Salt Lake City or Portland? (Richmond, Virgin: real estate, apartment, crime)

[Strummer83]

I posted this in the Portland thread as well, but haven't received any responses yet..so I figured I'd try here as well.


I know this is a long shot thread, that possibly won't get any responses..but I am looking to make a move out west and have narrowed it down to two places. I've been to both cities, but haven't spent enough time in either to be able to make a strong comparison. So, my questions are:

Which city would have more nightlife options for a single 24 year old female that likes to go out once in a while?

Which city has a better music scene? (I'm gonna go with Portland, but I figured I'd ask anyway).

What is the comparison on crime and overall affordability?

Which has more diverse food options?

What are the locals like? For those of you who have lived in either place..


Coming from Richmond, a diverse southern city with a strong art scene and good walkability..I would prefer to move someplace with these familiar aspects. I would also prefer to go someplace with a good film scene, if that's possible with these two choices.

Thanks ahead of time for any impending responses!



I was teeter tottering between LA and Portland for awhile, but am thinking I'd rather go somewhere unfamiliar..and Los Angeles is like a second home to me. Looking for a new experience! I hope ya'll can help :-)

[goldenmom7500]

How fun - I've lived in LA, Salt Lake, Northern Virginia, and was born in Seattle, but we moved when I was one. Still gives me Seattle "citizenship".

Of course I don't know Portland very well, except for a few trips when I was pretty young, but I really wanted to move there. It seems like my ideal city, just a tiny bit expensive.

There was a thread here last week asking similar questions about the SLC nightlife for someone early 20s (I think he was, like 22). I think the response was that there was a lot to do in SLC in terms of night life, etc.

Salt Lake is a nice place and I think the resources you are looking for are definitely there.

Now compared to Portland, I would say, generally speaking, Salt Lake is less expensive (but having some nice increases in real estate prices). I have always found the people in Salt Lake to be quite friendly and open. You have the Mormon issue whatever that means to you. I think Salt Lake would have the film, music, etc. Maybe Portland sounds like it meets your overall criteria a little bit better, with the drawbacks being cost and maybe crime. Someone needs to quantify the crime comparison, but it's just my sense ...

I really like Salt Lake. I think it's a lovely place, especially if you like the mountains and canyons, etc. I would probably lean towards Portland just based on everything I've read and the northwest location. But I mean no slight to Salt Lake which is lovely and highly recommended, generally speaking.

[symea]

I moved to Salt lake from (get this...Laguna Beach CA.) for a great job and I have not regretted one minute!The mountains are breathtaking, there is hardly any traffic (compared to California and what I'm used to) The people are super friendly. I am not LDS and nobody has bothered me at all.They have there thing and non-LDS have there own thing. The music tends to be great because it is a "tour" stop ( LA -Salt Lake-Dallas etc...)so we get great bands. There is a music venue called "the Depot" and I saw Five for fighting and Damian Rice in the same week ( 20$ tickets & $2 to Park!!!) We can actually afford a 4 bedroom house for the same monthly payment as our cramped 1 bedroom apartment in CA. And when I want to go to the beach it is a 1 hr 18 min flight. Oh yea- crime?? I left my mountain bike on the front lawn for 2 weeks and it's still there. try that in California! I probably added 15 years to my life leaving the stress, crime and prices of CA.

[goldenmom7500]

Wow, what a testimonial!

I peeked in on the Portland board and everyone told her to move to Portland and she jumped on it.

I love the anecdote about the dirt bike. I'm in another state and had my GPS stolen the first and only time I left my car unlocked (picked up visitors late from the airport, unloading bags, just forgot to lock it).

[urbanlemur]

I lived in SF after moving from Seattle and then moved to Salt Lake. Nightlife in SLC is probably not quite as good as in Portland but depending if you want to be near mountains or water may be a factor in determining your final destination. Portland will be a little more expensive too.

[Alicia Newman]

I am looking for a family oriented city and I think SLC is the place to live for a conservative person like me, I have a 16 year old son, we are looking for a better place to rising him. I think SLC is the answer.

[lemon&lime]

but, I've read for years that the job market is bad. That is the big drawback. There are supposedly a ton of jobs in Salt Lake. The job market is pretty good, I must admit. You can't live your whole life for that. If you aren't in to snow, long winters, outdoor sports, then do not even consider Salt Lake. I would imagine that Portland has just gotten more awesome since I was last there. There is a new area called the Pearl District which would have no equivalent in Salt Lake. As much as Salt Lake hates hearing this, this town is not urban and probably never will be. I fell in love with Portland literally on day one; tons of people have moved there in the last decade. I have lived in Salt Lake for the last 3 years and have never been happy even one of those days, not like I was in Portland. There is so much "pro-Portland" stuff on the net, people really seem to love that place. Gee, could it be because they not only have city planners they also have locals who have lived there for decades and who really truly want Portland to be the best place it can possibly be. They can bring that to Salt Lake sure, and maybe this place will have some nice amenities to. I doubt very seriously the city planners can undo the damage of the social control experiment known as the Mormon Church.

[mckalk]

I was born in Portland, grew up there and then lived in Salt Lake City for 13 years. Now back in PDX. I have to be honest, I don't like Portland as much as I used to.

I forgot how dreary Portland is except for some times in summer and early fall. Salt Lake has very nice four seasons, though granted Spring and Fall can be short. The thing to remember if you are concerned about snow is that the cities in Salt Lake County do an incredible job of keeping the streets cleared. It's really not a problem except if you have to shovel you own driveway!

I'm somewhat of a moderate,so I am stunned by how liberal Portland has become and I felt like a liberal in Salt Lake! There's nice restaurants in both cities though in Salt Lake you do have to get used to the liquor laws, private clubs, etc. Downtown Salt Lake is nothing like downtown Portland as far as things to do at night. Salt Lake has limited choices and is more subdued.

I think for a young person Portland might be a better bet though if you are concerned about the LDS influence in Utah. Salt Lake City itself is now less than 50% LDS and fairly progressive.

[jhwest]

Portland definitely has a lot more going on for younger people than Salt Lake. More restaurants, better concerts, more cool stuff going on. I lived in Portland for ten years and liked it a lot, but the weather gets really depressing after a while.

[Syringaloid]

Remember too that Portland (pop. 537,000) is a lot larger city than Salt Lake (pop 179,000), so you are not really comparing apples to apples here. The Portland metro population is also larger. Both cities have nice downtown areas, but Salt Lake's city center is rather bland compared to Portland and what is offered, but then Portland is a lot larger anyways.