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Please give those people that don't know what the abbreviation SLC stands for a break! I just stumbled on to your message and wondered what the heck SLC was. I found out as I replied but how would anyone know otherwise what this abbreviation stands for? At least type the whole name or word out initially then proceed to use abbreviations. Thanks.
Seriously?
The name of the forum is "Salt Lake City area".
To Easterners, these places are not exactly considered "East"! lol They are considered midwest, which is not particularly desirable to many Eastern seaboarders. And while they are "cities", they are in pretty rural, isolated areas. Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and Cheyenne??? Proximity to any of these places means absolutely nothing to me, a typical Easterner (no offense intended!) When I leave the east, I will miss the proximity to NYC, Philly, and Boston. I couldn't care less if Denver is a few inches closer to them than SLC is. Either way, it's a long flight, and is not really drivable. The only thing that would be a consideration would be proximity the west coast, and for that, SLC is closer.
However, you both have a good point about Denver being a larger metro area, and more of a "real city". My biggest loss will be living somewhere where major bands usually don't tour..., as well as other cultural and entertainment opportunities. I love going to concerts, etc. - I see 10+ per year. Denver would be much better than SLC in this regard, but overall, SLC has many more advantages to me over Denver...
The last time I checked, Minneapolis was in Minnesota, Omaha was in Nebraska, and Kansas City was in Missouri. Minn and KC are "major league towns" in the sense of having major league sports teams. Omaha metro has a population of 800,000 people. Chicago is one very long day's drive, or two shorter ones. We've driven it many times. It's drivable. And Denver is 500 miles closer to them, not inches.
The last time I checked, Minneapolis was in Minnesota, Omaha was in Nebraska, and Kansas City was in Missouri. Minn and KC are "major league towns" in the sense of having major league sports teams. Omaha metro has a population of 800,000 people. Chicago is one very long day's drive, or two shorter ones. We've driven it many times. It's drivable. And Denver is 500 miles closer to them, not inches.
I think you missed my point. I was just speaking to the comment made about easterners feeling closer to home in Denver than SLC, which I completely disagree with. To us they are both "out west", and both involve over 5 hours on a plane to get to. 500 miles may as well be inches for how far they both are from the East coast. Chicago, or any of those other places, is not considered "the east" to people who live on the east coast. If you are talking about the midwest, well then proximity to Denver over SLC would actually make a difference.
But like I said, I do agree that Denver is much more of a major metro area than SLC is.
Wow that's a great comparision. There is more similarity than I would have imagined. The population sizes of the cities might be a bit misleading. The Wasatch Front has about 2 million people. Salt Lake is the most well known, but the whole corridor is urbanized.
So even though the populations of the actual cities themselves are quite different, the metro areas are again quite similar.
though it looks to me like the comparison is similar in terms of expense and weather and topography, but maybe the insinuation was that, culturally, there might be some significant differences?
If you have moved to SLC from the East or if you are originally from anywhere "back East" - and if you miss the East, Denver may be your answer - it is the "edge of the frontier" to many Easterners, the end-all to living in the Rockies and as far as they were willing to go on such a risky move across the plains.
Denver is full of Easterners of the general sort. Salt Lake traditionally has attracted those from the more rugged Eastern States such as Virginia and Maine - people who might be in it for the skiing.
Denver is like a real city. Salt Lake is a little more like a huge, open-air mall.
From Denver, you can shoot down to Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico with relative ease and also up to Cheyenne and beyond. From Salt Lake ... it's a tedious drive no matter where you're going.
From Denver, it's a day and a half to reach the Mississippi River and thereby, "The East". From Salt Lake, it's a full day to reach Denver!
Denver has a typical "wild side". Salt Lake has "The Zion Curtain".
Utah - especially Salt Lake - has beefed-up it's numbers and stats for decades. The first thing I learned about Utah after moving there was that they will publish total falsehoods in order to get federal funding on certain fronts. That was before they started a major PR campaign to attract relocaters ... and they use the same method there. I see one poster found a report of SLC avg income to be in excess of 51K. Not so - perhaps possible if it is a family of six adults and all are working full-time. Cost of living is also higher than almost anywhere on the mainland.
Now, I'm not a big fan of Salt Lake - lived there a long time and near there for longer. It offers something different but not much else.
I'm also not a huge fan of Denver - it's stinky and dirty and has all the downsides of a major metro area - plus it's 500+miles to anywhere almost ... but it offers a more "regular" way of life.
But if you're into being a bit isolated - of having civilization about equi-distant in two directions (500 mi. to Denver, 700+ to the west coast) then, Salt Lake might be your answer.
