Places to live SLC
 

Figured there’s one for ATL, why not SLC.

Best areas for schools, drive to work, outdoor access, less Mormon areas (not that there’s anything wrong with Mormons)…

lol. They're all Mormon areas. Closer to downtown and park city are "less" Mormon.

Fair enough…maybe “non-mormon friendly” is better…but in my experience all Mormons are pretty friendly.

Sugarhouse area. Don’t live in park city unless you want below freezing nights for 9 months out of the year

True. With one massive exception: Utah Mormons. You ain’t part of the club! I transplanted there in 7th grade. Went to high school and college there. Grew up in Holiday. I left at 23 when I joined the military. My entire family left soon thereafter. I would never…ever, ever, ever, ever subject my kids to that sh*t. Sorry, just telling it like it is.

The air quality seems very poor in the city though. Is there an advantage to living north vs east of the city?

My wife and I considered moving to SLC area when our kids were very young. A few pilots told me when it came to raising kids in SLC, if you’re not LDS, your kids will never fit in, anywhere!! That sucked and discouraged us from moving there. I’m sure that’s not entirely correct and there are plenty of areas we could have found a great life, but it was a risk we weren’t willing to take.

tell me you don’t live in SLC, without telling me you don’t live in Slc.

been here for 7 years, currently live in Sugarhouse. If you want some actual info and not APC junk posts feel free to PM me. Not a Mormon, live by many bars and notice literally no difference to my 18 years in California except a cleaner safer city. Lots of surrounding cities as well that are not Mormon and a great place to raise a family, although it’s gotten expensive as well.

the Mormon stigma for Utah is very outdated. Unless you plan to move past the tip down in Provo.

Not accurate. Park city weather is great more than it is freezing. Unless your terms of freezing are different. But park city real estate is pretty unaffordable, even at our salary. Unless you can splurge 3 million on a home through other measures. It’s simply not the same or not worth it to live up there. You will just be house poor (again, unless you have other measures of income/wealth)

The Church of Modern Day Saints is rapidly succumbing to the pressures of modernity and the blessings of all types of diversity (thoughts, fresh ideas, internet tropes, etc) They’ll be indistinguishable from garden variety Unitarians in another generation or two.

The farther away you are from the city center, the more conservative it gets, but in general, I’d say the metropolis of SLC and the surrounding suburbs aren’t anywhere near as non-LDS child friendly as they used to be.

Quite a few pilots in Sugarhouse. Nice walking neighborhood with pretty old homes. Expensive though. It’s as lefty blue and non/ex LDS as LAX or SFO if you care about that kind of thing. High school isn’t great.

Been there less than a decade, but my general sense is that the center of gravity of SLC is rapidly shifting south to places like Draper, Alpine, and Provo as the main city is starting to be plagued by the usual US city urban challenges (crime, drug use, outdoor living, etc). The “silicon slopes” are the flight away from it.

The “inversion” is a thing. Nasty smog in the city during the winter. Air quality sucks and probably takes years off your life.

Avoid West Valley.

Park City is expensive and fake, but nice enough if you can afford it. Same for Midway.

Many pilots live in Mountain Green.

The cache valley up in the Logan area is great…long drive to the airport though.


SLC is a great base though, and Utah a magnificent state for outdoor types. Highly recommend. (If you’re junior to me, of course).

Everyone want to be close the mountains.

So east of I-15 downtown to point of the mountain you are normally good.
Few pockets that are nice sugar house, avenues, holiday, cottonwood heights, Millcreek, 9th &9th.

Tell me you don’t have school age children without telling me etc etc :D. Slightly TIC and I’ll freely admit no firsthand knowledge but when the wife and I made the call to live in base it was a 3 horse race between SEA, LAX, and SLC. One very good friend and one acquaintance related experiences very similar to forgotmyhat.

They said it was all fine and dandy and you wouldn’t notice a difference….until your kids went to school. They were straight up ostracized. Really bad stuff. To paraphrase “It’s a Mormon club and you ain’t in it.”

We lived in Lehi just south of the point of the mountain. Cool area with easy access to airport and the mountains. Not LDS so we stuck out like a sore thumb in our neighborhood.

Town we loved the most was Midway. 4 awesome golf courses with a cheap annual pass. Buy a side by side and go explore the mountains. Boating on Deer Creek Reservoir. Fishing in the Provo River. 20 mins to park city skiing. Less than an hour to the airport.

The whole salt lake county and even larger parts of Utah county over past years are seeing more non-Mormon movers than Mormon. If you have teen kids then yeah, it’s too early to see any difference. The con to this is the real estate is very expensive (which most of the states west coast not California are dealing with).

I’m sorry captain literal, I should have specified that it’s below freezing 7 months out of the year with may average low of 37 and sep being 42. My bad. As ollie would say…..”it’s cold up there!”. But thanks for keeping it real mr randomly aggressive defender of SLC. I lived there for 8 years. It’s not a bad place except for the inversion.

Do you have small children?

