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I picked Salt Lake. It is my favorite place among the cities I've lived in. I grew up in a very small town in the Ozarks of Arkansas. I loved that area for the access to nature but wanted very much to live in a city. Salt Lake City was the first city I moved to. I knew some people there so it made for an easy transition but even without those friends, I would have fallen in love with Salt Lake. I loved living in a city with plenty to do, but also have access to the mountains. Just a quick 20 minute drive from where I lived and I could be surrounded by towering mountains and feel like I was all alone in the world. I guess I'll always be that small town boy at heart. Cities can stress me out so I love getting away from them.
I was also impressed with how orderly Utah was. Sure, go into the mountains and things are wild there, but in the cities it is completely different. Wide streets are laid out straight north-south and east-west where possible, have numbers instead of names, making it impossible to ever get lost. The climate was very dry but through water storage in the mountains and irrigation in the valleys, the cities are quite green. In general, I've always loved fall for the changing colors of the trees but in Salt Lake, spring was my favorite season. The valleys green up beautifully after the winter starts to fade but the mountains still have hundreds of inches of snow pack. The combo of the green valleys with snow capped mountains was stunning. I've seen others mention Austin being greener. I guess they think that because of the much higher rainfall. In reality, drive around Austin right now and see how green it is where people aren't using sprinklers.
I've lived in Austin many years now. It's great in many ways, more of what most people on here seem to want in a city. Downtown is more residential and more focused on adult entertainment. If you idea of a good time needs alcohol, Austin is definitely the better place to be. The economy is stronger, although SL is also quite good. Austin has a far more impressive skyline.
Where would I rather live? Salt Lake City. It has everything I could want in a city and things seem easier there. The roads are better and growth, while fast, has not been explosive so traffic is almost relaxing compared to Austin. It seems cleaner, safer, less expensive, better access to nature. It gets less attention nationally and I find that a positive too.
Downtown: Austin
Walkability: Tie(ish)
COL: SLC mostly because Austin prices are going pretty crazy
Economy: Austin, but both are quite strong
Recreation: SLC
Climate: Tie(ish) but slight edge to SLC due to less crazy heat in summer
Architecture: Unsure
Bars/Restaurants: Austin by a mile
Suburbs: Austin
Transportation: SLC for both car and public
Skyline: Austin
Scenery: Slight edge to SLC
Where I'd rather live: Austin
Austin is in the lead, which isn't surprising, but only by 2 votes as I am typing this, which is definitely surprising.
I don't have experience with either city but my personal preferences would be for SLC since it is a dry climate. Not a fan of the humidity back East (and the harsh winters that come from the eastern cities with tolerable summers). SLC seems like an ideal climate to me in addition to world-class scenery all over the state of Utah. My only concern with SLC would be the religious component as I would not want to live in a LDS-heavy community (I'm an atheist and would not want to feel isolated wherever I choose to live) but you can avoid that in certain SLC neighborhoods, you just don't live in Provo. That's fair enough to me.
With Austin it would be the affordability and pay scales for jobs out there, in addition to the humidity. Austin outside of those three seem like a neat city, I know many working there in IT and have great lives.
Austin is in the lead, which isn't surprising, but only by 2 votes as I am typing this, which is definitely surprising.
I don't have experience with either city but my personal preferences would be for SLC since it is a dry climate. Not a fan of the humidity back East (and the harsh winters that come from the eastern cities with tolerable summers). SLC seems like an ideal climate to me in addition to world-class scenery all over the state of Utah. My only concern with SLC would be the religious component as I would not want to live in a LDS-heavy community (I'm an atheist and would not want to feel isolated wherever I choose to live) but you can avoid that in certain SLC neighborhoods, you just don't live in Provo. That's fair enough to me.
With Austin it would be the affordability and pay scales for jobs out there, in addition to the humidity. Austin outside of those three seem like a neat city, I know many working there in IT and have great lives.
I am non Mormon living in SLC, I’m liberal, gay and in my 20s. Moving somewhere with a heavy religious influence is the last thing I’d ever want to do so I understand that. Many people from Utah and the surrounding states actually choose to move to SLC to escape the religious conservatism of the surrounding areas. I grew up a few hours away, and SLC was always the destination for anyone that was different or didn’t fit in to LDS culture( gay, ex-Mormon, liberal etc) which creates a bit of a counterculture vibe. SLC currently has an openly gay mayor and has not elected a Mormon mayor since the 80s and a Republican mayor since the 70s. A recent poll showed that the majority of SLC residents identify as liberal and only 25% of the city is LDS (~60% of the state is LDS).
It’s going to take a while to shake the image of being a conservative, religious city. The SLC economy is very strong and the city is changing rapidly, 6 new high rises downtown are planned to start construction this year and next. Although I do think think that Austin has a better economy/job market.
These two cities are so different it's really up to one's preference in lifestyle. Austin has a young and fun vibe with live music and parties whereas SLC is a clean and pleasantly nice place. Weather is also very opposite. One city is very liberal and the other is more conservative. One thing I don't like is that Austin has a lot of aggressive homeless people. I don't ever remember seeing homeless people in SLC. SLC is very well kept but if I was in my early 20's, it would seem boring to me. Commercial buildings seem nicer in SLC whereas Austin seems older and more run down. SLC is great for mountains but Austin is great for Lake Travis and rivers while being close to the gulf. Traffic wise, Austin is very congested. SLC drivers seem very aggressive but things do seem to move. Austin has better bbq. In fact, arguably the best. Both cities are the capital of their state. Both conservative states.
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