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UTAH Relocation = Where to live?

Original Post
Caz Drach · · C'Wood, UT · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 310

Hey MPers,

So the wife and I are devising a plan to move out to UT sometime between March and June of next year. We are flying out over Thanksgiving week, to look around the area - check the vibe, etc.

As a general point of reference: Early 30s, looking to be a little remote but within proximity of civilization and air port. Chances are we would be working in the city location. I would like to be close to the rock gym for training, etc.

Me - Hardcore skier and climber
Her - Hardcore skier and cyclist

Anything be aware of? Smog? etc.

Any direction or areas to check out or consider?

Thanks

-Z

Miller Miller · · Salt Lake · Joined Jun 2009 · Points: 75

along the east bench anywhere from the avenues through the U, past 9th, 9th, sugarhouse, millcreek, down towards the canyons, sandy and cottonwood heights. Each little zone has pro and cons that people here will swear by.

Id say shoot for sugarhouse as a general area. Lots of people, higher concentration of rad folk and you'll be more likely to like living here.

CornCob · · Sandy, UT · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 20
D-Roc wrote:Anything be aware of? Smog?
SLC has some of the worst air quality in the country. Just a heads up if that is something you are sensitive to.
Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203

When you say remote you need to give a better definition. For some that means they are happy living in a cabin in one of the canyons (Immigration/Big/Little) or somewhere in Wasatch County (Park Shitty) or out in Tooele County.

Too be honest ... find a place close to where you work - you will spend more time commuting to a work than anything else.

Caz Drach · · C'Wood, UT · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 310
Allen Sanderson wrote:When you say remote you need to give a better definition. For some that means they are happy living in a cabin in one of the canyons (Immigration/Big/Little) or somewhere in Wasatch County (Park Shitty) or out in Tooele County. Too be honest ... find a place close to where you work - you will spend more time commenting to a work than anything else.
We dont mind a house in the hills... really an open option... a place near a rock gym would be the best.

-Z
Austin Baird · · SLC, Utah · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 95

What's your budget? Buying or renting?

Doug Argyle · · Green Mountain Falls, CO · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 576

I lived in the SLC area for 8 years. Downtown, Sugarhouse, East Bench and Summit Park (between SLC and Park City at the summit of Parley's Canyon). All had pros and cons, but Summit Park was the best because it was out of the inversion. (Believe what you hear about the air quality, it gets downright nasty) Commute wasn't bad from there. It was only 15ish minutes from Park City and 20ish from downtown SLC when traffic was light.

SM Ryan · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 1,090

IF you want to be close to a rock gym, these are in the city (Momentum or The Front.

It sounds like Park City (Kimball Junction, Jeremy Ranch, Summit Park) might suit you better. Smaller towns and there is a small climbing gym in Kimball called the Mine, you would be out of the inversion pattern, which suffocates the valley in the winter.
However, if you are working in SLC you would have a longer commute (30min) and would be adding to the smog problem.

a.l. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 5

All the really hard core people live in Park City or Magna.

petzl logic · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 730

Sellout!

petzl logic · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 730

And telemarker!

Tim G. · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 78

SLC is a great place to be a skier and climber for sure. I think it could/would turn into the "cool" outdoor city to live in, but thankfully the Mormons scare a lot of people away, so it's the best kept secret in the mountain west if you ask me. No offense to any Mormons, I've had only good interactions in the 7 years I've been here. It's no NYC or LA, but there is a fair bit of culture, and good bars, restaurants, concert venues, breweries, etc.

As far as air quality, some winters are worse than others, but when it's bad, you want to avoid being outside as much as possible. Don't even think about going for a run or something on a bad inversion day.

As far as where to live, that really depends on your budget. Southeast of downtown is the best balance of proximity to downtown and the mountains. Sugarhouse is the go to Yuppy neighborhood, but there are plenty of other nice areas like Millcreek, Holladay, and the east bench. Houses aren't going to be cheap in most of that area though. If you don't mind strip malls and cookie cutter housing developments you could go south of town in the Sandy/Draper area and be close to the mouth of Little Cottonwood for climbing and skiing as well as American Fork for climbing. There is the Sandy Momentum climbing gym down there as well. I would not recommend that area if you will be commuting to SLC daily though. The commute on 15 can suck.

I'm happy to give you more info since I'm pretty up to speed on the housing market here.

BigNobody · · all over, mostly Utah · Joined Nov 2013 · Points: 10

LOL at Tim G....best kept secret! Ha!

No it was a secret before the throngs moved here and f-ed up the air quality. You know right up to the early 2000's. It's over run, over hyped, and frankly there are exactly 3 other states that touch Utah that are way more of a "better kept secret" than Utah.

