Salt Lake City or Portland? (Park City: bankrupt, school, living)

[robertpolyglot]

Read some of my Portland posts. Portland is a challenge for me. I'm currently here, temporarily.

HOWEVER, between the two, Portland, hands down.

In Portland, you have the liberal granola factor. But they are largely inconsequential to your life, just an irritant, because granolas generally carry no clout -- they're trying to make a statement of some sort with their non-mainstream appearance and behavior. In Salt Lake, you have the Mormon factor. They can be nepotistic, so that is a force you might have to contend with, in social situations but more importantly in employment settings. WAAAAYYYY too many people recount stories of the employment scenario.

In Portland, it is damp, so it always feels cool and fresh. In SLC, it is bone dry so it's bad for your skin, your sinuses and SLC/Denver/Reno have a lot of static electricity because of the dryness (zap...ouch).

In Portland, you can drive 90 minutes and see the Pacific Ocean. In SLC, well, good luck.

In Portland, there are a lot of unattractive women. It's scary. Moderator cut: partial cut

For a transplanted moderate Catholic professional (myself), I would pick Portland in a heartbeat over SLC.

[coolcats]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

In Portland, you can drive 90 minutes and see the Pacific Ocean. In SLC, well, good luck.

I’ve got you beat … I can see the Great Salt Lake from my work and be to the "beach" in 10 minutes

[wester]

We have never been in Portland, but we lived in Salt Lake City for several years, and miss it greatly. If you love film, you are at the perfect spot in Salt Lake, because Sundance shows its films in Park City, a gorgeous former mining town a half hour up some hills; and Sundance shows a lot of them in Salt Lake City itself, easier to go to and avoid the crowds. And the film loving spills over all year into Salt Lake; you can find a theater that shows new animated shorts, indie films, all year; there is a theater you can pay a dollar to see fairly recent new releases.

[tscrilla]

Originally Posted by catrinac

I doubt very seriously the city planners can undo the damage of the social control experiment known as the Mormon Church.

It's unfotunate that your logic is twisted here. Without the Mormon Church, there would be no Salt Lake City whatsoever and that cannot be ignored. Would you consider the Vatican to be a control experiement? No, you wouldn't. Think about it more.

[run4kids]

For a new job, we have the choice between Portland or Salt Lake City. We are not LDS but do attend chuch. We have four children ...13,10, 7 ,7 . We live in Cary, NC which is a wonderful place....lots of kids / family things to do and lots of beautiful trees. we are close to the beach, which we love. We are not used to snow,,,but it could be fine. Does anyone have any thoughts on which is better to raise a family..good schools, etc.???????much appreciated.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Our schools are over-crowded by news reports, but I don't have children here so this is by what Ir ead in the newspaper. Some who moved here complained about their kids being ahead of the class - search this forum on schools and you'll see a lot of different opinions. I love the cleaness of Utah compared to many other Eastern or Southern cities and I love the dry air. It took my skin about 6 months to start producing more oil and since then I rarely use lotion; at first it was lotion 3 times a day! But dry heat is easier to take than wet heat. There are a lot fo kids here and many family-type things. There are public indoor pools in most areas of the city and swimming while watching it snow is magical. I think they all have kids' pools like the one I go to has, warmer and full of fountains and buckets that spill, etc. My grandkids are fascinated by that pool!

[cinnabon]

I don't have kids & don't know about the schools, but here are some differences that I'm aware of:

-Portland is more expensive, more liberal and more "green" (in every sense of the word).
-The weather in Portland is an issue for some - it drizzles just about all winter, although this year they have some snow as well as the rain. For me who likes sunshine, Portland was not a consideration, even though it's a great city.
-Portland is not nearly as hot in the summer as SLC.
-Air quality is better in Portland. Smog gets trapped in the valley in SLC (bad for asthma).
-The mountains are much closer and more accessible in SLC than Portland. If you have an interest in skiing, SLC is far superior.
-Some people find the LDS culture to be an issue/problem. I am not religious at all, but to me it's no big deal.
-I believe the economy and job market are better in Salt Lake.

So it all depends on what you are looking for, as to which is a better choice.

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by tscrilla

Without the Mormon Church, there would be no Salt Lake City whatsoever and that cannot be ignored.

What do you call the Native Americans who were there LONG before mormons?

History of Salt Lake City in more detail.
Native Americans lived in the Great Salt Lake Valley for thousands of years before white settlement. The Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute peoples were among those Native Americans living in the area when the Mormons entered the area in July 1847.

Oh eventually there would have been new americans there. Just like every other western city, if some new americans settled Las Vegas- someone would have settled Salt Lake City.

It wouldn't be the same set-up as it is now(would that be so bad?), but it would be settled.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Sure it would have been settled but it wouldn't have the same flavor and set-up it does. I like the wide straight streets and the easy naming concept so you never get lost. I like the family-friendly atmosphere. I like the lack of crime in many areas (I know, it's bad in some places). I like the polite and friendly people. I like the climate. And I've only lived here 7 yrs and am not LDS>

[mitsuturbo]

After living in SLC for 10 years, and being raised in the pacific northwest (from seattle to eugene) i would MUCH rather be living where i am now, which is Seattle. I would recommend Portland over SLC, hands down. Portland is a lot more "actually" friendly from my perspective. While i was in SLC i found a larger percentage of "phony" friendly people than i ever encountered anywhere else i've lived. (which includes, CO, AK, OR, WA, and of course UT). Night life is at least 75% better in OR than UT due to bar/club/alcohol/etc laws and regulations. This is only my opinion though. SLC is an EASY place to get a job. Portland would be more competitive, i'm sure. I know Seattle sure is. Each city has its own set of issues you must acclimate yourself to. Due to the fact i remember little about living in vancouver and portland, i can't say much for what you'd face there, but Utah has very high taxes, especially in the SLC area, considering you dole out 5% of your wages in state income tax, and sales tax on EVERYTHING is at least 6%.. this includes unprepared food. In WA (might i suggest vancouver, just across the river from portland?) sales tax is high (9.6% in the seattle area, but no tax on food), and you pay no state income taxes. Washington typically has higher wages, and lower taxes which is why i returned. I'm not sure about OR, although a little online research would tell you plenty about that.

I know i just dumped a whole lot of nonsense into this post, but.. eh, that's how it came out of my head. I've stated my opinions as well as some facts.