a tiny little hamlet. It's Utahns not Idahoans who do most of the business there.)

I live in an area where there are new people and not the old guard. Somehow my ex happens to make friends very easily so we fit in in the church, the only time I ever did.

I live in a lower middle income neighborhood. I have good neighbors. There are always those who are always trying to get us back to church, but I think they've mostly given up. We lived here as young marrieds/young parents and we've been here over 30 years with all the drama that went on and everyone now knows my ex is gay and he lives here, too. My smokes out in the front yard. I encourage anyone who comes here who smokes to smoke in the front yard. I found it hysterical when my ex told me he wouldn't mow the lawn because it was Sunday and yet a few weeks before he did mow the lawn on Sunday (he has only mowed once all summer).

I just do whatever and the neighbors are still very friendly.

Now if you were going to be working when you got here, then I'd suggest maybe not. My nonmormon boyfriend works with a lot of mormons and they don't make it easy. There is kind of a hierarchy of mormon men and what positions they have held and how the people treat them at work. He thinks he'll probably move back to Colorado after he retires, but that is where his son lives and he and his fiance plan on having kids within a short time after they get married. They are both 32. My boyfriend is looking forward to grandkids. I'd like being able to go back and forth again and live here part time and there part time.

My therapist is an ex-mo and he loves it here. He's been here over 20 years. And, yes, housing is less expensive here. My aunt is a realtor in SLC and she said nowadays there are multiple offers on every house. My boyfriend bought a really nice house in a very desirable neighborhood here for $212,000 five years ago.

I live 1-1/2 miles from the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon, 2-1/2 miles from Hyrum Dam. Logan Canyon is beautiful, as is Bear Lake. The area is beautiful. I actually live with mountains on 3 sides of my house. Winters are different all the time. Last year we had over 50 inches of snow. I've never seen that much snow here before. Some years we have very little snow. Some years the temperatures get to 30 below, but not all the time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2017 01:06PM by cl2.

Hyrum is exactly where I've been looking. Right now there are a couple of very nice houses available. I can't imagine 30 below. I think 10 below is my personal experience.

I really like Hyrum. I didn't want to live here, but the prices on houses back 31 years ago (it was actually this week we moved in I just realized) were the best anywhere and we got a nice house on only my husband's salary.

I might add that Hyrum is a little bit higher in elevation than Logan, etc., and when there is an inversion, we don't see if very often. The years we get good snowstorms, then the inversion isn't bad. It hasn't been too bad here for a few years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2017 02:10PM by cl2.

I lived there going to school and after for about a year.

During the summer the area is beautiful. During the winter the 'pollution' gets trapped between those beautiful mountains you are surrounded by. The pollution stays until it is blown away or driven to the ground by a storm.

I would actually consider the north end of the valley because of the pollution. I would even consider the 'far north end' in Idaho, because of the taxes in Utah and far less population if you are retired.

Then you get the best of both worlds you are still close to mountain recreation at a lower price and less pollution.

Correction there spiritist. Northern Idaho, as other parts of the state but especially the panhandle, have seen an influx of Californians retiring there because of what used to be lower fair market housing. Now with the boon, the real estate has shot up, making it not as affordable to own a piece of property as before when it was just a blip on the map.

Californians escaping California have driven up the housing prices there, as Idaho Falls, as Boise.

Maybe, then, one should move to California?

The climate is definitely better in California. I don't miss the traffic, congestion or the crime elements.

With the high cost of living it isn't even on the map for my retirement plans. For me it's either going to be southern Utah, or southern Idaho.

yo. 30+ years.

Real estate prices in Cache Valley have recently spiked. Logan has grown and so has traffic congestion. Preston ID,Franklin ID and Richmond,Ut are still reasonably priced with open farm land and small town feel.
You could check out Montpelier, ID but this puts you further away from Huntsman care but there is a medical clinic in Montpelier the last I checked.

There is an over 55 single home community across the street from the Logan hospital called "Summerfield". It is a good place to live if you need quick access to hospital care.I knew an elderly couple with a disabled son that lived there. I haven't seen one on the market for a while. But this is the hub area of 6 or 7 LDS churches, USU, & hospital.

