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Ehh I agree with the poster who said that in the city proper you can, for the most part escape the LDS influence. Yes they built the new mall, but I rarely go there and I frequent other parts of downtown often. Just 1 block south of the mall are dozens of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops that are busy on most evenings. Also while there are LDS churches all over, in the city proper I would wager it's maybe 65% to 70% non-LDS. You can definitely find any type of person in the city and it is quite liberal as SLC elected an openly lesbian mayor last year and has voted blue for about 2 decades. Once you get out of the city going south or north it does get much more LDS but even salt lake county is growing more diverse.
Ehh I agree with the poster who said that in the city proper you can, for the most part escape the LDS influence. Yes they built the new mall, but I rarely go there and I frequent other parts of downtown often. Just 1 block south of the mall are dozens of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops that are busy on most evenings. Also while there are LDS churches all over, in the city proper I would wager it's maybe 65% to 70% non-LDS. You can definitely find any type of person in the city and it is quite liberal as SLC elected an openly lesbian mayor last year and has voted blue for about 2 decades. Once you get out of the city going south or north it does get much more LDS but even salt lake county is growing more diverse.
Not really. The LDS Church owns the big new mall downtown and that new flashy mall still has to adhere to quirky LDS teachings and State laws.
The only thing that sets the LDS-owned mall apart from any other mall in the country is that it is closed on Sundays. Yes, the Church owns the land on which the mall was built, but the Church doesn't tell the stores there (Nordstrom, Anthropologie, White House/Black Market, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Macy's, Restoration Hardware, Teavana, Banana Republic, Bose, and even Tiffany's) how to run their businesses, who they can hire, or who they can sell to.
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Temple Square is the biggest attraction in SLC.
Yes it is, but it's definitely not the only one. Our downtown public library rivals any public library in the country, and our state capitol building is gorgeous! Red Butte Gardens and our new Natural History Museum next door are both immensely popular. We have professional basketball and soccer, an exceptional symphony and ballet, and a stunning new theater that hosts Broadway touring companies and other performances throughout the year. We have great art festivals, ourdoor musical performances right downtown at the Gallivan Plaza or up at Red Butte Gardens, several excellent farmers markets (one right downtown) among numerous other attractions within a short drive. Plus, you won't find better skiing anywhere in the entire country.
Yes, the state legislature is predominantly Mormon and very conservative, but Salt Lake City itself hasn't had a Republican mayor in over 40 years. Although it will undoubtedly surprise a lot of people, Salt Lake City is remarkably LGBT-friendly. There's a huge week-long Pride Festival every summer, concluding with an enormous parade downtown. I can guarantee that the LDS Church had absolutely zero influence over any of that celebration. As a matter of fact, many Mormons (including me) marched in the parade with a group called "Mormons Building Bridges." The only negativity I witnessed towards the LGBT community was by a bunch of evangelical Christians who stood on the sidelines with their bullhorns and hateful posters.
I haven't ever even been to Cincinnati, and I'm not here to badmouth it, but Salt Lake City is one great place to live -- whether you're a Mormon or not. (Like others have mentioned, though, nearby Utah County is so heavily LDS that non-LDS people would almost certainly have a hard time adapting to its culture. It's not the same as Salt Lake City at all.)
The only thing that sets the LDS-owned mall apart from any other mall in the country is that it is closed on Sundays. Yes, the Church owns the land on which the mall was built, but the Church doesn't tell the stores there (Nordstrom, Anthropologie, White House/Black Market, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Macy's, Restoration Hardware, Teavana, Banana Republic, Bose, and even Tiffany's) how to run their businesses, who they can hire, or who they can sell to.
Yes it is, but it's definitely not the only one. Our downtown public library rivals any public library in the country, and our state capitol building is gorgeous! Red Butte Gardens and our new Natural History Museum next door are both immensely popular. We have professional basketball and soccer, an exceptional symphony and ballet, and a stunning new theater that hosts Broadway touring companies and other performances throughout the year. We have great art festivals, ourdoor musical performances right downtown at the Gallivan Plaza or up at Red Butte Gardens, several excellent farmers markets (one right downtown) among numerous other attractions within a short drive. Plus, you won't find better skiing anywhere in the entire country.
Yes, the state legislature is predominantly Mormon and very conservative, but Salt Lake City itself hasn't had a Republican mayor in over 40 years. Although it will undoubtedly surprise a lot of people, Salt Lake City is remarkably LGBT-friendly. I haven't ever even been to Cincinnati, and I'm not here to badmouth it, but Salt Lake City is one great place to live -- whether you're a Mormon or not. (Like others have mentioned, though, nearby Utah County is so heavily LDS that non-LDS people would almost certainly have a hard time adapting to its culture. It's not the same as Salt Lake City at all.)
The restaurants in that mall have to adhere to the state's liquor laws. That in addition to being closed on Sunday's.
Temple Square is what attracts most people as visitors. The other items mentioned are great but most cities have those things except for the close proximity to skiing.
I feel most Mormons are opening up to the LGBT community because so many member of the church, especially return missionaries come out as gay or lesbian and their families want to support them. There is even support for this community in hardcore LDS towns like Rexburg, ID.
The restaurants in that mall have to adhere to the state's liquor laws.
Uh... every restaurant anywhere in the city has to adhere to the state's liquor laws. The fact that a restaurant is in a mall on land owned by the LDS Church is completely immaterial.
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Temple Square is what attracts most people as visitors.
Well, yeah. It was named by Forbes as one of the most visited tourist attractions in the country, so it would obviously be the most visited one in the city. Anywhere from 3 to 5 million people per year visit there.
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The other items mentioned are great but most cities have those things except for the close proximity to skiing.
I didn't get the impression that this thread was supposed to be about which of the two cities was the best for tourists to visit. Sure, lots of people visit Temple Square, but that's really beside the point in terms of what kind of a place Salt Lake City is to live in. The economy here is thriving. Forbes regularly rates the city in the top 3 or 4 cities nationally when it comes to jobs in the technology industry. They actually rate it overall as the 7th best place in the US for business and career opportunities.
Again, I'm not dissing Cincinnati. It may be a great place to live. I'm just saying that Salt Lake City is, too.
The restaurants in that mall have to adhere to the state's liquor laws. That in addition to being closed on Sunday's.
Temple Square is what attracts most people as visitors. The other items mentioned are great but most cities have those things except for the close proximity to skiing.
I feel most Mormons are opening up to the LGBT community because so many member of the church, especially return missionaries come out as gay or lesbian and their families want to support them. There is even support for this community in hardcore LDS towns like Rexburg, ID.
Yeah see that stuff is kind of annoying. For the record I'm actually religious (not Mormon) myself. But I'm strongly against any form of religious law. I'm for stores being closed on Sunday if they so desire, but that liquor law stuff is just silly.
I grew up Cincinnati I never been to Salt City Lake City so I cannot compare, I do not see how they would have anything in common. I visited Denver a few times and it was like a different world from Cincinnati.
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