(MONEY Magazine) – CLAIRE and Mike Averett, 42 and 45, hopped around a lot in the '70s and early '80s, moving from Utah to Oregon to California to Colorado. Then, when Mike was laid off from his job as a social work professor in 1983 and Claire got an offer to become a hospice director in Orem, the Averetts moved back to the Utah Valley. They haven't left since. ''We love this part of the country so much, we don't ever plan to move again,'' says Claire. Home for the Averetts and their daughters Annelise, 12, and Katherine, 15, is a six-bedroom house with backyard barn and corrals for the family's six Arabian horses in Lindon, a mile-long hamlet just north of Orem. Its current value: $125,000, a steal in most places. ''Here, the mountains are so close by,'' says Mike, a social worker in private practice. ''We can saddle the horses in the evening and be in the foothills in minutes.'' Other Lindon families keep powerboats to water-ski on nearby Deer Creek Reservoir. Claire, who now works as personnel director at WordPerfect, the computer software giant, has a commute of three minutes -- five if traffic snarls. The company, like many Utah Valley firms, is ''unusually benevolent,'' says Claire. Example: when WordPerfect's sales passed $100 million in 1987, the owners gave employees (then 554; now 2,697) an all-expense-paid trip for two to Hawaii. The Averetts are deeply committed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Indeed, Mormons make up about 75% of the local population, though the recent tide of 200 newcomers a month to the Provo/Orem area is causing the percentage to drop. Still, Mormon mores color life here: the church abhors alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea, so Brigham Young University students wash down their pizza with lemonade or caffeine-free soda. Those of different faiths gather at their own watering holes; beer and cocktails are available in many restaurants -- and the occasional bar -- and state liquor stores are open six days a week. For wider entertainment options, residents often make treks out of town. The Averett kids, including Aimee, 18, and Mike Jr., 20, who live in nearby apartments, sometimes like to drive 50 minutes to Park City for open-air rock concerts or to Salt Lake City for trendy restaurants. There's no mistaking the strong family values in this Mormon area. ''I left the house unlocked today,'' says Claire. ''I know nothing will happen.'' Mike Jr., a Marine reservist who saw combat in Operation Desert Storm, says the experience gave him newfound respect for the Utah Valley. ''Lots of my buddies came from much rougher parts of the country than I did,'' he recalls. ''I would do anything to defend this place. I want it to stay just as it is.'' -- M.T.S.