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                                     Orem City Offices and Police Department

Orem Utah

Orem is an incorporated town in the north-central part of the state of Utah in Utah County. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 84,324. An August 2007 estimate had its population at 92,176, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. Utah Valley State College is located in Orem.  Orem is named after Walter C. Orem, who owned and operated a rail road line through the area in the early 1900’s. The City of Orem is located on the eastern shore of Utah Lake. It borders Provo, Utah on the east and is located in the foothills of Mount Timpanogos.  The median income for the area is approximately $50,000.  Orem is 40 miles from Salt Lake City.

Orem is located in the Alpine School District and is home to three high schools, three junior high schools, and 16 elementary schools. Utah Valley State College and Stevens-Henager College are also located in Orem. [1]

Brigham Young University, one of the largest private universities in the

United States, is located in neighboring Provo.

Orem has been consistently ranked high on the Money Magazine's 'Best places to live in America' survey.

Utah is a fresh and vibrant destination filled with outdoor recreation. It is a landscape full of compelling scenery mixed with a wide range of adventure. Southeastern Utah is home to mountain biking and rafting the Green and Colorado Rivers should be mandatory, and hiking Escalante's slot canyons is backpacking at its best. All types of recreational activities exist in Utah and are available for every skill level and interest. Golfing, rock climbing, backpacking, hiking, boating and camping are exciting endeavors for visitors during the summer, spring and fall months. In the winter, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and snowmobiling are favorites of locals and tourists alike.

Nearly every type of outdoor adventure can happen in Utah. It's an exciting mix, including trails to explore on foot, on horseback, or via off-highway vehicle; roads for bicycling; rivers to float; slopes just waiting to be skied; scenic golf courses; guided tours; and a surprising variety of wildlife viewing options.

History

Prior to its incorporation, Orem was known as the "Provo bench," and its fertile orchards and farmlands added to Provo's early reputation as the "Garden City of Utah." Orem was incorporated in 1919 because residents recognized the need to develop a water system for the area. Orem has little naturally occurring water, and local residents believed that Provo was unlikely to provide the public financing necessary to construct a water system. One of the first acts of the new town was to issue $110,000 in bonds to construct the water system, which solved the area's long-standing shortage of water.

Orem's origins are in homesteads settled along the territorial highway (now State Street) and along other substantial arteries where area farmers built their homes and to live near their fields and orchards. As prime farmland along primary roads was taken, farms sprang up in other parts of the "bench" that is now Orem, and rural roads soon crisscrossed the area connecting the farms. This type of development, known in Utah as the "Gentile manner," differed from typical historical development by Mormons, who were often counseled by church leaders to live in the city and cultivate farmland outside its limits.

One of the cohesive influences in Orem has been the Sharon Community Educational and Recreational Association, better known as SCERA. SCERA was created in 1933 under the guidance of Arthur V. Watkins, then president of the LDS Sharon Stake and later a United States Senator from Utah, as a substantial community effort at "planned and organized recreation." SCERA has fulfilled much of its anticipated role in the city since its birth in the depths of the Great Depression. The Scera Theater is a popular place and carries on the tradition it began with.      

The first major evolution of Orem began in the early 1940s when the Geneva Steel Works was constructed by the federal government as an inland producer of steel. Built along the eastern shore of Utah Lake, Geneva has provided employment to many local residents, either directly or indirectly. In recent times, Geneva has spawned controversy because of increasing concerns over environmental damage caused by the plant and related concerns about lost employment which would be caused by the shutdown of the plant. USX Corporation, the former owner of Geneva, ceased active production of steel at the plant for a brief period in the mid-1980s and then sold the plant to a small group of investors who revived operations.

The second major change to the landscape of Orem came as many of its farms were converted to shopping centers and malls along State Street and the University Parkway, the intersection of which now probably stands as the focal point of the metropolitan Orem/Provo area. First the University Mall and later other malls attracted business away from downtown Provo, historically the central shopping area of Utah Valley. Little successful central planning has taken place in Orem, and it is as much without a central core now as it was when it was known as the Provo bench. Pockets of commercial and residential development dot the expansive area that is Orem.

The third major evolution of Orem has been caused by the city's recent development as a center of computer technology and development. Giant WordPerfect Corporation, founded by a former Brigham Young University professor and one of his graduate students and headquartered in Orem, has provided the impetus for the creation of other computer software companies in the city. A fledgling entertainment industry, begun with the construction of Osmond Studios in northeast Orem, has also helped change the face of Orem.

Many of the past developments in Orem can be seen in the city's present form. Orem's proximity to the Wasatch Mountains and Utah Lake make it an all-season center of recreation.  Often unchecked commercial development of the city continues. New high tech firms such as WordPerfect is one of the largest private employers in the city. Orem has come a long way from its days as the sleepy unincorporated Provo bench and even from its early days as an incorporated town comprised of scattered farms and orchards. It is now a vital city that must confront the issues that urbanization brings.

Orem is the home of many high tech companies, including Caldera, Digital Technologies Inc., Xactware, and PowerQuest. It is also the home of Utah Valley State College, one of the fastest growing state colleges in the nation. With 50% of its population under 25 years of age, Orem will be a strong workforce provider in the years to come.

Education