SLC quality of life on the decline? (Salt Lake City, Logan: section 8, apartments)

[manyroads]

A friend of mine recently referred me Moderator cut: can't name competitorsto make me aware of some data regarding another city. I had never visited this website before, and out of curiosity I searched for Salt Lake City to see what the site had to say about it.

The first thing that I noticed was that SLC only had one star (out of a possible 5) as its average rating by those who left reviews. When I went to read reviews written about the city, I noticed that except for one review of 3 stars (which noted that its rating is dropping), many of the recent reviews of SLC gave it only a one star rating.

A few of the comments left by reviewers are as follows:

"I will save you the trouble of finding out for yourself that certain (even nicer) parts of SLC are turning into what looks like side-streets of Detroit with thousands of hood-rats and shady people on assisted housing.....
I've never seen neighborhoods fall apart so fast in such a short amount of time."

"Crime is out of control and its known that we have a revolving door offender problem because slc refuses to build another prison to house inmates..... Our communities are filling up with the wrong kind of people. 20,000 refugees and counting even though we can barely house our own locals..... Me and my husband both came down with serious respiratory illnesses all winter long because of the air quality and we are both health nuts. I was in the ER at one point because I was coughing up blood."

"Housing is limited and even expensive apartments are full of screaming kids everywhere on the property, you will be paying $1500-ish and be dealing with tons of neighbors on public assistance..."

"Salt Lake used to be one of the safest cities until about 10 years ago when certain peoples in power because obsessed with relocating people from other countries as well as allowing everyone to live anywhere courtesy of the government. Robberies, home invasions, rapes and strings of deadly freeway accidents are the daily "norm" here now"

"-Salt Lake City, Millcreek in particular is bringing thousands of Muslims here from Somalia. It's starting to look like the Middle East----even though Millcreek used to be one of the most high--end areas but now has section 8 communities full of Muslims alongside $400,000 homes."

If you'd like to read the reviews for yourself they can be found here: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site


I had still been considering moving to SLC if I decided to leave my current location, but after reading these comments and others like them, now I'm not sure that would be a good idea.

I'd really appreciate hearing from those who have been living in SLC and surrounding areas for a number of years to get your opinions about whether you agree with the comments above and if you feel that SLC's quality of life is declining.

[Chango]

The only real difference is that Salt Lake is in transition from being a "small city" to being a "big city" which of course comes with all the baggage of a typical large urban area that many longtime residents have never experienced before.

I still don't know where they are gonna put all the people but the Wasatch Front isn't far from being built out and the population IS going to double just from the locals having kids, to say nothing about the huge immigration influx we are (and will probably continue) experiencing.

Anyway, the place is changing in major ways both good and bad, and change is scary.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by manyroads

A friend of mine recently referred me to the websiteModerator cut: can't name competitors to make me aware of some data regarding another city. I had never visited this website before, and out of curiosity I searched for Salt Lake City to see what the site had to say about it.

The first thing that I noticed was that SLC only had one star (out of a possible 5) as its average rating by those who left reviews. When I went to read reviews written about the city, I noticed that except for one review of 3 stars (which noted that its rating is dropping), many of the recent reviews of SLC gave it only a one star rating.

A few of the comments left by reviewers are as follows:

"I will save you the trouble of finding out for yourself that certain (even nicer) parts of SLC are turning into what looks like side-streets of Detroit with thousands of hood-rats and shady people on assisted housing.....
I've never seen neighborhoods fall apart so fast in such a short amount of time."

"Crime is out of control and its known that we have a revolving door offender problem because slc refuses to build another prison to house inmates..... Our communities are filling up with the wrong kind of people. 20,000 refugees and counting even though we can barely house our own locals..... Me and my husband both came down with serious respiratory illnesses all winter long because of the air quality and we are both health nuts. I was in the ER at one point because I was coughing up blood."

"Housing is limited and even expensive apartments are full of screaming kids everywhere on the property, you will be paying $1500-ish and be dealing with tons of neighbors on public assistance..."

"Salt Lake used to be one of the safest cities until about 10 years ago when certain peoples in power because obsessed with relocating people from other countries as well as allowing everyone to live anywhere courtesy of the government. Robberies, home invasions, rapes and strings of deadly freeway accidents are the daily "norm" here now"

"-Salt Lake City, Millcreek in particular is bringing thousands of Muslims here from Somalia. It's starting to look like the Middle East----even though Millcreek used to be one of the most high--end areas but now has section 8 communities full of Muslims alongside $400,000 homes."

If you'd like to read the reviews for yourself they can be found here: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site


I had still been considering moving to SLC if I decided to leave my current location, but after reading these comments and others like them, now I'm not sure that would be a good idea.

