Why is the Salt Lake region generally ignored by the rest of the country? (Wendover: homes, buy)

[BuckeyezRule]

Timeless, I'm from Akron, OH. Up until the last census, Akron even had more residents than SLC (JUST the city, SLC metro was & is bigger than the Akron metro area) . I do understand what you mean by thinking of SLC as more of a 'town'. I felt the same way. But, I like that. My aunt & uncles & their kids' families live in & around WPB, FL, so, I have been there a number of times. NOTHING like Utah/SLC. lol Yes, it's less diverse. Though, being from Akron, the Spanish influence is much more prominent here in Utah. I just strive to one day speak Spanish. =)

[ironcouger]

Originally Posted by Chango

I am very interested in architecture and urban planning, and I can't help but notice our area is almost completely ignored in books about the subject.

Maybe I'm biased, but in my opinion we have lots beautuiful and noteworthy architecture, on par with anywhere in the country:

Just a couple of examples:








Not to mention the area's incredible natural beauty, which is completely overshadowed by Southern UT...



Moderator cut: no copyrighted images allowed





And despite the fact there are 3 million people living here and we are the biggest urban area for hundreds of miles in any direction, the region is rarely remembered in the country's history, considered influential or of any consequence. The region is ignored by futurists trying to imagine the country (and world) of tomorrow, and we hardly get a mention in planning literature. It's like we aren't even here...

So why is Salt Lake ignored by everyone outside of Utah? It seems to me that lots of the stuff around here should scream: "This is America!" to the world just as loudly as many other iconic cities, structures and locations around the country. Are we too remote? Too small? Too *gasp* Mormonish?

And when Salt Lake is remembered, it's seemingly looked at as a strange foreign country, always "apart", "over there", "backward" and not a integral part of the whole. What gives? Somebody tell me why we are ignored by the rest of the country?

Lol do you realize there is only 2,763,885 people living in the whole state of Utah. The Salt Lake Metro area has 1,124,197 people making it one of the smaller metro areas in the nation . Salt Lake City is a small city it just doesn't show up on many peoples radars.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by ironcouger

Lol do you realize there is only 2,763,885 people living in the whole state of Utah.

Only?

Originally Posted by ironcouger

The Salt Lake Metro area has 1,124,197 people making it one of the smaller metro areas in the nation. Salt Lake City is a small city it just doesn't show up on many peoples radars.

About twice as many as in the entire state of North Dakota.

[sp2007]

Originally Posted by ChrisC

Only?



About twice as many as in the entire state of North Dakota.

LOL well there's a comparison for the ages. I used to live in FL. At around 18 million and growing, UT is barely a speck in the collective mind of the FL masses. CA is around 34 million, TX at about 30.

Utah has a lot of land but very little people and 75% of them live from Ogden to Provo.

[sammy87]

I read these threads here and there, My fiance and I plan on moving to Utah next year after school. We live in Atlanta GA now which has a metro population of about 5+million. About 2x more than the entire state of Utah. When people ask where were going after school, we always get this puzzled look on their face...Utah? You wanna be Morman? I dont know many people that have actually been there, but we went last fall had a great time. For SLC I thought it was easy to get around, clean, safe feeling, pretty modern. And the recreation close by can't be beat. Im into being outside biking/skiing/running ect...so it will be a good fit for me. Some people have told us "well I was there a while back and the Mormons were mean, they'll run you out of town." Honestly I found Utahans more friendly than most in the south and some other places I've lived.

To compare to ATL, In SLC you can be skiing in about 30 mins from the airport. It takes me about 30 mins to get to Costco and its only 5 miles away. The major highways 75 and 285 are parking lots daily at almost any time. To go biking MTN biknig it's atleast an hr away for anythign decent. I play adult Ice Hockey and If I have a game before 9 pm, it'll take an hr to get to the rink. The crime here is a whole other story.

People that have never been to Utah think of Mormans, conservatives, boring and desert landscape. Our best friends were in SLC for a seminar they had the same feelign, "I cant believe you wanna move there", (they're moving to Charlotte NC BTW) But when they came back they were really impressed actually a bit jealous of us. Me, I like to play sports rather than watch them, I like to be home early with my dogs and family than be in traffic an hr each night. I'd like to hike, ski bike on the weekends than go to a huge fancy mall go eat at another BS restraunt and be in traffic all the time.

