PROS and CONS of Salt Lake City (and Utah) for prospective transplants (Logan: crime, how much)

[Jonah Hex]

Originally Posted by dcisive

I hate like heck to admit it, but what keeps me here is that when you "compare" it to other places, you eventually end up with a Pro vs. Con list where the pros outweigh the cons by a considerable margin. This will of course depend largely if you come here with a job already paying you decently, you either don't have kids or they are old enough not to be part of that influenced age group, and you have a good car willing to drive out of the area to some of the most amazing places on the planet within a day drive. If none of those applied you might have a slightly more "Con" weighted list. I have no kids, have a good paying job and good cars and am willing to take my jaunts and vacations to places like Glacier Natl. Park, Yellowstone Natl. Park and the Tetons, Zion and Canyonlands Natl. Parks and more. So for me it works. If you are a typical family situation with a couple or more of young kids or have allergies and bad lung function issues you may want to rethink coming here, that's for sure. Especially if you don't have an established well paying job as well. Yes the air quality does suck much of the time in the Valley. If you're in Park City you're fine. So keep these things in mind.

Very well said dcisive. If it were only my wife and I, we would get a home here, make it our base.
Although I must seem like I hate it here from my comments, actually I love it. If you have no kids, are at least in your 30s, and earn a pretty good wage this place is nice and absolutely woth living at and then travelling. We are looking to relocate after 3 or so years here for the kids.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by Jonah Hex

Salt Lake City practically IS Utah. If one ventures outside city borders there is not much to find other than small towns that are largely if not almost completely populated by LDS persons, and desert.

In my opinion SLC is the WORST part of Utah. You are missing the best the state has to offer if you bypass everything else. Those "deserts" surrounding SL have some of the most beautify scenery, hikes, incredible wildlife and habitat variation, best hunting, camping, history and inspiration I've found anywhere in the world. (and I've been around a bit)

Utah is a lousy place for an urbanite to find happiness.

[Jonah Hex]

Originally Posted by Chango

In my opinion SLC is the WORST part of Utah. You are missing the best the state has to offer if you bypass everything else. Those "deserts" surrounding SL have some of the most beautify scenery, hikes, incredible wildlife and habitat variation, best hunting, camping, history and inspiration I've found anywhere in the world. (and I've been around a bit)

Utah is a lousy place for an urbanite to find happiness.

Nicely put, Chango.
I am a hopeless urbanite, true enough.
And I agree with beautiful scenery and all you said.
However, even in being an urbanite, I do appreciate nature and the simple things in life. No matter where in utah one ventures, there is a deserty feel to it. I suppose my nature loving is more ocean-sea oriented. Or places that are a little more "wet" in nature and not deserty... how do I explain this...
Oh, you have been around a bit, here is an example;
the bamboo forests of Japan. what magic.

[dcisive]

I totally agree with Chango on THAT one. Whenever I get out of the Wasatch Front (Ogden to Provo) I fell I am seeing the REAL Utah. But then I am very pro open space so I need a bit of room to breath....literally. On the Wasatch Front the air is quickly becoming some of the worst in the country. I well remember last winter there were 14 days the air exceeded the poorest quality found in Southern California, New York, Chicago and Houston by a considerably margin. Some friends of mine that have allergies and troubles with their lungs had to go on oxygen just to make it through. And yet we all still have to commute polluting the air continually. They are not removing all of the junky older cars and especially those annoying older pickup trucks that belch out huge amounts of these hydrocarbons and yet even give them special allowances to remain on the road when they get smog checked because of their age. I say TUFF, either comply with TODAY"S air standards and get that piece of junk off our roads or not have a license to drive it. Sounds tough but you have to be tough in order to get this air quality problem under control. Frankly......I don't see it happening any time in the foreseeable future....so each winter we will suffer mightily. No telling how many more cancers we will see as a result let alone asthma and other respiratory problems

[pitt_transplant]

Thanks for this list. Some of your "cons" would sorta be pros to me at this point. I too have lived in a lot of urban areas and just need a huge break from hard cities. The only thing I don't like is the "non-walkable thing..But hey maybe after the hills of pittsburgh it will seem like nothing to me!
There not being a night life also sounds like a business oppurtunity in waiting. Pittsburgh has a stank of coal burning electrical plants pretty much every single day from the end of a wet winter and all through summer. Burns my nose. BLEK. I could really do with the sun, the sushi, the hiking and the inspiration of the desert feel. A lot of my favorite artists seem to have gone west to clear the mind...Hope it does the same for me.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by Jonah Hex

No matter where in utah one ventures, there is a deserty feel to it. I suppose my nature loving is more ocean-sea oriented. Or places that are a little more "wet" in nature and not deserty... how do I explain this...
Oh, you have been around a bit, here is an example;
the bamboo forests of Japan. what magic.

Not necessarily true. There's a lot of country in the state that is classic rocky mountain coniferous forests which feels nothing like the desert. And the state is riddled with oasis's of life even in the deserts. There are places green and wet enough to compete even with Japan's bamboo forests for magical etherealness. You just have to know where to look. I think that is what I like so much about the local environment; the contrast between verdant land and desolation right next to each other.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I can't understand how sanyone can not enjoy the outdoors just for its beauty, but to each his own. I also enjoy city life at times, but not to the exclusion of the outdoors.

