Sometimes, a decision doesn’t make sense on paper, but it just feels right to your soul. That’s what my family’s big move was like.

Last year, our family of five sold our affordable home in rural southern Utah to move into a more expensive rental in a Denver suburb.

We had wanted a change for a long time, and the timing finally felt right. We could’ve stayed where we were “safe” financially, but all our family members were struggling in different ways.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that nothing would really get better until we were brave enough to make a big change — so we did.

Moving from Utah to Denver was a difficult financial decision

One of the hardest parts to accept about moving was leaving our extended family and a house that we had lived in for 13 years.

Even more difficult was that our house in Utah was affordable. We were privileged to buy a house when prices were reasonable, and mortgage rates were low. We would have moved a long time ago, but we felt stuck in a home we had outgrown because it was cheap.

We knew that if we sold our house, we would be paying a lot more elsewhere. But the decision still felt right for our family.

We figured Denver was worth the price increase

We chose a Denver suburb because we love the outdoors and also miss the opportunities that a city provides. We have friends in the area, so we knew we would have a community once we arrived.

We chose an area known for its “small town feel.” As soon as we moved in, I immediately fell in love with the neighborhood. We are surrounded by an abundance of mature trees, and are within walking distance of wonderful trails for walking and biking.

I’ve been amazed at the wildlife around us, especially considering we live in a Metro area.

Just walking the trails in our neighborhood, we’ve seen rabbits, coyotes, elk, raccoons, turkeys, and many different species of birds. We feel closer to nature here than we did in rural Utah.

After living here for a few weeks, we decided to purchase e-bikes so we could ride much farther along the trails, including to coffee shops, restaurants, city gardens, and parks.

This area also provides us with access to shopping, museums, concerts, and sporting venues. After living in a secluded town for so many years, having these amenities feels like a luxury.

We’re saving money in other ways

Our rent is high in Denver, and that has been the biggest adjustment.

Before we made the move, I was also worried about the cost of living, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Our kids even get free school lunch thanks to a statewide Healthy School Meals for All program. My kids have all commented that the food is of better quality. They actually want to eat the school lunches here.

We are paying much less for gas in Colorado, as we are driving substantially less. In Utah, we lived on the outskirts of town and had to drive 15 to 20 minutes to get to work or to the nearest grocery store.

When we moved to Colorado, we also immediately ended most of our subscriptions and streaming services. We’ve cut down on our discretionary spending and are eating more family meals at home.

We also chose jobs that would help us adjust to our new housing costs

We knew we would be paying more for housing no matter where we moved, so we chose a location with ample work opportunities. My husband is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and I have picked up a part time job in addition to my freelance writing business.

We are all making more money in Colorado than we could in Utah, where the minimum wage is still $7.25 per hour. Two of my teenage sons were amazed when they realized how much more they could earn in their new city.

Right now, we are enjoying the freedom of renting. Buying a home in this economy feels daunting, and we want to take our time exploring Colorado to see where we may want to buy if it feels right.

For now, I am grateful that my kids have a chance to experience living in a bigger city with more diversity and opportunities. Overall, I feel like we fit in here in a way that we never did in our old town, and that is priceless.

MILLCREEK — The mayors of Millcreek, Bluffdale, Layton, Clearfield, Orem, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County have joined leaders from across the country in the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger.

The national effort unites more than 500 mayors from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., against food insecurity. Hunger affects 48 million people nationwide — 14 million of whom are children, according to Feeding America.

“Ensuring that every child in Millcreek has access to healthy, reliable meals is not a partisan issue — it’s a moral responsibility,” Millcreek Mayor Cheri Jackson said in a statement Wednesday. “When children are hungry, they struggle to learn, grow and thrive.”

As part of its commitment to the alliance, the city of Millcreek aims to increase its efforts to support families, expand access to nutrition programs and build partnerships to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed, city officials said.

The Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, launched in 2022, harnesses the influence of local leaders to identify and implement solutions to combat childhood hunger.

The Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a nonpartisan coalition, partners with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to see that every child has the healthy food they need to thrive.

The organization says that through collaboration, innovation, and advocacy, it supports strategies that boost access to federal nutrition programs, strengthen community partnerships and raise awareness about the systemic causes of hunger.