I'd really appreciate hearing from those who have been living in SLC and surrounding areas for a number of years to get your opinions about whether you agree with the comments above and if you feel that SLC's quality of life is declining.

I'd classify pretty much every one of these comments as absolute BS. I've lived in Salt Lake City all my life (I'm nearly 70) and while the city is, of course, changing as it grows, it doesn't even remotely resemble what those comments say it's like. They are totally inaccurate and utter nonsense. I don't know anything about the reputation of Best Places as a reliable source of information, but if I were you, I'd do a whole lot more research before writing off Salt Lake City as the hellhole those quotes imply that it is.

Thousands of hood-rats, people on assisted housing, out-of-control crime, rapes and strings of deadly freeway accidents being the norm, communities full of Muslims... The list goes on. I think that the only thing these posters left out is that it's all the fault of those damned Mormons.

[kaytidid]

“The side streets of Detroit”? Are you kidding me?! In all of Salt Lake, there are only maybe a handful of streets that I would truly be concerned for my safety while walking around, and those aren’t even right downtown.

Male cow poop, I tell you. All of it.

[English Ivy]

Originally Posted by Chango

The only real difference is that Salt Lake is in transition from being a "small city" to being a "big city" which of course comes with all the baggage of a typical large urban area that many longtime residents have never experienced before.

I still don't know where they are gonna put all the people but the Wasatch Front isn't far from being built out and the population IS going to double just from the locals having kids, to say nothing about the huge immigration influx we are (and will probably continue) experiencing.

Anyway, the place is changing in major ways both good and bad, and change is scary.

Well said.

[Code Stemi]

Originally Posted by Chango

I still don't know where they are gonna put all the people but the Wasatch Front isn't far from being built out

I doubt that. There's plenty of room to grow on the Wasatch Front. Every direction except east.

[Geo-Aggie]

Lol, no. Quality of Life in Salt Lake is not in decline. Salt Lake is fine. It's growing up, but it's growing up quite nicely.

Also, in my opinion, if Salt Lake had more neighborhoods that looked like your average side streets in Detroit, it would actually be more desirable, and when you're contrasting with the nicer ones, it seems like more of a compliment than an insult. In a city of 138 square miles, it's not all Del Ray or Brush Park; however, give in another 2 years and Brush Park will again be a place of envy.

Housing in Salt Lake is indeed limited, especially in the city. You're almost required to live in the suburbs unless you're bringing in a healthy 6 digits or have no kids, but this isn't atypical. This is most large to mid-sized cities anymore. I left Salt Lake (..for Detroit, actually) because SLC wasn't for me, and I'm probably one of the bigger critics of the area on here, but it's not anywhere close to "in decline". It's actually pretty nice if some of its eccentricities don't bother you. It's very... religious... and the ultra-conservative politics of the region overwhelm the liberal politics of the city, but it's an all right place to live if you don't mind suburbia, or have the money to live in the city. Violent crime is pretty low, but there is a lot of petty/property crime. Auto theft is quite high, among the highest in the nation, but in the 10 years that I owned a car in Salt Lake/Logan/West Valley, I had a total of 0 cars broken into or stolen. Also, this idea that Millcreek is a new Mecca is pretty out there, and so what if it is? Muslims generally make fine neighbors; no worse than any other orthodox religious group. I don't know - I wouldn't take too much of what's said on that site you linked seriously. It reads as the philosophies of disgruntled former Salt Lakers mingled with some half-truths.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

Thousands of hood-rats, people on assisted housing, out-of-control crime, rapes and strings of deadly freeway accidents being the norm, communities full of Muslims... The list goes on. I think that the only thing these posters left out is that it's all the fault of those damned Mormons.

That pretty much sums it up. As you young kids might say, "Mic Drop."

[slomofo]

When cities start changing from red to blue, things tend to go downhill pretty quickly. The two biggest things that happen are the homeless populations rise and the cost of living skyrockets.


People from California move to Utah for a better quality of life, but then they start complaining about how Utah isn't like California so they continue voting blue and doing everything they can to turn their new home into the place they left behind. Once that happens and they realize they've screwed the pooch, they move on to the next city and do the same thing.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by slomofo

When cities start changing from red to blue, things tend to go downhill pretty quickly. The two biggest things that happen are the homeless populations rise and the cost of living skyrockets.


People from California move to Utah for a better quality of life, but then they start complaining about how Utah isn't like California so they continue voting blue and doing everything they can to turn their new home into the place they left behind. Once that happens and they realize they've screwed the pooch, they move on to the next city and do the same thing.

Oh, I get it! For once, it's not the Mormons' fault; it's the Californians' fault. So would you say the quotes given by the OP are accurate? Seriously?