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The Mormon influence in Utah might be too much for non-Mormon transplants. It's like the Evangelical South, but more concentrated. Oddly enough there are many transplants from SLC to Houston and the majority are Mormon, like the recently excommunicated Sam Young.
Young, 65, has fond memories of a youth spent in Utah, dedicated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He attended missions in South America as a teen and in his early 20s, before heading to Brigham Young University to earn a degree in chemical engineering, the career that brought him to Houston.
Another famous transplant is Gifford Nielsen, who was the chief sportscaster on the Houston CBS station (my favorite TV station in the world since childhood) for 25 years. He went back to SLC to serve as a Seventy. I only found out about his religion after reading a Chronicle article covering his exit from Houston and local TV.
Calgary has a connection to my hometown of Houston through the Energy Industry. The Energy Industry is a great catalyst for economic and population growth--Houston became unexpectedly one of the 5 largest population and economic centers in the U.S. in the late 20th century in a region that has historically stagnated.
The Mormon influence in Utah might be too much for non-Mormon transplants. It's like the Evangelical South, but more concentrated. Oddly enough there are many transplants from SLC to Houston and the majority are Mormon, like the recently excommunicated Sam Young.
Another famous transplant is Gifford Nielsen, who was the chief sportscaster on the Houston CBS station (my favorite TV station in the world since childhood) for 25 years. He went back to SLC to serve as a Seventy. I only found out about his religion after reading a Chronicle article covering his exit from Houston and local TV.
Calgary has a connection to my hometown of Houston through the Energy Industry. The Energy Industry is a great catalyst for economic and population growth--Houston became unexpectedly one of the 5 largest population and economic centers in the U.S. in the late 20th century in a region that has historically stagnated.
As a Gay Non-LDS Salt Laker I can tell you that many non-LDS people who live in the area love and thrive here. It’s large enough you find your community and the outdoors can’t be beat. I can go skiing 20 minutes from my house in a metro of 1 million plus.
Depends on how scenery is being defined. I agree the scenery right around SLC is prettier.. but Calgary also has Banff and Canadian Rockies an hour out.. which from a scenic perspective is pretty hard to beat. Calgary is also more lush than SLC is, I believe.
Yeah, but that's kinda cheating. The Rockies are over 70 km away.
This is an interesting comparison of two cities flying under the radar on CityData. Calgary probably wins in most criteria other than number 5 (scenery) and maybe 6 (architecture) yet for your most important question, where would you want to live? It's going to be Salt Lake City easily. The beauty of SLC is hard to match. And while relatively quiet, the SLC downtown feels up-and-coming and very much West Coast.
Some of the city vs city comparisons are unfair but this one is a good one as Calgary & SLC have a lot of similarities. Calgary Metro has 1.6 million and I believe SLC is the same, both a relatively new, winter sports ones, with mountains at the doorstep {both have hosted the Winter Olympics}, socially conservative, pro-business, new wealth, similar dry climates and terrain, and youthful cities.
I would say that Calgary is a more dynamic and invigorating place and probably wins out on most categories in terms of urbanity. Although by US standard SLC has quite a good transit system for it's size, it pales in comparison with Calgary's high ridership system.
I think one thing that you guys are not getting right however is the economy and cost of living stating that Calgary has the highest in both regards. Yes Calgary is a very wealthy, highly educated, and white collar and head office {as it's incredible skyline exemplifies} city but the COL in Calgary is actually relatively low and Albertans enjoy the lowest tax rates in the country and is the only province without a provincial sales tax.
Calgary housing use to be quite expensive but not anymore due to the second part many of you get wrong, the economy. While Calgarians have very high wages, the city has the highest unemployment rate of any major Canadian metro at about 7.5%. The decline in oil prices and the inability to get Alberta's oil to market due to few pipelines has crushed the Alberta economy and Calgary especially so as it is oil's corporate head office. The fury in Alberta is so bad that it is directed at detested Ottawa and there is a strong independence movement as Trudeau didn't get a single seat in either Alberta or Saskatchewan in last month's federal election.
Never been to SLC and know little about it so not qualified to comment on a comparison, but just for perspective if you're in Calgary you'd be in the third most significant Anglophone city in Canada and will be a part of a relatively influential player in the country's economic and political landscape and will have the ear of Ottawa, whereas if you're in Salt Lake City you'd be the country's afterthought.
Calgary has also (surprisingly, really) rocketed up global livability rankings in recent years.
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