Aaron Goldstein, senior manager of local government relations at Share Our Strength, said the organization has seen local leaders take different and innovative approaches to address child hunger over the past four years.

“Mayors have witnessed firsthand the hardship their constituents are facing, and their cities are on the frontlines of responding to the short and long-term impacts of hunger in their communities,” he said in a statement. “We have seen mayors address child hunger in a variety of creative ways, from advocating for and strengthening nutrition programs, to creating innovative public-private partnerships and growing awareness of the systemic connections between poverty, racism and hunger.”

Other Utah leaders, including Bluffdale Mayor Natalie Hall, Layton Mayor Joy Petro, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd and Orem Mayor David Young have all joined the nationwide mayors alliance.

Plus: ICE arrests bring up generational trauma for one Utahn.

Happy Saturday, and welcome to Inside Voices, a weekly newsletter that features a collection of ideas, perspectives and solutions from across Utah — without any of the vitriol or yelling that’s become all too common on other platforms. Subscribe here.

We’ve heard a lot about cellphones in classrooms — but what about the technology administered to students by schools, like laptops and tablets?

A proposed bill intends to create “model policies on the use of technology and artificial intelligence in a public school classroom,” and it has Utahns talking.

Kelli Cannon, a mother, a 13-year veteran of Utah schools and a board member of the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology, wrote in a recent op-ed that HB273 — also known as the BALANCE Act — goes “past safety and into the realm of prohibition.”

“While these acts aim to protect children from online harm and too much screentime, their broad language limits the digital tools that make personalized learning possible,” she writes. “Labeling paper as ‘safe’ and screens as ‘dangerous’ misses the point of modern education. Just as a child needs a pool and lessons to learn to swim, students need technology to learn digital citizenship. They need guided instruction, not avoidance.”

Liz Jenkins, a mother and a volunteer advisor with The Child First Policy Center, offered a counterpoint in another recently published op-ed.

Education technology “promised to ‘personalize learning’ with programs that adapt to individual students,” she writes. “In reality, Edtech has made school more impersonal. Children isolate themselves on devices while teachers compete with glowing screens for attention. This bill puts teachers back at the center of instruction. After all, what’s more personal than real-time feedback from a caring mentor? A computer can spit back scores and rankings, but only a human teacher can tell whether an answer reflects real learning or a lucky guess.”

Tell me what you think: How do Utah schools find a modern balance between technology and more analog tools?

Utah Voices

The following excerpts come from op-eds recently published in The Tribune.

My family was imprisoned in internment camps. I’m watching our government do it again.

“Look at my government now,” writes Hazel Inoway-Yim. “You did this to my family, now and you’re doing it again. You called us enemies and domestic terrorists and criminals. My grandmother was four years old, barely younger than Liam Ramos. You knocked on her door and forced her family from their home. James Wakasa was walking his dog near Topaz, and his killing was ruled as ‘justified.’ Renee Good was dropping her son off at school.” Read more.

Utah open enrollment needs to be more parent-friendly

“Utah’s open enrollment law has been consistently ranked high year after year,” writes Christine Cooke Fairbanks, the education policy fellow for Sutherland Institute. “But that ranking only measures what’s written in the statute and doesn’t incorporate compliance or the parent experience, both of which need reform.” Read more.

Restricting auto loans could hurt the most vulnerable Utahns

“The insight of this study is not that the system is broken,” writes Mark Jansen, an assistant professor in the David Eccles School of Business’s Department of Finance. “It is that the system is serving a difficult purpose imperfectly. Lower-income borrowers buy cars with low resale value. To extend credit in those cases, lenders must rely on borrower income. When those loans fail, borrowers keep paying because that is what made the lending possible in the first place. That’s not a story of exploitation, it’s a story about how financial markets stretch to enable mobility for households who otherwise could not finance a car at all, and about the painful edges exposed when those households fall behind.” Read more.

Share Your Perspective

What are the challenges and opportunities artificial intelligence — or AI — presents in your life and community? Let me know what you think.

I’m always looking for unique perspectives, ideas and solutions that move our state forward. Learn more about our guidelines for an op-ed, guest essay, letter to the editor and more here, and drop me a note at voices@sltrib.com.