Hopefully this will help answer questions about moving here from across country (car insurance, how much)

[cinnabon]

Originally Posted by dcisive

Uhh Tim Tim Tim.....correction please. Utah is the LARGEST consumer of medications relating to depression. This was on the news several months ago and in the national papers. so I have NO idea what pillow you're living under. Perhaps the people are happy or nice as they are heavily medicated. Who knows. Also one of the largest users of cosmetic surgery as well. Sheesh, ya think these folks are happy naturally? I think NOT!

Do you know anything about psychiatric medication? Yes, it's true they are prevelant here, for whatever reason. They don't turn people into artificially "happy" people. (I work in the mental health field, btw). I don't know where you hang out, but I see a lot more happy and positive people here than I ever saw in the Northeast - the difference is night and day.

I completely agree with the first post. I have been here for 8 months (also from NJ), and I love it here.

[slcbound]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

I just moved here about 3-4 months ago from tampa, fl. I see on this site the same questions over and over getting asked. I dont blame people for asking but maybe with this it will answer a few questions and give some insite to people looking to move here.

Diversity
The LDS church is very big here, obviously. Is it somthing to be worried about? not at all. I am not lds and have not had a single issue. I have not met one lds person who looked down on me or changed the way they acted towards me after finding out im not lds. 99% of them are just flat out nice/good people. Most of the bad things you hear are people who ARENT of the religion who obviously have nothing better to do then bash it for no real apparent reason.

Racism
I was amazingly surprised on how LITTLE racism there is here. The main races here are white and mexican from what I have seen. Coming from florida which is much more diverse in race with 10 times the amount of racism. I was pleasently surprised to see how accepting everyone is here. if your of color, in an inter-racial relationship or anything in between, that would not be a concern of mine at all if I were you.

Cost of living
Comparing to florida where I came from, overall the cost of living is for sure a bit less. auto insurance dropped by about half. Houses are a bit cheaper (although there a bit cheaper everywhere now) but homeowners insurance and taxes are surely alot less then what we were paying. Gas prices are lower (still keep in touch with family in fl. and there paying about 20-30 cents a gallon more). The availability of alternative fuels gives you other options when purchasing a car, the main being CNG (compressed natural gas). Renting is comparable, posibly a bit less but nothing crazy.

General attitude of utahn's
Well it was ranked as the happiest state in the country, that goes to tell a little bit. Generally 90% of the people I have met have been extremely nice. with my job i am at several peoples houses per day so I meet quite a few people. driving is SOOOO much easier, the commute here is my favorite part about this place. pretty much any place in the main salt lake valley is within 30-45 minutes away. thats including going up to the canyons. people here tend to get used to not having to drive far to reach anything therefore they will say that this and that is far, in reality comparing to most other places. its not far at all, everything is just so close here. snow removal is awesome, I drive a low, small rear wheel drive car (everyone says there the worst to drive in the snow) and have not even gotten close to getting stuck yet, I was also living up on the east bench for most of winter where they tend to get a little more snow then in the rest of the valley. my advice is just to buy a decent set of tires just for the really bad days.

Things to do
If you have even done a search on utah and need to read this section you have problems. This place is so full of things to do its rediculous. with summer time there are tons of lakes and rivers to do activities in (sking, boating, wake boarding etc, river rafting, hiking, offroading etc.) in the winter there is obviously tons of skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing etc. If your into hunting and fishing there is plenty of that as well.

so as an overall opinion, I love this place. There are very few things I dont like about it. I think its about as close to perfect as they come. The traffic and commute times are good, tons of things to do, nice people, tons of jobs and opertunities and the best scenery you could imagine. if your into the really big city thing; new york city, miami etc this may not be the place for you. If you want somthing with a bit more of the small town feel but all of the conveniences of a big city then you will love it here

We moved here at the end of December from KY. I could not agree more with what TimTimTim has said (we too are non-LDS). The only thing that differs for us is the housing prices. They are higher here than in KY. But, that's a good trade off for us, considering all that SLC has to offer. We started out renting, but are getting ready to close on a house becasue we like it so much here!

