This is a really "quiet" forum - why is that? (Salt Lake City: houses, neighborhoods)

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

So the symphony, chamber groups, ballet, modern dance groups, etc mean nothing? This city has more music than many. Then there are all the lectures around town on all sorts if interesting topics. If bars and restaurants and street life are "it" for you, then yes, it's boring. Until very recently no one lived downtown to supper after-work activity.

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And theatre! My gosh, we have some great theatre!

[b6bomber]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

So the symphony, chamber groups, ballet, modern dance groups, etc mean nothing? This city has more music than many. Then there are all the lectures around town on all sorts if interesting topics. If bars and restaurants and street life are "it" for you, then yes, it's boring. Until very recently no one lived downtown to support after-work activity.

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No, don't jump to conclusions. "Entertainment" includes everything mentioned by you, me and more. Art, movies, festivals, concerts...all that is to be included in the entertainment category. "Things to do". I won't lie and claim ballet and symphony's are my thing, but I do enjoy theater, Broadway etc and have attended quite a few plays here in Salt Lake. Since we are on the topic of higher class entertainment, how about dinner after a play? You can't find a decent restaurant after a show that gets out late. Sure one can name some random restaurant that is open late, but lets be honest, there just isn't much classy food to be had later in the evening. When I go out with friends or family, I like to eat after enjoying a great, long, entertaining show. But all that's left is Bayleaf or Del Taco. Pretty disappointing.

Funny enough, even though I mentioned bars and parties, I don't drink, party nor am I a regular clubber. So street life and bars are not "it" for me. And here again since on topic, kind of sad to think that "last call" is at 1am, and most places start closing around that time too...people in Europe don't even start going out between 11pm-1am and bars/clubs are open all night. Sure, again one can probably find some argument why that's stupid or why Utah's 1am last call thing is perfect...but its just lame.

Next point, what about during the week? You can't really go out during the week because it is as dead as it could get. I like to know that I can go out any day that I please, and I am not tied to only a Saturday night. You will say I have no life, but guess what, people have different shifts, days and weeks they work. Students may work on weekends but have no class Tuesday, Wed, Thursday...in other big cities you can expect a neat crowd any day of the week, and downtown always being active until the early AM. Is that unrealistic for a large city with 1.1 million people?

I'll state it again for those overlooked it, please do not see my post as a complete statement/argument, I do not have the room nor time to write a novel covering every single aspect of Utah's nightlife/entertainment/downtown/go out possibilities so of course you will keep finding little bits and pieces to point out that I failed to mention.
After checking out a majority of the things Salt Lake City has to offer, I am far from convinced that Salt Lake is not far inferior to similar sized cities. But it is growing, developing and I have great hopes for it's future

[stycotl]

i think people that consider the outdoors not to be sufficient reason to like or dislike a place are nuts. outdoors are everything to me. i couldn't care less about a city's nightlife. but if i am stuck in a place with no mountains, ocean, desert or any other interesting outdoor recreational opportunities, i quickly become a depressed aaron.

[BuckeyezRule]

Originally Posted by b6bomber

I know I will get burned for this answer but I feel like it needs to be said: While Utah is an amazing place for all sorts of outdoor activities as mentioned before, Utah overall is an extremely dull and boring place. Let me explain:

Leaving "outdoors" in general aside, which I never felt was a strong argument for a place to live ("Why do you like Utah?...the outdoors are the best in the world!...Anything else?....no, just outdoors! yeah!"), Utah does not have much to offer in comparison to other cities of similar size. Considering we have some 1.1 million people in the valley/Salt Lake County, and 2.something million people counting all surrounding cities...it is mindblowing how weak the Salt Lake area is.
Nightlife is a joke, downtown while slowly becoming more alive (YES! ) is dull, ugly and you just dont feel like you live in a big city because you don't see anybody anywhere. There are a couple very small "gathering" spots where you see a couple people walking around from store to store (gateway) or bar hopping...but this city is desperatly missing a legit "downtown", a place where everyone goes friday and saturday nights, be it parents, young couples, teenagers, elderly couples and singles to out and party. A place where you see people walking their dogs, eating at restaurants, partying, drinking, laughing, playing music and games etc etc. It simply is a boring place because kids have nowhere to go, teenagers have nowhere to go and nor do singles/young adults really. So they either do drugs and have house parties, or they just stay at home and spend time with their family. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge family time fan myself, and I also don't see anything wrong with spending time at home after a great day spending time outdoors...but come on! 1.2 million people and EVERYBODY is at home? The beauty of just about every other city I lived in, be it small/medium/or large...the diversity and mixture of people you see EVERYWHERE you go is amazing, refreshing, never boring.

