Provo

The rugged, snow-crowned peaks of the Wasatch Range tower over the central downtown section of Provo, home of Brigham Young University. The Utah Valley city is known for being one of America’s most conservative metropolitan areas, but the college-aged population infuses the downtown with fresh energy. “It’s a young, hip kind of area. There are lots of good restaurants, karaoke bars, comedy bars,” says Karen Walker, property manager at The Huntington Apartments. “Everybody is very, very friendly here.” The downtown restaurant scene represents a variety of cultures. At El Mexsal, diners sample pupusas and other Salvadoran specialties, and Black Sheep Café serves Navajo tacos on frybread. Tandoori chicken, lamb vindaloo and yogurt lassis are on the menu at Bombay House, an Indian restaurant in Academy Plaza. Bistro Provenance brings a taste of Paris to Provo with its open-air patio and urban chic atmosphere. Rugged Grounds coffeehouse is just a block from the train station and the perfect place to meet friends for coffee or kombucha. Locals will also find numerous nightlife options, from Heart & Seoul Karaoke to the Dry Bar Comedy Club. For the necessities, Smith’s grocery store has a convenient location on North Freedom Boulevard. Most downtown Provo residents live in the apartment complexes alongside the business offices and hotels. Small single-story bungalows sit on pocket-sized lots on the handful of residential streets branching off from the central grid. Many homes date to the 1920s, with some newer multi-family units mixed in. Paved sidewalks stretch beneath rows of shady trees, making this section of the city extremely walkable. Even busier thoroughfares like University Avenue feature sidewalks and grassy tree-lined medians. Homes are currently priced from around $550,000 for a single-family home to $1 million for a large multi-family unit. Pioneer Park sits along the neighborhood’s western edge, featuring a playground, splash pad and walking paths. It’s also the site of the Provo Farmers Market, held every Saturday from June through October. The North Park and Provo Recreation Center offer an indoor aquatic center, basketball courts, a fitness mezzanine and a skate park just a block north of downtown. Kids also enjoy indoor skating at nearby Peaks Ice Arena, home of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Numerous public transit options make it easy for residents to get around Provo and the Utah Valley. “It’s close to transit, close to schools, close to the freeway,” Parker says. On the western side of University Avenue, bus stops are on almost every block. The Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) FrontRunner commuter rail also stops here, making the 45-mile trip to Salt Lake City that much more straightforward. There’s also a station for the California Zephyr, an Amtrak train that runs between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Folks commuting to Orem can expect the 5-mile drive to take about 15 minutes. Downtown residents can walk to the post office, Social Security office and the Utah County Passport & Marriage Office. There’s also an Enterprise Rent-A-Car location on University Avenue. With so many public transportation options available, it’s entirely feasible for locals to get by without owning a car. “A lot of residents work in the downtown area or on campuses,” Parker says. Young students start at Provo Peaks Elementary School and Dixon Middle School, both of which get a B-minus from Niche. Provo High School is next and gets a B-plus. The elementary and middle schools are within a few blocks of downtown, but the high school is farther west toward the lake. Though Brigham Young University’s campus buildings are north of downtown, the tempo of student life reverberates throughout the city.

Foot Hills residents benefit from panoramic views anywhere they go, with Lake Utah in the west and Wasatch Mountains to the east. The rocky mountain ranges, snowcapped until spring and full of verdant plant life in the summer, provide a backdrop for residents' day-to-day lives. What sets Foot Hills apart from the rest of Provo is the larger lot sizes and proximity to the majestic mountains.  The homes in Foot Hill are diverse and mature, with many built in the ‘40s or ‘50s. The area has a quiet feel to it that’s brought in by the homes' historic charm and, of course, the nearby mountain range. On the western side of the neighborhood, you will find three-bedroom, single-story rambler homes. These houses have gardens in their front yards that are often fenced in. On the east, you will more commonly see multistory homes with large patios, fountains in the front yard, and steep staircases to ascend as you arrive home.  If you are hoping to build your dream home from the ground up, Foot Hills has large lots near the mouth of Slide Canyon for sale. If you find one you like, act quickly because, according to Realtor Jason Knight, the large lots are disappearing. “There is a shift happening; you will see smaller lot sizes as more people are opting for community living,” he says. But in Foot Hills, owning land with space to make it your own is still a possibility.  Provo locals love to get outside, and Foot Hills homes are right by some of the best opportunities to do so. Right near the mouth of Slide Canyon, you will see access to the Y trail, offering a steep-but-worth-it climb up to a beautiful view. If you like camping or rock climbing, Slide Canyon has many opportunities for adventure – and you would be in good company too. According to Real Estate Agent Cody Steck, “Most people from Utah are super outdoorsy. Everyone is into something here.” Many locals even like to take their dogs on a morning hike because trailheads can be only a five-minute drive away – a benefit that homes farther east don’t have.   “There are awesome views here; you can see the lake and the mountains from pretty much anywhere when you're driving around,” Steck says. If you ever want to stop and take it all in, Summit Drive is the perfect spot to pull over and admire the view. Being one with nature doesn’t negate quick dining options; there are plenty close by. Sushi Burrito, a spot named for its unique spin on two classics, offering a combination of sushi and burrito, is only a five-minute drive from some of even the most eastern houses. There's also Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style, offering take-out teriyaki chicken and large lunch plates.    When it comes to shopping and dining in Provo, Steck shares what you might notice when running errands on a Sunday. “Much of the area is shut down on Sundays. Pretty much the only thing open is going to be a few fast-food places, Walmart, and the gas station.” This is due to the religious influence in Provo.      The Foot Hills lifestyle means hilly streets, and quiet residential blocks with trailheads right nearby. No matter what block you’re on, you’ll be living large in one of the most beautiful spots in Provo.

