Gay in Salt Lake City (Lehi, Park City: sale, hotels, transferring to)

[pwright600]

Husband (domestic partner here in Seattle) is transferring to SLC. Any ideas on the climate towards gays? Neighborhoods to live or buy in that are welcoming and progressive? His commute will be down to Lehi, but I'd like to live in SLC. I have a cousin that lives in Park City and raves, but way too far for commute to Lehi. Cost of living? Any ideas or comments would be greatly appreciated.

[LAnative10]

I dont know much about the specifics of the city, but I do have a friend who moved to Salt Lake City with his partner. They were scared at first, but they ended up likeing it more than LA. He says he never encounters any problems at all and hes been there for 3 years. He also says there isnt a whole lot of Gay nightlife, but that there is a large gay community with families.

[kwm03160]

Be sure to stick around Salt Lake. In general, Salt Lake is a very gay-friendly city. In general, the suburbs aren't.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

The Marmalade district in SLC is probably the best known gay-friendly neighborhood. The commute to Lehi would be bad. Also Sugar House. A friend of mine who was thinking of writing a gay travel book said that SLC has one of the highest gay populations per capita, of any city. Since he is from New Orlenas, I guess he did his research. I know there are many gays here, there is a ball in the Spring at one of the downtown hotels.

I also know a lesbian couple who live, quite happily, in Daybreak, which is a planned community down in the valley, with their children.

In general, I think SLC is quite tolerant. Of course, there's always the nut somewhere.

[pwright600]

Thanks for taking the time to inform me of SLC.

Google maps states the time to commute to Lehi from SLC takes about 40 min, is that accurate?

[Zionide]

Check out this older thread, where several of us answer a similar question:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/salt-...e-slc-but.html

As an update to it, my partner and I LOVE living in Central City Salt Lake even more than before---and there's more nightlife than many people would have you believe, and there are SO many gay singles, couples, and families in the city. The commute to Lehi will not be great, but at least it will be opposite most traffic. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions or concerns.

[hilgi]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

I also know a lesbian couple who live, quite happily, in Daybreak, which is a planned community down in the valley, with their children.

In general, I think SLC is quite tolerant. Of course, there's always the nut somewhere.

Belle,

We have only been in Daybreak for two months and we have already met three gay couples. One was at the wine club, one came to welcome us to the neighborhood and the other we met while walking. I think Daybreak is a very open and tolerant area.

[carpetbagger]

I don't think you will have a problem in Salt Lake City proper. Can't speak much to the suburbs, but I don't think you'd want to do that anyway. There are things you'll need to get used to, but I will tell you to give it a full year. My wife and I had a rough time making real friends here at first, and you have to cast a wide net. Most people here have pretty firmly established social circles. BUT, if you give it time, it will happen, and, I have to say, it is so freakin EASY to live here. The city itself is fairly liberal, but you'll have to decide if you can deal with the outside majority that runs the state legislature, who are very conservative and provide annoyances like the insanely ignorant laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages here (as an avid fan of beer,bourbon, and wine, I can say it really only minimally interferes, but your mileage may vary. I'll leave that to another post to explain, but I don't think it's something to be too alarmed about). I can't really explain it all in a single post, but I can advise you to move here and give it a shot, if you can afford to do so. If you have further, specific questions, I'd be glad to give you my opinion.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Thanks, Hilgi, for the info on Daybreak. The OP might want to consider that area as it would be much closer to Lehi.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by pwright600

Thanks for taking the time to inform me of SLC.

Google maps states the time to commute to Lehi from SLC takes about 40 min, is that accurate?

on a good day; traffic down I-15 during rush hour is miserable. the point of the mountain is infamous for pain and suffering during bad weather and will stand between you and your daily commute too.

As said before SLC has a fairly large gay community, and tolerance will decrease proportionate to your distance from SLC. But I don't see much in the way of overt discrimination, and the only clash I can think of was the recent temple square kissing fiasco.