I lived in Germany, France, South Africa, Florida and have travelled to more places than I can recall...and while not every place is amazing, I feel like every similar sized city to Salt Lake blows it to peaces in terms of entertainment opportunities, diversity and "alive feeling".

I know my argument is not complete nor convincing, its tough to write out everything relevant to make my point. But it just sucks, there are no streets with cute cafes to sit outside and have breakfast, no indoor waterparks for the cold months, not even a good outdoor waterpark! Damnit!....

Please realize this is a short, summarized post. I am exagerating a bit, using words such as "everywhere" "none" etc. I realize there are people downtown, so when I say "no one" I simply mean very few in comparison to another city of Salt lake's size. Please use some common sense when reading my post and don't take it word for word, in a literal way.

I love Salt Lake/Utah. But it lacks sooooo much, and I have a very hard time understanding how people can be head over heels in love with when all they ever talk about are outdoors. I guess to some people thats all that matters in life, which is great and perfectly fine. But again, considering the size, Salt lake is absolute weak sauve.

cheers

I will just say, I do understand you. I am in my 30's kids, married, &, honestly we are content to be homebodies. I have a number of friends my age, w/ kids, who love to 'go out'. I just don't. Nothing wrong w/ it, just not me. I do go out & make an appearance every now & then w/ my friends. lol

The nightlife sucks here, but, again, I'm content to stay home, so, not an issue for me. The food SUCKS here. I do miss that, but, for me, I love the family friendliness, not many smoke atmosphere. I love all the kids for my kids to play w/, they & we don't care about religion, & love how quiet it is out here.

Love the sunny days, as opposed to clouds in Ohio. lol

The outdoors, yes, we adore it! We hike in the mountains alot. =) We also geocache as a family. We might be hokey, but, we have fun. =)

[sp2007]

Buckeye, where do you go for the best geocaching, can your little ones get involved too? We are novice geocachers and we are trying to get more involved.

[TCAS007]

Originally Posted by BuckeyezRule

The nightlife sucks here, but, again, I'm content to stay home, so, not an issue for me. The food SUCKS here. I do miss that, but, for me,I love the family friendliness, not many smoke atmosphere.

Why does the food suck? It's only as good as you want it to be. Maybe I don't understand what you mean.

[skibarbie]

I don't think the food sucks at all! Maybe you aren't eating at the right places? I understand that "good food" is subjective but to say it sucks is way to harsh in my opinion.
There are lots of posts about restaurants in the area, maybe give some of those another read and try something new.

[Tim Tim Tim]

Come to florida and tell me the food sucks in utah. Pretty much every restraunt we have, you guys have but add 100 others to your list. The only thing utah doesnt have that I would like is cuban food. I cant wait to be back there! (mostly for the outdoors )

[BuckeyezRule]

Originally Posted by sp2007

Buckeye, where do you go for the best geocaching, can your little ones get involved too? We are novice geocachers and we are trying to get more involved.

Preface, we are begging for good food in Utah. lol We love Este's for pizza & Red, ie Red Iguana, for Mexican, but need more.

SP, Utah is a cornicopia (sp?) of geocaches. My kids have been involved since 08 when they were 3 1/2 & 4 1/2. They've loved it ever since. They are now, just turned 7 & 8. Our kiddos have had so much fun finding the caches on our 'jaunts'. lol

My username here is the same on the geocaching website Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site See the pics of my kiddos & hubby & I. lol We've been a bit slow as of late, but, plan to branch out soon. =)

[BuckeyezRule]

Oh, &, sorry, yes, sucks is harsh. I just get tired of trying place after place & most of the food is bland. As for the nightlife, I guess I should say it sucks compared to other places, but, again, I'm a homebody, so that doesn't bother me. The food part does. I have a picky palate. My friends rave over places, &, I go, I try it, &, usually find it, well, not good. I suppose though, that keeps me from going out too much, thus saving $$$$ & probably eating less. lol So, there's always a bright side to the bland side. I still try to find great food though, so, that keeps me away from the 'puter (though not my phone.