[Tim Tim Tim]

there a bit lower here then in tampa, of course thats always going to be different depending on where you come from.

the people who think that people here arent nice and unhappy etc. either havent been out of the state much or its been a little to long for them. It honestly gets annoying having all of these people so used to what utah has to offer sit around and bash it left and right. This isnt going to the people who disagreed with what I said, it goes for ALOT of people I meet. honestly, get out and go to some other places. 9 out of 10 of you will want to come back. there are so many things to do here if you want to get off your lazy ass and enjoy them. the scenery alone makes me wake up in a good mood every morning. The lack of heat and humidity at 6-7am start me off in a good mood as well. How about the lack of traffic? sure cant complain about that one. There are 3 things that have started my day off good before I ever even got to work. Try taking a look around and realize what we have here

[Jen38]

Totally agree! Also from NJ - exit 7A Been here 10 months and loving it. Born and raised in Jersey, have moved a ton. By far people are way nicer here, and happier. Just spent 4 years back in the East coast after being away for 9, people are cranky there. I became cranky there. Everyone complains and nobody leaves their house unless it's to go to work or bring their kids somewhere. I love seeing everyone out here on their bike, running, hiking, skiing etc.. It's so refreshing. I think I spent most of the winter in PA staring at my fridge and pantry!
Great post Tim Tim Tim!

[Tim Tim Tim]

thanks, I agree with what you said completely. Its so nice to see people out and people are so friendly. Just the other day me and a friend went and climbed the mount olympus trail. Besides that never even being an option in most of the country. Every single person we passed going up and down the hill were so nice, talkative and friendly. Its wierd for me to get used to not just walking by people and acting like you dont see them haha

[cinnabon]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

thanks, I agree with what you said completely. Its so nice to see people out and people are so friendly. Just the other day me and a friend went and climbed the mount olympus trail. Besides that never even being an option in most of the country. Every single person we passed going up and down the hill were so nice, talkative and friendly. Its wierd for me to get used to not just walking by people and acting like you dont see them haha

How brutal is that hike? And how long for round trip at a slower pace? I am dying to do it, but I feel like I should get into pretty good shape first.
Yes, I agree its nice how friendly people are everywhere.

[Tim Tim Tim]

its kinda rough. we made it about 95% of the way up but stopped because we were tired and there was a bit of snow to make it through up top and we didnt feel like hiking down with soggy socks. The views are beyond amazing though. Much better then I have seen anywhere in the area. your so high up you can see the cloud shadows down on the bottom of the valley, a huge majority of the salt lake, etc. I recomend doing it but bring water and expect it to take about 3-4 hours at a normal pace (thats to get up, we ran down so it took about an hour to get down).

on the sign it said that it is like a 3 or 4 mile distance with like 3 or 4 thousand foot elevation change. There were people jogging up it, obviously they were monsters in fantastic shape. Id consider me and my friend about average and we had to stop and take a few 2 minute breaks (dont stop to long or your muscles will get tired and/or cramp up

Also right now its extra pretty. When going up you kinda go up the side of the mountain a bit in between it and other. There was a huge waterfall and stuff on the other side which was pretty neat to look at. You also cross a little flowing creak 2 times and then actually have to go up a smaller creek that we found was coming out of a small whole in the mountain, that was a bit weird haha.

[LAFrench]

Tim, if my family and I move there someday, I will definitely have to look you up. Keep shootin' from the hip, buddy.
Take care.

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

its kinda rough. we made it about 95% of the way up but stopped because we were tired and there was a bit of snow to make it through up top and we didnt feel like hiking down with soggy socks. The views are beyond amazing though. Much better then I have seen anywhere in the area. your so high up you can see the cloud shadows down on the bottom of the valley, a huge majority of the salt lake, etc. I recomend doing it but bring water and expect it to take about 3-4 hours at a normal pace (thats to get up, we ran down so it took about an hour to get down).

on the sign it said that it is like a 3 or 4 mile distance with like 3 or 4 thousand foot elevation change. There were people jogging up it, obviously they were monsters in fantastic shape. Id consider me and my friend about average and we had to stop and take a few 2 minute breaks (dont stop to long or your muscles will get tired and/or cramp up

Also right now its extra pretty. When going up you kinda go up the side of the mountain a bit in between it and other. There was a huge waterfall and stuff on the other side which was pretty neat to look at. You also cross a little flowing creak 2 times and then actually have to go up a smaller creek that we found was coming out of a small whole in the mountain, that was a bit weird haha.

[Agnesv]

i live in utah and i think that was highly exaggerated ,it is not that great .utah is really boring in my opinion, however it if you are into the whole hiking and snowboarding stuff you will like it.its a little to slow for me

[markg91359]

i live in utah and i think that was highly exaggerated ,it is not that great .utah is really boring in my opinion, however it if you are into the whole hiking and snowboarding stuff you will like it.its a little to slow for me

To each his own. Outdoor recreation isn't a big deal to everyone. However, for those of us who like camping, hiking, skiing, boating, fishing, or just getting some sun this place is great. I think its the single most compelling reason to live in Utah.