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Utah is wonderful is you like outdoor stuff. The skiing is second to none, and the golf is vastly underrated. Hiking, camping, fishing... all that is great. But they will try to indoctrinate your kids into the 'church'. It is not subtle either. Wanna join boy scouts? sorry, that meets at the stake house and you ain't allowed in unless you are a member. Pull up a map of SLC. There is a Mormon stake house literally 1 mile in every direction. I would highly advise that if you are thinking about it, go rent for awhile and see if it works for you

I live in SLC near the U. Trying to inject some levity into what I figured would be a touchy subject. I love Utah.

My kids are grown, so I don't have any issues not being in the "club". It can be challenging for some families depending on where you live, because so many activities and time surround the church you get "left out"

Keep in mind there are some things to get used to regarding alcohol rules and if you want to go shopping on Sundays a lot of / most locally owned businesses are closed. Most all National chain restaurants and stores are open.

Hope this wasn't a APC junk post. Keep in mind your experience in Sugarhouse isn't the same further south in Utah Valley. There are large towns with one bar or none at all. It gets more conservative and "Mormon" the further south you go. Just saying......

Heber / Midway are great. It's getting expensive too......

Right the night life is obviously not the same out of the city. I lived in South Jordan and Daybreak for a few years. My point was some of this stigma that the Mormons dominate anything outside 15 downtown blocks is really not as accurate anymore and even some of the communities south of 15, like Cottonwoods/Murray/Millcreek are not as Mormon as people make them out to be. You will also pay 700k minimum for any family size home up to 1 million though. So I guess it’s a trade off.

Yeah, for me the whole Mormon thing hasn't been an issue. I think the positives of living in SLC far outweigh the negatives.........unless you're Senior to me......in that case, it's awful. STAY AWAY.

You probably are I’m 11.6’s. Sorry for rude response yesterday, but I agree with you. :D

No worries! Not everyone gets my sarcasm / sense of humor. Good discussion.

No matter your geographic location in Utah, Mormons will affect your everyday life. They make the rules! Want a beer at a restaurant? You better also want an appetizer. Want a second beer between the appetizer and entree? Be prepared to order another appetizer. That’s after the sigh and judgy eyes for ordering two beers. Oh and don’t even bother ordering a cocktail, Joseph Smith says go easy on the booze…but go ahead and charge full price for the drink.

Like James Bond said, Boy Scouts? You’re going to be meeting at Mormon church. Kids sports? If you’re not Mormon, you better have hands of gold or else you ain’t playing.

Does your teen want a job at a local business? Better be prepared to explain your religious views in the interview…yes, had this happen to me when I was about 20.

IT IS EVERYWHERE. Yes, even Sugarhouse. Oh and if you want to live in Sugarhouse, you better check out East High and Highland High. Bet not too many airline pilot’s kids going to those schools.

I’ve had a handful of Mormon friends living outside of Utah. They’re great, normal people. But once you step foot in the holy land, it’s a different story.

Geez. Lighten up Francis....

If anyone’s seriously considering suburbs in the SLC area but they’re worried about the dynamic between raising kids there and churchy stuff, feel free to PM and I’d be happy to share my anonymous internet thoughts. Some of the information here is reasonable and some of it is not. Source: 10+ years in Utah County (20 miles south SLC), some time in SL County, family still in the area.

I never had religious affiliation come up in any of my many job interviews in Utah. Religious affiliation affecting the kids sports teams also seems iffy. Alcohol laws different from most other places, yes. Potential trouble with teenagers “fitting in,” maybe, but that can also happen in other places, teenagers. The kids playgroup in the neighborhood being made up of mostly/all Mormon moms and kids, that can be a thing, especially in the suburbs in Utah and Davis Counties, but it doesn’t automatically mean unwelcoming (perhaps in some cases, and it’s a shame when that happens). A lot depends on an individual’s perspective, and not everything about the culture might be perceived as negative. Utah generally ranks near the bottom when states are ranked for high drug abuse rates. It’s also probably the state with the highest percentage of basements full of dried/canned goods, so if “The big one” happens, there will be plenty of rice and beans and rehydrated vegetables in the neighborhood to eat. (Funny, but also not joking)

If it’s a given that a certain percentage of the population anywhere are wackos, then in a place with lots of Mormons a lot of the wackos you’ll meet will be Mormon. There are people you’ll want to hang out with and people you won’t; in Utah a large percentage of both groups will be Mormon.

There’s a lot of amazing things about Utah outside of the topic of religion. Everyone’s different and some people really do not enjoy the culture/religious aspects. Others don’t mind. Suburbs in the valleys north/south are usually a different feel than SLC city. For me, I’d be willing to put up with a lot due to the amazing scenery and outdoors opportunities Utah offers (have you ever driven through southern Utah on a clear day :o ), but the person I’m married to feels otherwise so we live in a very flat place.

I have a feeling I’ll get thrown out the door for asking, but what are the feelings of SLC based pilots who live in base regarding the GSL drying up and the environmental fallout?

Media scare tactic? Actually drying up? Maybe people aren’t talking about it because those who live there know something we folks back east don’t. Just curious as this would play into my calculus if considering uprooting and moving to the SLC base after my old relatives die off and i’m unchained.