All of Cache Valley is in a seller's market and there are very few starter homes so prices start high. I still see some good deals occasionally but they are snatched up in a day or two.
Logan does offer a pretty good bus service.

The winter inversions are nasty but the summers are beautiful.

Malad Idaho is right by the freeway and it is still a ranching community. People who live there love it.

Malad is a growing albeit tiny retirement community. You can still buy a very nice home there for well under $280,000. It is a sleepy little town though, except for Friday nights.

Where I stayed on my way to a cousin's funeral last February was over a saloon. My god, do they get noisy there!

They aren't all Mormons 'see you on Sunday' type. I just needed my sleep. Thank god they left when the bar closed. Noisy buggars.

It's also known for its annual Welsh festival each August. :)

The inventory of homes in Malad is low. It ranges from very old and small fixer uppers to 70's homes that have not been touched, to $400,000 + home with lots of land.

ETA: Welsh Festival is the end of June.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2017 08:37PM by abby.

I am in the process of moving my business there, it's much much cheaper than California and I can pay employees a living wage.

My advice would be to find something in Logan or some of the outlying farm communities that are not 100% mormon. There are pockets of jack mormons, exmormons, and non-mormons. The place I am staying while there is very tolerant of exmormons, but it has a history of not being founded by the Church.

Cache Valley is really a wonderful place, traffic in Logan is increasing quite a bit, and there are a few insular closed minded people, but the University and outdoor recreation opportunities keep a nice balance of people with different viewpoints and lifestyles. There is a good sized community of exmormons if you want to socialize that way, I prefer to just have normal social interactions. Legalized Weed is not going to happen. There was no shortage of herbs when I attended Utah State in the 70s, I think the police are much more ambitious now so I don't think I would move there if that is a priority.

Well, without getting too specific here, there was a very active post mormon group meeting Sunday nights in Logan; however, from what I understand lately the apostates have gone inactive! There are Inter Mountain Medical Facilities in Logan so it's not a bare bones community for medical care! The surrounding geography can be quite beautiful but winter can brutalize depending on the weather year! I did find friendly people but sadly an inordinate number of so-called valiant mormons on their way to the Celestial Orgy in the Sky who were rude/obnoxious! Maybe they were too stressed out about the impending orgy? Only in mormonville! GRUNT still has a gorgeous property in a very beautiful place/I still pay Utah taxes! I haven't decided what I'm going to do about this but I'll figure it out! A special HI to all my apostate friends - I do miss all of you! As Always, tnurg, (GRUNT)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2017 10:39AM by tnurg.

I'd be interested if anybody has personal experience with Clarkston and Plymouth, on the other side of Gunsight Peak (Clarkston Mountain). I'm asking about community feel, degree of religiosity, neighborliness vs aloofness, things like that. Clarkston has the Martin Harris grave (and pageant), and some kind of Pony Express commemorative festival?

Anybody hail from those towns? BTW, are the smaller towns commonly called villages? Most of them seem to be in the 500-700 population range.

Grunt--please, easy on the exclamation points!

caffiend, bear with me, I don't use anything else! Just my thing! As Always, tnurg (GRUNT)

i never heard them called villages (though that's what they really are); most people called them "towns", but that could only truly apply to those that had some type of city government. i was raised in college ward, which, in the 1970's of my childhood, boasted an arctic cat dealership (housed in a 1940's-era mormon church)--that doubled as a saturday afternoon watering hole--and ted's amoco.

i have relatives in newton. some of those geographically fringe communities have a rowdy element to them (avon and paradise), and wellsville had a rowdy reputation as well. but the rowdies did not equate with being open to outsiders.

i also have family in benson, and they really love it. it's conceivable one could snap up 2 or 3 acres and never be bothered by folks.

Plymouth is full of sinners. It's reputation doesn't seem to be as sordid as it used to be. One of the lowest activity rates for wards in the surrounding areas. There's been some recent growth in the town, but nothing substantial. The polygamists (Kingstons) live nearby (Portage area, Washakie ranch) and they own the gas station in Plymouth that has an A&W attached. Watch who you talk about. There's probably lots of double cousin stuff going on.

It's called a town and you'd have amazing views of Plymouth Peak. There's a rodeo in July and a post office. There could be more things.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2017 04:06PM by abby.

abby Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Plymouth is full of sinners. It's reputation
> doesn't seem to be as sordid as it used to be.

