We lived in SLC for a decade until about two years ago. For context, we left because of the covid/furlough situation, my wife's career, and a few other timely personal reasons. Not because we didn't like Utah. We still own our house there, and will likely use it again in the future.

Like anywhere else, Utah has its problems. Most places in the country have a bell curve with the population when it comes to any given topic (religion, politics, activities, diet, economics, social economic status, etc etc). There are people on the fringes, but most everyone is generally in the middle. In Utah, it seems like there are two humps towards each end of the spectrum and each end tries very hard to show the world that they are not the other. Either you are LDS, or your are very much not. You are MAGA Republican, or you are progressive Democrat. You are a rare-steak eating carnivore, or you are vegan. Honestly it doesn't matter where you sit on any of given topic, the fact that these extremes exist and are so ubiquitous that it's ends up being tiring. You can't escape it; it's constant.

Also the things others have mentioned: Cost of living is up if you weren't grandfathered in in some way, the GSL is drying up and the way they manage water is "survival of the fittest" (at least the gov is talking about it this year...20 years too late), the area is being loved to death, etc etc.

But if you like the outdoors, there is no better place on the planet. You can do literally any outdoor activity you want within an hours drive of SLC (except white water rafting...that's a four hour drive to CO). If you're willing to drive more than an hour or to hike it to the backcountry more than 20 minutes, you'll find yourself all alone. It's beautiful. Even after 12 years, we still had tons of places on our bucket list to go see and do there. All the crap that you deal with is worth it if you get outside a lot.