In Catholic Boston, for instance, the $30 million temple of white granite in the upscale Belmont neighborhood where Romney is a church leader was targeted by lawsuits. Dedicated in 2000, the building's 81-foot steeple was added only later when the church fended off a Supreme Court of Massachusetts challenge.

In communities like Rexburg, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls, where there has been a temple since 1945, opposition is rare.

At least one Idaho Falls hotel, the LeRitz, lures guests by advertising rooms overlooking the temple.

And land near temples can be such a hot commodity that church leaders in Salt Lake City carefully safeguard their future plans, in order to prevent unfair property speculation, Hirschi said.

Ken Edmunds, an LDS member and developer of a 49-unit subdivision near Twin Falls' new temple, paid a premium for his land, figuring its location would make it easier to sell homes priced up to $900,000 even if the market slumps.

Just to be sure, he named the neighborhood after a Mormon magazine, the Ensign.

"The name is readily identifiable to those within the church, and those outside don't seem to care," Edmunds said. "In my mind, it was an economic cycle-proof development. And that was proven out."