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Renting an Apartment in West Valley City
What You Should Know
West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County in the state of Utah. As of
the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,896, making it the
second largest city in the state. A 2006 estimate placed its population at
118,917. It is home to the E Center and the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. It is
also home to the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Stonebridge Golf Course,
Westridge Golf Course, Rocky Mountain Raceway, USANA Amphitheatre, Hale Centre
Theatre, and the Valley Fair Mall.
History
Joseph Harker and his family were the first Mormon pioneers to go "over Jordan."
The area was largely agricultural for over one hundred years. The city began to
experience rapid growth in the 1970s, when the area that is now West Valley City
consisted of the three separate communities of Hunter, Granger, and
Chesterfield. These three unincorporated areas merged in 1980 to form the
present-day city. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, West Valley City was the
official venue for men's and women's ice hockey.
Geography
Location of West Valley City, Utah
West Valley City is located at 40°41′21″N, 111°59′38″W (40.689181,
-111.993867)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 91.8
km˛ (35.5 mi˛). 91.7 km˛ (35.4 mi˛) of it is land and 0.2 km˛ (0.1 mi˛) of it
(0.17%) is water.
Government
West Valley City has a nonpartisan, strong city manager form of government,
which means that the city manager is the CEO, while the mayor fills the role of
chairman of the board, with the City Council acting as the "board." The mayor is
a voting member of the City Council. The West Valley City Council meets each
Tuesday night at 6:30 PM, except fifth Tuesdays. City Hall is located at 3600
South Constitution Boulevard (2700 West).
The mayor and six councilors are elected to four-year terms. Mayoral elections
are held the same year as three of the councilors. The other three councilors
are staggered two years from the mayoral. Two council seats are at-large, or
citywide, and the remaining four seats represent districts of approximately
28,000 residents. Officials are not subject to term limits. The most recent
election was held in 2005.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 108,896 people, 32,253 households, and
25,931 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,187.7/km˛
(3,076.3/mi˛). There were 33,488 housing units at an average density of
365.2/km˛ (946.0/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 78.21% White, 1.15%
African American, 1.17% Native American, 4.29% Asian, 2.90% Pacific Islander,
8.75% from other races, and 3.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of
any race were 18.48% of the population.
There were 32,253 households out of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18
living with them, 61.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 19.6% were non-families. 14.7% of all
households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.36 and the average
family size was 3.71.
In the city the population was spread out with 33.7% under the age of 18, 12.9%
from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there
were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,773, and the median income
for a family was $48,593. Males had a median income of $32,116 versus $22,693
for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,031. About 6.7% of
families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0%
of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.