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I'm a non-Mormon who recently (Oct. '13) relocated to Utah from SF Bay Area. I live in Utah County which neighbors Salt Lake County to the south. My city is more affluent and is 99% Mormon so naturally most of our neighbors are Mormon. We had the same concerns but have found all of our neighbors to be quite pleasant. During our first week one of our neighbors brought us breakfast every morning because he knew we didn't have all of our stuff from California yet. He makes a mean quiche. And we literally had treats left at our door welcoming us to the neighborhood for the first two months. During X-mas it was anonymous twelve days of Christmas theme and we had so much chocolate and candy we couldn't finish it all. You will be asked if you are Mormon. I haven't seen a difference in people's behavior when I tell them that I am not. It was such a culture shock (in a good way) from how california was. Everyone is so nice. You can actually look at someone in the eyes and say hi.
Speaking of which, I ride public transportation in both California and in Utah. In California (San Jose) no eye contact and oh boy it is a freak show. In Salt Lake I see mainly professionals and students and you can expect people to say hi to you at the train station and even strike up good conversations. I was riding the frontrunner train and a highschool aged kid sat next to me with his date and struck up a conversation with me. I've yet to see that in california. The kids seem to be very respectful and nice. You don't see many baggy pants kids walking around and I don't see much grafiti either. Did I mention everyone is so nice?
Winter wasn't that bad. I'm at 5500 feet and my wife declined my offers to buy a snow blower. I travel to SF Bay Area a lot and so she is left to do the snow removal before taking the girls to school. So it wasn't bad enough for her to complain. I was told that this was a mild winter though. They do maintain the roads very well. We never needed chains or got stuck anywhere. It does get cold (where I am) but if you are prepared for it it really isn't that bad. You will find some people shoveling snow in shorts with a coat on.
Our homeowners insurance went down by half from what we were paying in California. Same with car insurance. Gas is less expensive as well. I sold my 1300 sq. ft. California home in a sketchy area of san jose for 100k more than what I paid for my 4200 sq ft Utah home in an exclusive neighborhood with really awesome schools for the kids. And my view is gorgeous.
One thing I noticed about Utah is the number of restaraunts. Sure you will have the chains, but there are a LOT of independant restaraunts. Utah people love to eat. There are several sushi bars in Salt Lake City and you can now find many Indian restaraunts as well. You can find any type of food you want. I have yet to be dissapointed with regards to food and I'm a foody.
You need to buy wine and spirits from the state liquor store. They have different types of state liquor stores some specializing in wine and others in spirits. The wine store selection rivals bevmo and the price is about the same from what I can tell. The spirits store has a competitive selection. They had all of my favorite scotches and bourbon and the price is exactly what I would have paid at bevmo in California. My favorite beers are Pauliner Oktoberfest and Paulaner Double Bock. They don't have this and for some reason couldn't order it. It had nothing to do with laws it was something about the distributor. But they do have a good assortment of beer and micro brews. Typically if they don't have something they can order it for you.
So far I really love it here and plan to retire here in 8 years. PM me if you have any specific questions.
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