I know the feeling. As a Mormon growing up outside of Utah, I had school friends whose parents wouldn't let them play with me. After I joined the AF and was stationed in TX/AL/FL, I had neighbors refuse to acknowledge my existence when they found out where I went to church. Wouldn't return my wave/smile/nod. Others gave me pamphlets or straight up told me I was going to hell. Whatevs, that's human nature and humans suck sometimes. Anyhow, Utah has probably changed a bit in the years (decades?) since you lived there. The last mayor of SLC was a lesbian Democrat - so that should tell you something.

To the OP, Mormons are now a minority in Salt Lake County - definitely true in metro SLC or Park City, if you can afford it. Up by Hill AFB (Layton/Ogden/Clearfield) and there's a huge integrated military community that's been established for generations - I've never spoken to an Air Force peep who has been stationed at Hill and felt ostracized by the locals - they all loved it. Like others have said, avoid West Valley City, Magna, Taylorsville, and other parts of the northwest portion of the SL Valley (gang activity, crime, rough schools). Areas around the South Valley have been growing like a wildfire with all the tech companies moving in (Draper, Bluffdale, Herriman, Daybreak, and spilling into northern Utah Valley). Lots of out-of-state transplants. Regardless of where you settle, there's always going to be some sort of LDS influence. I'd say the key to not being miserable is just accepting that there's a different cultural aspect and not getting offended when it doesn't align with your background or beliefs. For example, if you throw a birthday party for your kid on a Sunday morning, expect that a lot of their little Mormon friends are not going to show. Not because they're ostracizing you, but because to Mormon families "the Sabbath" is a big thing. You wouldn't bring bacon jalapeño poppers to a Jewish friend's dinner party, and likewise, you'll get some awkwardly raised eyebrows if you bring a 24 pack of Natty Light to your Mormon neighbor's BBQ. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions or even want to chat on the phone.

Huh....the Little America, Whiskey Street and The Beer Hive must be in an LDS-free bubble downtown. None of that is a player in any of those spots when ordering adult beverages.

Just be sure to order the bottled / canned beer and not the 4% stuff on draft! And the Beer Hive is great!

Are these “bars” (you get it).

‘cause this isn’t happening at Outback, or Chilis or any other “restaurant”. (You get it).

Your intellect is truly dizzying. 😁

Had great meals at all three which seems to make them more than just bars.

🤦‍♂️

you have missed the point sir.

I thought they finally did away with the reduced alcohol content on draught beers a year or 2 ago. National beer conglomerates finally got fed up with brewing 2% alc content just for the Utah market and said enough, and got their way (or so I was told by the van driver) Only odd local ordinance I've encountered is "no doubles allowed" as in a double bourbon, or yer spirit of choice. Besides that, downtown has been such a good time, that I'm seriously considering moving there for all the positives mentioned.

It wasn’t just Utah there was about 4 or 5 states that had the same law. 3 of them removed this in one of the midterms which then led the beer companies to say they aren’t making 3.2 beer anymore, forcing the hand of all the states to go to normal content.

These posts are bizarre. I moved to SLC in 99 starting 8th grade. Not one of my friends asked if I was Mormon and I didn’t ask them. My best friend wasn’t Mormon but it didn’t matter to me. I was in team sports and only half were Mormon. I grew up in Cottonwood Heights and went to Brighton and Cottonwood HS. When I graduated I worked at The Mayan, see South Park, and our work around for the booze and appetizer law was free chips. Worked like a charm. The air quality is poor but it’s not as bad as California. If you like outdoor activities it can’t be beat. It’s been 20 years and it’s only gotten better. The booze is no longer 3.2 and you can beer and wine in the grocery store.

The mere fact that you depend on a workaround to get a drink at dinner is the point exactly. I know, I know, small potatoes, but FML that kind of crap just permeates life there.

When did you depart The Beehive State? The OP probably deserves to have some context as to how old your anti-Utah gouge is. Some of your critiques were probably somewhat accurate in the 80s or 90s. A lot has changed in the last couple decades - especially after the Winter Olympics, when Utah rolled out the welcome mat to the world. Demographics, population, attitudes and liquor laws have all changed quite a bit. Your point about the Boy Scouts, for instance, is now false. The LDS Church cut ties with the BSA about 5 years ago. If you sign your kid up for Scouts, I 100% guarantee they won’t be meeting in, or sponsored by, an LDS chapel.

Sorry you had a crappy experience living in Utah, but you seem to be offering the OP pretty outdated info, sprinkled with some tired old anti-Mormon tropes.

So you can’t stand being in Utah, even as a visitor, for 3 days?

Oh my heck.

Well, hopefully the OP, or anyone else, considers that when reading your advice on living there.

Unless they’re senior to me. Then I agree. It’s a terrible place. Go to Atlanta. 😂

A PSA for folks who drink while in Utah. Utah is the first and only state with a BAC limit of .05 for a DUI. So… go drive after two beers or one high powered IPA and you could get a DUI.