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.

 

Totally. I lived in SEA for a few years and I love the outdoor recreation there, but the best spots (Olympic Peninsula, Mt Rainier, N. Cascades) are 2-3+ hours drive from the Puget Sound area. In SLC, it's a 20-30 minute drive to spectacular trails and skiing in Big/Little Cottonwood Canyons or Park City, and less than 2 hours from mid-week isolation in the Uintas. Absolutely love it!

 

Good point. In Seattle, though you’ve also got the water. That’s the one thing that was missing in SLC. I can be 10 minutes from scuba diving while still being just an hour and a half from the slopes. Both top tier places for outdoors stuff for sure!

 

Moved to PC 4 years ago. I’m not a big drinker or fan of people. With that said, I have a garage fridge full of beer for friends in town to ski and I have 6 bottles of High West Whiskey in the cabinet. I can’t buy it on Sunday…so I’ve stocked up for lots of Sundays. Most pilots in SLC are outdoor oriented and, regardless of religion, I always have common interests. My kids have plenty of friends. This thread is BS from my experience. But like I said, I’m not out to be popular so if I was being outcasted, I wouldn’t notice anyway. Had a friend move into North SLC with all these concerns…its been a non-factor for him/family. If you’re on the fence, rent for a couple years…or grab a condo over the summer and commute.

 

What are lift tickets going for these days? I haven't been out there in 15 years, so I can imagine they are out of sight expensive now.

I found out. DuckDuck is an amazing thing.

Yikes!

 

Regarding the lake…it’s an endorheic lake in a high-evaporation environment. Levels can fluctuate greatly in basins like that. The lake was at similarly low levels in the 1960s, and record highs in the 1980s. Pretty much the entire northwestern portion of Utah was a huge lake in prehistoric times (Lake Bonneville). SLC’s water is mostly groundwater….that being said, large growing cities in arid locations makes managing water resources challenging.

 

SLC is also located along two major earthquake fault lines.

Last decent shake was in 2020, 5.7 on the RS was in Magna (West of SLC)

Nothing for you CA residents, but it certainly surprised us.

As a practical matter, homebuyers should be aware that some of the older neighborhoods have very charming brick houses (re: “unreinforced masonry”) that will NOT fare well in a large earthquake. They’re expensive to insure (normal home owner’s insurance won’t cover it) and policies are hard to find. My earthquake insurance is over $2k/yr, with an eye watering deductible.

Regular newer homes are much cheaper to insure against this eventuality.

Just something to be aware of.

https://earthquakes.utah.gov/unreinforced-masonry/