UT has some of the best outdoor places there are! and the low humidity makes them even more accessible to many. If you haven't tried to walk around in 95 degree/100% humidity, you haven't experienced the heat of Hell here on Earth.

[kek1993]

I live in Miami now, and it is way different from Utah. The people are sort of unfriendly here compared with Utah, it is definitely more diverse here.

Utah was okay, but I could not make a living there. I tripled my pay by moving to Miami. Same job. And the living expenses are definitely not 3x higher.

I threw away my snow boots.

But it is hot here, all the time. And sticky. So, I miss the fresh air of a sunny day at the top of the tram, and the long run down. Oh well, I guess I will just go to the beach.

Oh, I am always losing my umbrella. I am not used to needing one almost every day. And when it rains here, it does not get cool, like in Utah, it actually gets HOTTER. Like, hot rain, who knew? And I saw a bug, that honestly, could have been a pet. And gators, and snakes. Never saw a gator in SLC.

[cinnabon]

Originally Posted by Jonah Hex

Dear Cinnabon,

Thanks for your input. Your points are valid, but it seems like you did not read my PROS carefully. Regardless, let me respond to you;
Sure, there is some live music. But I guess if you compare to other state capitols and not by population, this is weak in slc.
Outdoors stuff you speak of eaither takes money or is -let's face it- boring. Hikes are ok, sometimes. But compare that to a walk and exploration on the beach!
You can only take so many drives through the canyons with expensive gas and your face stuck on the window going uuuuh, aaaah. Still standing nature. Its ok once or twice. Stuck in metal car coffin.
You read my view on antelope island. If it is so grand why is there practically noone ever there? Nice nature, sure, but it seems like dead brush and rock to me. State should offer some activities there.
The olympic park is a statue. what do you do there? Bretahe in and reminisce about days of the olympics? I dont get it.
The ski resorts and sundance festival; sure, those are great. But, like I said before, that takes a lot of funds. I am not well off. Drive to the resort with my suv (gas), get a room, rent ski equipment or snow mobile, eat, etc. Try that every weekend. If you can, there are more luxurious places for you to live at.
What gardens are you referring to? International peace gardens? Isolated and deserted. Wheeler Farm? walk around and look at old stuff, deserted. This is the place park? celebration of lds history.
Every self respecting bigger city has a zoo. How many times can you do that?
Festivals are few, gallivan center is soooo small.
National parks I mentioned in my original pros, takes money.

What I am comparing to is other numerous places I have lived and visited; Boston, Los angeles, san diego, philadelphia, europe, etc.
An example: san diego's gaslamp quarter, many walkable city blocks with coffee shops, restaurants, unique shops and this is key: lots of people always! Seaport village; similar story. Notice I am mentioning free things, not sea world, disneyland or legoland.
I understand fully comparison is not just (if nothing else but population sizes), but the point of my post is to give it to newcomers straight so they do not make a mistake. Someone may think slc is a state capitol like many others.

Just a couple of points. Your opinion about being in a really fun place and mine differ. That's fine, but it is your opinion that walking on the beach is preferable to hiking in the beautiful mountains, not a universal fact, just an opinion. Both are free, although both involve driving your gas guzzling car to the location - unless you can afford real estate on the beach in San Diego, in which case you would have no concerns about money.

Gardens - Red Butte Gardens and Thanksgiving Point are the too largest gardens around here that I know of. Both are gorgeous. Red Butte is about $6to get in, TP is $10, but they were offering $2 Tuesdays in Aug.

There is a lot of stuff to do at Olympic Park - ziplines, alpine slides, etc., but these of course do cost money. To visit Park City from Salt Lake does not require getting a room - at 30 minutes away it is quite an easy day trip, and it is just as free to stroll around the cute town with unique shops and restaurants as it is to stroll around San Diego... just sayin. There are also a lot of discounts to be had for locals for winter sports and other activities. Although I am not sure if you are a local or not since you seem pretty unfamiliar with much of what is here?

Finally, why would you compare SLC to other "capital cities" and not consider population? Obviously population is a huge factor in how much a city can offer. SLC is about the size of Little Rock, AK, so that would be a more fair comparison. The cities you mentioned, some of the largest in the country, DO offer a lot more - they are also tremendously expensive both to live in and to visit. And LA and San Diego are not even capitols. Why compare apples to oranges? I don't think most people assume that SLC offers the same amenities as Boston just because it is a capitol. Look at Albany for example - the capitol of NY. It's a lot smaller than SLC.

One last thing, I spent my whole life in the Northeast except for the past year when I have lived here. I am well traveled and am familiar with many parts of the country. In my opinion, there is a ton of stuff to do here compared with most places, and in Utah in general. It is also cheaper to do things here than a lot of other places. Maybe it's not stuff you like to do, but the fact remains. I only bother to give such a detailed response because I do not feel that your opinion is very informed or factual. Do you even live here?

Edit: I see that you do in fact live here. You really need to get out and explore more - you are missing a lot!

Hiking here did not cost me a dime - very ho-hum I know!

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Jonah Hex

I guess if you consider the fact that according to the lds religion women cannot move on to higher afterlife planes of existance without being married to a man it makes sense.

Neither can a man.