You pique my curiosity. "Full of sinners?" "Not as sordid as it used to be?" I'd be fascinated, and appreciative, if you can fill in with a few details. (Sure, be as salacious as you want!) And when was it "sordid?"

I passed through there two years ago, and was intrigued by the local rodeo corral, billed as "Utah's Best Amateur Rodeo." Cute! I didn't see any A&W, maybe it was closer to I-15 than I meandered. I did notice the closed and repurposed Sinclair Gas station, an obvious casualty of I-15 (it's too far away from the exit to get much business).

And yeah, the Kingstons. Some girl fled the Washakie Ranch around 1996 or so when she was being forced to marry her uncle; they took her there and beat her up. And the US Department of Energy nailed the Kingstons for fraud with their "Washakie Renewable Energy"--they were double-billing the government for energy credits for ethanol they didn't brew.

But I'm very interested in your details on Plymouth's reputation.

My sarcasm sometimes does not come across in the written word. There used to be a bar next to the closed down Phillips gas station. It had a reputation of drawing a rougher than usual crowd. You know, for Utah. :) Plymouth is probably more Jack Mormon than TBM. Some nicer homes, other than manufactured homes have been built in the last few years. The closest bar now is in Garland and Tremonton. I can't remember the names, but the Garland bar is called Couch, Sofa or something like that.

I forgot there is a queen contest at the Rodeo as well. A&W is closer to the freeway. Probably, not technically a Plymouth address; it may be considered Garland.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2017 08:47PM by abby.

I just came across a corporate posting for the A&W truck stop in Plymouth (some sites list it as North Garland), and noticed on a picture that part of the building included an office (or something) for Washakie Renewable Energy--a Kingston holding! The entire enterprise, for that matter, is Kingston. They're very big, donors to UU and advertisers with the Utah Jazz.

I'm probably less than a year behind you and headed for the same area because of kids.

I would LOVE, Love to be moving to WA or OR but I will probably be moving back to SE ID. After 20+ years in Idaho Falls and close to 10 years in Alabama, I never thought I would be going back to somewhere like Pocatello when I retire. Sounds like I will have good company!

I figure I can either live in my dream location with only occasional visits with kids, or I can be a regular presence in a grandchild's life. Should be interesting. We can't make up our minds what we want to do when we grow up!

Someone else is living in my world, apparently. Welcome to it. Be thee fairly warned, says I: My world is confusing and contradictory.

Anything against So. Utah - Washington, St. George, Cedar City.?

Dixie Regional Hospital is highly rated.

I've been looking at Dixie for the past five years.

Housing prices have shot up by $50,000 for the median price range in that amount of time.

Not sure I'll be able to afford housing by waiting until I'm in a better position financially to take retirement.

A financial planner in St George told me last winter some are wondering if there's a housing bubble right now with the prices going up so fast. They're waiting to see if it comes down in the next year or two because of the spike in prices.

My realtor cousin who lives there says local realtors see it both ways. It could be a bubble, or it could be the prices are stabilizing after the housing crash of 2008. He thought I should consider buying now before the interest rates go up, and thereby offsetting an increase in pension by waiting several more years as the housing prices continue to climb.

By the time I'm ready to move, I'm undecided as to cost - who wants to spend more of their retirement on housing anyway? That's the time to pay off mortgages, not get into another one.

Retiring to St George would be to enjoy the sunshine and scenery. Not to have to work 2-3 jobs to make it happen IMO. Although, health permitting, I can see myself working at something at least p/t into retirement for as long as possible.

St George is beautiful, and a retirement haven. There are still a range of housing options there. They aren't all luxury homes, though many if not most are leaning in that direction.

You'd be developing equity, even if your rent did not cover mortgage and taxes. Between interest, property taxes, and maintenance costs, you'd get a big deduction on your 1040. Talk to a realtor, play with the numbers, it might be doable.

No water. They are literally destined to have extreme water problems in future. Love the area, but no, thanks.

It isn't only Washington County that has a water problem in the state of Utah.

"Washington County Water Conservancy District said Utah's water supply currently supports 2.8 million residents, 81,000 businesses, 878,000 households, 1.2 million non-farm employees, $118 billion in gross state product and $90 billion in aggregate gross income but, Utah is about to enter a fourth consecutive year of drought....