I cant wait to get there, but I hope everyone outside keeps their opinion.

[bentstrider]

Originally Posted by sammy87

I read these threads here and there, My fiance and I plan on moving to Utah next year after school. We live in Atlanta GA now which has a metro population of about 5+million. About 2x more than the entire state of Utah. When people ask where were going after school, we always get this puzzled look on their face...Utah? You wanna be Morman? I dont know many people that have actually been there, but we went last fall had a great time. For SLC I thought it was easy to get around, clean, safe feeling, pretty modern. And the recreation close by can't be beat. Im into being outside biking/skiing/running ect...so it will be a good fit for me. Some people have told us "well I was there a while back and the Mormons were mean, they'll run you out of town." Honestly I found Utahans more friendly than most in the south and some other places I've lived.

To compare to ATL, In SLC you can be skiing in about 30 mins from the airport. It takes me about 30 mins to get to Costco and its only 5 miles away. The major highways 75 and 285 are parking lots daily at almost any time. To go biking MTN biknig it's atleast an hr away for anythign decent. I play adult Ice Hockey and If I have a game before 9 pm, it'll take an hr to get to the rink. The crime here is a whole other story.

People that have never been to Utah think of Mormans, conservatives, boring and desert landscape. Our best friends were in SLC for a seminar they had the same feelign, "I cant believe you wanna move there", (they're moving to Charlotte NC BTW) But when they came back they were really impressed actually a bit jealous of us. Me, I like to play sports rather than watch them, I like to be home early with my dogs and family than be in traffic an hr each night. I'd like to hike, ski bike on the weekends than go to a huge fancy mall go eat at another BS restraunt and be in traffic all the time.

I cant wait to get there, but I hope everyone outside keeps their opinion.

This is why I used my bicycle last time I was in ATL in '06.

As for the last sentence, it's the perfect deterrent!!

[inspironmini]

I can honestly say that I have never considered Salt Lake as a possible destination to move to or even visit because it is over run by mormons.

Why would I want to move to a state where a religion has actually influenced certain aspects of life? An example in Utah's case would be their extremely restrictive liquor laws.

[kaytidid]

We have extremely restrictive liquor laws...? I never have any trouble getting a drink when I want. What is so restrictive about them?

Just for the record, I am non LDS and have never felt like religion has influenced my life at all. It only influences you if you allow it to. On the flip side, it could influence things in a good way, too, you know.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by sp2007

LOL well there's a comparison for the ages. I used to live in FL. At around 18 million and growing, UT is barely a speck in the collective mind of the FL masses. CA is around 34 million, TX at about 30.

Utah has a lot of land but very little people and 75% of them live from Ogden to Provo.

The point I was making is that it's all relative. What you say is from your perspective. From my perspective it's overpopulated. The key is how big of an anthill each of us are used to. You are used to a huge anthill, I'm used to a smaller anthill... but they are all anthills from my perspective. From my perspective, states with around a half-million to a million in the entire state have bragging rights; for you, states with one city of twenty-million have bragging rights. It all boils down to how you want to live your life. Simple as that.

[sammy87]

I moved from TX to PA when I was young and spent most of my life in PA before college and the military. When I was young all the kids in school were Catholic, I was not and all their friends were associated with going to Catholic Church. In TX Catholism was not as prelevent as it was up north. It wasn't a huge problem, but I knew nothing about being Catholic and I got some funny looks. I would never think it was a deterent to move there. I think the same could be said as SLC. When I moved away from PA some people seriously thought everyone was Amish.

In PA you can only buy beer buy the case at a beer distributer and not on Sundays. Liquor and wine only at a state liquor store and nothing on Sunday. 6 packs can be bought at a few places but marked way up. It's not a bid deal, you get use to it, there's still plenty of alcoholics around.

In TX they use to have the membership thing at restraunts but I think that's mostly gone now. There are a few dry counties as with PA. I found out on VACA about the 3.2% but I just asked around and figured out the laws. I never had a problem getting beer at a restraunt or buying it for our hotel.