Sure, the "Y" on Y Mountain stands for Brigham Young University. But it might just as easily symbolize the question: Why Provo?

As Provo's home and lot prices rise and developable land vanish, a torrent of residents and newcomers wants to take up residence elsewhere.

Take for instance the reasoning of Neil and Meg Despain, who bolted Provo seven years ago for bucolic Cedar Hills in northern Utah County.

"There were too many crowds and too much traffic" in Provo, Meg Despain says. "We wanted more land, less traffic and someplace quieter. We are much farther away from grocery stores and everything now. But I'd rather drive to get to where everything is at than live in the middle of it all."

And when Matt and Sannie Lewis looked to "move up" from their Provo starter home, they eventually landed in American Fork.

"We wanted to get away from the crowds and the BYU atmosphere a little bit," Matt Lewis says. "It seemed like much of the housing in Provo was older homes, and the city was not nearly as thriving as it was here in the American Fork, Alpine, Highland and Cedar Hills areas. We found we could buy a brand-new home here for about the same price we'd pay for a smaller, older home in Provo."

Greg Hudnall, a Provo School District official and former city councilman, notes there are few affordable homes in his city for middle-class families - particularly those with school-age children.

He points to a lot across the street from his Provo house that jumped from $85,000 to $240,000 in five years and says there are only two choices in the city these days: rental units and mansions.

The Despains and the Lewises are not alone in their desire to migrate.

Buyers are flocking to northern and southern Utah County. For example, Lehi and Eagle Mountain last year issued, respectively, 1,021 and 521 building permits for single-family homes only, according to the Construction Monitor. Highland's 244 permits nearly equaled Provo's 266 - despite the fact that Highland's population is a mere 12 percent of the Utah County seat.

Real-estate agent Ted Barratt, a former two-term mayor of American Fork, has noticed the trend.

He predicts that as more businesses - restaurants, Internet startups, telemarketing firms, strip malls and health-food stores - come to northern Utah County and avoid Provo, more people will opt to follow the jobs.

"The fact that they can now work and find housing in [the area] is the main reason many people have moved here," Barratt says. "They can now live and work in the same community."

And instead of going to Provo or Orem for a movie or dinner date, Barratt has noticed residents of those places coming to American Fork and Lehi.

"I went to the movie in American Fork the other night and saw a half-dozen people from Provo and Orem," he recalls. "When I asked them why, they told me they can't get into a show there when BYU is in session."

Cabela's, the outdoor superstore that opened in Lehi last year, is another major drawing card. So is Micron's Lehi plant, which was largely dormant until a recent business upswing and a decision to relocate more workers there. Thanksgiving Point's theaters, greenhouse, dinosaur museum, golf course and upscale shops also are major attractions. And more are on the way.

When Orem Realtor Doug Wright broke into the business a few decades ago, Provo was the hot spot and no sacrifice was too great for first-time home buyers to locate there. He says that ardor has cooled.

"The primary difference I see . . . is that first-time buyers now demand more," Wright says. "They want all the conveniences of a modern home: new kitchens, more bedrooms, larger bathrooms and garages. Provo does not have much that is newer to choose from."

That's what drove LDS teacher Blair Van Dyke to move with his family to Cedar Hills eight years ago, when Provo real-estate prices went through the roof.

"We had a fairly small home there compared to what we have now," Van Dyke says. "We were also drawn to the rural nature of Cedar Hills. You had cows coming down the road, roosters crowing and a very small-town climate then."

Though "tried" at times, some Provoans remain "true."

George Stewart, former Provo mayor and current city councilman, relocated to Mesa, Ariz., but found there was "no place like Provo." The streets, he adds, are safe, the values virtuous and people wonderful.

"The headquarters of [the LDS Church] may be in Salt Lake, but the heart of the church is in Provo," declares Stewart.

Ditto on those pro-Provo feelings for Stan Lockhart, former Utah County GOP chairman and husband of state Rep. Becky Lockhart.

"My grandparents met at [Brigham Young] Academy in 1935," Stan Lockhart said. "My parents met at BYU in 1958, and I met Becky at BYU in 1987. We have deep roots here. We love the city, the students, the traditions, the safe neighborhoods and friendly people."

meddington@sltrib.com

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Tribune reporter Todd Hollingshead contributed to this report.