Thompson said with the population expected to double in the next 45 years, the main concern is to develop additional water resources and find the best methods to use them wisely.

Additional water resources include a 140-mile pipeline from the Colorado River at Lake Powell.

"Lake Powell has to happen. It continues to go through the environmental process. That's a long protracted process," Thompson said.

He said the final permitting process for the pipeline will take at least 2-3 years. In the meantime, what's being done to conserve water?....

"Most of our communities have time and watering ordinances, particularly in the summer, so we try to get those people off those hot, windy days and into the time their irrigation system is more efficient," Thompson said.

Utah is the 2nd driest state in the nation so water districts already have or may apply higher rates to people who waste water.

"We do need to become more efficient and more effective but that does cost in order to do that. Whether it's at the district level or the homeowner level, it does cost money to conserve," said Todd Adams of Division of Water Resources.

Adams said the goal was for people to take the information from the conference and apply them to their local neighborhoods.

Officials said the state goal is to have a 25% reduction in per capita water use by 2025. Washington County has already achieved a 26% reduction and is working toward a goal of 35%."

http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-utah-state-news-/tackling-water-issues-at-the-2015-water-users-workshop-in-st-george/204341244

I think East SLC has the best of all worlds. If you don't need a large house, or a garage, that is to your advantage.

We live in the mountains, and we hike out the front door, up into Wasatch National Forest; yet, we're 20 minutes from downtown SLC, the Huntsman and University hospitals, the U, and my work. 20 minutes from the ski resorts. There are bus stops, a mall and grocery store, within walking distance. My Children have homes in the neighborhood. Grandkids walk to school. The neighborhood is becoming more and more non-Mormon. The old school Mormon shunners are selling their homes to retire to St. George, and go on missions, which is the popular thing to do. St. George can have them! It isn't important for these people to live near their children. They want to play golf and read and...what is there to do alone in St. George?

People who retire to St George to just golf and read, tire of that soon enough. There's a steady market of houses for sale in the 55 and older communities, and it isn't because they're (all) dropping dead first.

There are other things to do in St George besides golf. Outdoor activities are big on the list for outdoor enthusiasts. Hiking, national parks within minutes, all things considered it is still a lovely place to call home.

It's also becoming more diverse according to my Jewish friends who've retired there, some as long as ten years ago. They've watched it evolve into becoming more tolerant of diversity just since they've lived there. They fell in love with the scenery, like many others do who decide to move there. There's enough non-Mo activities to involve the non-Mo community. There's a dynamic arts and theater community for one thing.

Lots of music festivals, Shakespeare in the park, etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2017 12:29PM by Amyjo.

About Hyrum. I don't know what other cities have pressurized irrigation water. We get irrigation water to water our lawns, gardens, etc., and it is a base rate per month. I'm not sure how much it is per month now, but it used to be $8 per month. I don't think it has gone up all that much. We got in at the beginning, so we only paid $100 for the hookup.

Most towns don't have this. My boyfriend lives in River Heights and WISHES he had this.

We've only been limited on how much we can use 2 years in all the years I've lived here. I've been here 31 years.

For myself, I'd choose to be where my kids and grandkids are.

We had the same in Yakima, WA. It was very convenient, although you couldn't drink out of the hose.

Yeah, my own kids are making me swivel from the idea I've had for years.

it that they move. I have several friend couples who moved to live close to children/grandchildren only to have the adult children move. There's nothing wrong with them moving, except the parents had sold everything to live nearby.

Short story, it's wonderful when it works out.

Good point. I've seen the same play out in several different ways.

If you like that area, check out Preston, ID. Surrounding towns. Rural. Not far from Logan or SLC. Close to mountains, creeks and rivers. Close to Bear Lake. And...it's not Scrutah. Salmon, Idaho? Boise? Sun Valley? Jackson Hole? Check out Baker City, OR. Really. It isn't that far from SLC. LOT's of good outdoor stuff. Kool western town. Choices, right?

Baker City is my 2nd Most Favourite Place, 2nd only to the Wallowa Valley towns of Joseph and Enterprise. But we've had to abandon the idea of living there since my son's diagnosis.