Come spring, 24,000 blooming tulips signal the changing of the seasons in Nielsen’s Grove Park. Visitors pack picnics and stroll the European-style castle gardens, all in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. Lakeview, a neighborhood less than 5 miles from Downtown Provo and about 2 miles from the University Place Mall in Orem, is more densely packed with tulips than it is people. Streets are quiet, concrete sidewalks are wide enough for walking side-by-side and plenty of outdoor recreation spaces lie to the east in the form of Utah Lake and to the west in the form of mountain trails. Intersecting it all is Interstate 15, which carries residents up to Salt Lake City and beyond. According to Emerie Brooks, a graduate of Brigham Young University who’s worked as a Listing Manager at Summit Realty Inc. since 2017, Lakeview is the type of place where people decide to grow old. “They bought houses decades ago and never left,” she says. That being said, recent years have seen the addition of brand-new subdivisions on land that was once predominately agricultural; parents with young children have decided to start their own journeys in Lakeview, bringing credence to Orem’s motto: “Family City USA.” In Lakeview, bi-levels, ranch-styles and modest cottages date back to the 1980s or earlier and typically sell for under $500,000. Some of the neighborhood’s oldest homes were even built prior to 1900 when the area was dominated by fruit trees instead of two-car garages and vinyl-sided homes. “As well as multi-generational families, a lot of younger families are either buying and revitalizing older houses or moving into the newer ones near the Interstate and shopping centers,” says Brooks, speaking to the variety of options available in Lakeview. Two-bedroom townhomes hover between the mid-$300,000s and $500,000, whereas four-bedroom single-family homes built after 2000 start in the mid $500,000s and can sell for upwards of $600,000. An increase in price usually means an increase in square footage; traditional homes with steep gabled roofs spanning 5,000 square feet can sell for well over $1 million and lot sizes are a quarter of an acre or more, enough room for vegetable gardens and front yard games of catch. In newer subdivisions, HOA fees give residents access to clubhouses, pools and landscaping. Depending on their address within Lakeview, children can attend Cherry Hill Elementary, Lakeview Elementary or Vineyard Elementary, which all earned B-minuses or higher from the educational review site, Niche. Lakeridge Junior High and Mountain View High School, which both received Bs, serve approximately 1,300 students each. MVHS offers over 20 CTE career pathways, giving tenth through 12th graders hands-on experience in fields like agriculture, audio-visual tech and hospitality. During their senior year, students have the opportunity to put their skills to good use in off-campus internships. Utah Valley University, the largest public university in the state with an undergraduate population of over 40,000, lies just north of Lakeview. “UVU started small and just keeps getting bigger,” says Brooks, adding, “People will say things like, ‘Oh, you went to UVU? That’s a good school.’” The college’s influence is keenly felt in Lakeview and in surrounding communities, acting as one of the area’s main employers. Nielsen’s Grove Park, which was established in 1880 by Jorgen Nielsen, is Utah’s oldest park. Although flooding in the early 1900s destroyed its European-style gardens, the reflecting pool and greenhouses, the Orem City Historic Preservation Committee dedicated itself to restoring the park in the mid-1990s. Today, children still play on the vintage carousel swing, and expansive green fields make for the perfect place to lay out a picnic blanket. Near Lakeview Elementary, students can head to the Lakeview Park playground after school. There’s also Fort Utah Park, which has a baseball field and volleyball court. Utah Lake State Park is just outside the neighborhood. Here, locals can rent out boats, swim in the summertime and fish for channel catfish, bass and panfish on one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi. Hiking enthusiasts will enjoy driving east to explore the Wasatch Mountains; there’s the Y Trail, Squaw Peak and Rock Canyon. Caves have hanging rock formations, and stumbling upon an abandoned mine isn’t unheard of. Although Lakeview is known for outdoor recreation, rainy days are easily spent admiring student art exhibits inside the UVU Art Museum, hopping on the trampolines at Hang Time Adventure Park or cheering on the Wolverines at the UCCU Center. Along with UVU’s basketball team, the venue has also welcomed touring musicians like Panic! at the Disco and Olivia Rodrigo over the years. Watch a movie at the University Place Cinemark, take the kids to The Orchard, an indoor-outdoor play area in the mall, or pick up tickets to watch a musical at the Hale Center Theater. Brigham Young University in Provo — about 4 miles from Lakeview — is also home to several museums including the Bean Life Science Museum, which hosts school programs and natural history-themed summer camps. When it comes time to run errands, University Parkway provides a long list of big box options like Michael’s, Lowes and Walmart Supercenter. Although University Place Mall has brought quite a bit of traffic to the area, it’s also given residents easy access to more than 150 stores like H&M and Dillards as well as over 25 restaurants. Find everything from sushi at Noodle-n-Roll/Cho & Kim LLC to