I personally think you should take a much closer look at where you already are before making a big move to either because, once you're there, there's almost nowhere else to go except back home! (and you can do that from much closer)
i would agree that denver might (might) have more easterners, and salt lake more westerners, though it seems to me that denver has a fair share of californians, and a huge share of midwesterners; much larger share of midwesterners than easterners as far as i can tell.
I think you missed my point. I was just speaking to the comment made about easterners feeling closer to home in Denver than SLC, which I completely disagree with. To us they are both "out west", and both involve over 5 hours on a plane to get to. 500 miles may as well be inches for how far they both are from the East coast. Chicago, or any of those other places, is not considered "the east" to people who live on the east coast. If you are talking about the midwest, well then proximity to Denver over SLC would actually make a difference.
But like I said, I do agree that Denver is much more of a major metro area than SLC is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hello-world
i would agree that denver might (might) have more easterners, and salt lake more westerners, though it seems to me that denver has a fair share of californians, and a huge share of midwesterners; much larger share of midwesterners than easterners as far as i can tell.
Perhaps the point is that a lot of easterners don't know a lot about the geography of the west. I am from the east (though not the coast) and I can tell you that being a day's drive closer makes a big difference if you are driving; two days total out of a trip. Being from the east, you probably orient more towards the east than the west coast. SLC is closer to Cali.
I agree with hello-world's assessment of the Denver population. You should look up the stats on SLC, as well. Culturally, I would say there is a big difference in the two ciites.
I lived in Salt Lake City for thirteen years and traveled on business to Denver for ten. I always felt if you are really into the mountain lifestyle you might as well live in Salt Lake. Mountains are much closer to the city, the views are more dramatic. The cost of living is better and the traffic is still reasonable. That being said, Denver is a mega city with great downtown nightlife (something definitely lacking in SLC), the full compliment of professional sports and much more diversity.
To Easterners, these places are not exactly considered "East"! lol They are considered midwest, which is not particularly desirable to many Eastern seaboarders. And while they are "cities", they are in pretty rural, isolated areas. Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and Cheyenne??? Proximity to any of these places means absolutely nothing to me, a typical Easterner (no offense intended!) When I leave the east, I will miss the proximity to NYC, Philly, and Boston. I couldn't care less if Denver is a few inches closer to them than SLC is. Either way, it's a long flight, and is not really drivable. The only thing that would be a consideration would be proximity the west coast, and for that, SLC is closer.
However, you both have a good point about Denver being a larger metro area, and more of a "real city". My biggest loss will be living somewhere where major bands usually don't tour..., as well as other cultural and entertainment opportunities. I love going to concerts, etc. - I see 10+ per year. Denver would be much better than SLC in this regard, but overall, SLC has many more advantages to me over Denver...
Thank you - Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and Cheyenne are not places anyone that I know of looks to travel to, either, and certainly not the short drives someone makes them out to be compared to driving from Salt Lake to Vegas or even Cali! If Cheyenne is a point of great destination, then so is any small town in Idaho.
Thank you - Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and Cheyenne are not places anyone that I know of looks to travel to, either, and certainly not the short drives someone makes them out to be compared to driving from Salt Lake to Vegas or even Cali! If Cheyenne is a point of great destination, then so is any small town in Idaho.
A lot of we westerners "look to" travel to those places--quite often.
Here's a good exercise for all of you Easterners. Take your US map and cut out one of the Rocky Mountain states--pick any one, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, etc. Now take it and lay on top of New England or the New York/DC blob. Now, imagine how many people live in the area "covered up" by that Rocky Mountain state--20 million? 40 million? Now, look at the population of the state you picked, 4 million or so for Colorado, the most populous; just over 500,000 for Wyoming, for example.
If you're not willing to recognize that difference in perspective, you're probably not going to make it as a true "Westerner," any more than most of we Westerners would like living in the concrete jungle of the Eastern cities.
However, you both have a good point about Denver being a larger metro area, and more of a "real city". My biggest loss will be living somewhere where major bands usually don't tour..., as well as other cultural and entertainment opportunities. I love going to concerts, etc. - I see 10+ per year. Denver would be much better than SLC in this regard, but overall, SLC has many more advantages to me over Denver...
The Denver/Boulder area is definitely better in this regard. It punches much higher than its weight division in terms of attracting all types of concerts, from underground alt-rock and world-music acts to the majors. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that the area has had some half-decent radio (KBCO-FM, www.kbco.com, for example) over the years to give exposure to less popular acts.
But, while I've not been there, people tell me that SLC has long had a thriving underground scene. There was even a movie about it ("SLC Punk") and whole magazines devoted to it, like Slug Magazine (short Salt Lake Underground) www.slugmag.com
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