Venezuelan cuisine at Arempas. Nearby, check items off the grocery list at Trader Joe’s or Costco Wholesale. For smaller-scale options, head to historic Downtown Provo where storefronts on Center Street and University Avenue date back 100 years. Reserve a table at Black Sheep, an 80% “from-scratch” restaurant that describes its menu as a “Native American Southwestern infusion.” After dinner, order a cone from Rockwell Ice Cream next door. Every Wednesday night from May through October, “Family City USA,” aka Orem, welcomes over 150 vendors to Orem City Center Park for a farmers market and food fest. Listen to live music and pick up dinner to go from a food truck. During the holiday season, Orem’s Christmas Market sets up shop in the park, and kids can ride the Orem Express through a winter wonderland. The Orchard in University Place Mall also hosts a sunset market on Fridays starting in July and running through late October. Lakeview is largely car-dependent, although some residents like to make use of Utah Transit Authority’s light rail system. The FrontRunner train stops at Provo Central Station on the way to Ogden, also passing through Salt Lake City on the way. For more long-distance travel, Provo Municipal Airport is about 5 miles from Lakeview, offering direct flights to over a dozen U.S. cities via Breeze and Allegiant Airways. Salt Lake City International Airport provides even more options to the north. When it comes to medical care, Utah Valley Hospital, part of the Intermountain Healthcare System, is approximately 3 miles from the neighborhood. This Level II Trauma Center Specializes in everything from behavioral health to cancer care. There’s also Orem Community Hospital to the north, also part of the Intermountain Healthcare System.

Located along University Avenue, Riverside appeals to families with a suburban lifestyle who want to live within equal proximity of the mountains and prominent Provo amenities. “People who live in Riverside like living near all the popular areas without having to pay higher prices for a more rural, mountainous home or commit to an urban lifestyle near Downtown Provo,” says Emerie Brooks of Summit Realty Inc. Houses start at $450,000 and cap near $3 million, with well-maintained bungalows, contemporary craftsmen and multi-million-dollar mansions among the inventory. Four bedrooms and four bathrooms span 3,300 square feet and sit on quarter-acre lots. Fenced-in backyards may include sheds, but neighbors prioritize most yard space for manicured lawns; rock gardens, shrubs and lower water plantings join mature trees out front. Some single-family homes belong to homeowners associations, which may include private parks, but for the most part, subdivision sidewalks will only lead you and your dog on a walk. Custom-built mansions include up to seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms across 7,000 square feet. Alpine trees provide privacy around these luxury homes, which include private decks to take in the scenery, pools to cool off during summer, and large garages to store outdoor toys. Students can attend Canyon Crest Elementary, Centennial Middle and Timpview High Schools. Canyon Crest received an A- from Niche, Centennial got a B+ and Timpview got an A. Great Schools gave the elementary school a 7/10; the middle and high schools each got a 5/10. Timpview, often called “Timp,” is known by locals as the best area high school. Additionally, Timpview ranks 11 out of 159 for best college prep high schools in Utah. When you’re not embarking on a hike, bike ride or fishing trip in Provo Canyon, Riverview Park is the most popular public option for convenient outdoor recreation. A lazy river winds through the 16-acre park, where kids like to cool off after spending time on each of the two playgrounds. Tennis courts, a disc golf course and walking trails provide various options for people of all ages. Initially established in 1960, Riverside Country Club spans 42,000 square feet. The facility, which opened in 2012, is known for the 18-hole golf course which hosts PGA and LPGA tournaments. The 12,000-square-foot pro shop was also voted Retailer of the Year in its first year of operation. In addition to multiple dining rooms, you’ll also find a pool, sports facilities, and spa. University Avenue leads to several key destinations, like Brigham Young University. Located 4 miles from home, this 10-minute drive gives commuters an easy route to and from the university and parents a quick drive to visit children living on campus. BYU has a massive fanbase; expect heavy traffic in Downtown Provo when the football and basketball teams host home games. Utah Valley Hospital is located beside BYU, on the opposite side of University Avenue. More than 4,400 babies are born at UVH yearly, where Newborn ICU physicians are prepped to provide advanced care to the youngest members of your family. Target, Macey’s Grocery, and the Provo Recreation Center are conveniently located beside the hospital. Continue along University Avenue and arrive at Provo Towne Center, home to 80 stores and restaurants. However, local options like Block Restaurant give you high-quality options on days when you want to stick closer to home. This farm-to-table restaurant serves brunch and dinner in a fine-dining atmosphere, with entrees like the House Made Potato Gnocchi as a favorite among customers. An upscale suburban community with equal distance to the mountains, local country club and popular Provo destinations, families enjoy Riverside’s convenient location and quiet lifestyle.