B Jolley · · Utah · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 172

Live close to work, the beauty of Utah is the accessibility to the outdoors. No matter where yo live in UT you have something to do within an hour drive.

Salt Lake City (Wasatch Front)
Pros
- 8 ski resorts within 1 hour.
- Hundreds of crags a stones throw away and a plethora of climbing gyms.
- Great cycling roads and canyons, even better mountain biking.
- Affordable
- Diverse Community
Cons
- Terrible air quality in the winter due to inversion.
- Over 1 million people in the valley.

Provo (Wasatch Front South)
Pros
- 1 ski resort within 1 hour, Sundance.
- American Fork Canyon has great climbing.
- Great cycling roads and canyons.
Cons
- 1 ski resort.
- Few climbing gyms.
- Terrible air quality in the winter due to inversion.
- High percentage of a single religion (if your not a member this can cause social barriers within the community).
- Nightlife, there is none.

Ogden (Wasatch Front North)
Pros
- 2 ski resorts within 1 hour, Snowbasin and Powder Mountain.
- Accessible to some crags, Ogden Canyon can be fun.
- Great cycling roads.
- Nightlife
Cons
- 2 ski resorts.
- Less accessible climbing areas and few climbing gyms.
- Terrible air quality in the winter due to inversion.
- The roads were designed by a drunk, you will get lost.

Heber, Midway (Wasatch Back)
Pros
- Beautiful.
- More rural.
- Clean air 99% of the time.
- 3 ski resorts close (Park City, Deer Valley and Sundance).
- Good cycling roads and canyons.
Cons
- Location, further from everything, no Costco.
- No climbing gyms.
- No nightlife.

Eden (Wasatch Back North)
Pros
- Beautiful.
- More rural.
- Clean air 99% of the time.
- 3 ski resorts close (Powder Mountain, Snowbasin and Wolf Mountain).
- Good cycling roads and canyons.
Cons
- Location, further from everything, no Costco.
- No climbing gyms.
- No nightlife.

Park City (Wasatch Back)
Pros
- Diverse community.
- Best schools in the state, if you have kids.
- Clean air 99% of the time.
- Ski resorts, Park City and Deer Valley are right there.
- Great cycling, even better mountain biking.
- Still within 1 hour of the airport.
- Free Public Transit.
- Nightlife.
Cons
- Expensive (thanks Vail).
- 1 small climbing gym.

Cedar City, St. George (Southern Utah)
Pros
- National and State Parks accessibility (Zion, Bryce, Escalante, ect...)
- Mild Winters.
- Cleaner Air.
- Great Cycling.
- Great Climbing.
- Smaller town feel.
- Affordable.
- Close-ish to Vegas.
Cons
- Lacks diversity, similar to Provo.
- Skiing, 2 small low angle resorts, Brianhead and Eagle Point.
- Hot Summers.
- Few climbing gyms.
- Nightlife.

There are endless places to look to live in UT, hope this helps?

JK- Branin · · NYC-ish · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 56

Salt Lake (and environs) is my favorite city anywhere. Basically anywhere on the public transit system for the Wasatch front you can enjoy most of the pros of the different Wasatch cities listed, and just pick a neighborhood based on your personal preference for feel and where you work.

The air does suck in the winter. Biggest con right there.

I've lived all over Utah, and especially the Wasatch front, and I'm happy to honesty discuss pros, cons, cultures, etc with you if you'd like. Just send me a PM and we can arrange a way to chat.

Tim G. · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 78
BigNobody wrote:LOL at Tim G....best kept secret! Ha! No it was a secret before the throngs moved here and f-ed up the air quality. You know right up to the early 2000's. It's over run, over hyped, and frankly there are exactly 3 other states that touch Utah that are way more of a "better kept secret" than Utah.
It looks like air quality has been pretty much the same since 1995 and way better than it was in the 80's. slcair.communication.utah.edu/

As far as the best kept secret line. I lived on the east coast until my mid 20's and UT never seemed to come up as a destination among anyone I knew. When I thought of mountain/outdoor areas that I might want to live in, it was always Denver/Boulder, Seattle, Portland, or maybe Vermont and Maine. What did I know though? I grew up skiing on slush in the "mountains" of MD and PA. I didn't pick up climbing until I moved to UT too.

As far as actual cities (not towns with <100k in population with more limited job opportunities) that are close to the mountains, I think SLC is tough to beat.
Charlie S · · NV · Joined Aug 2007 · Points: 2,391

The skiing and climbing in Colorado is better. Go away.

[ /sarcasm ]

Ty Falk · · Huntington, VT · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 280

I have lived in and around the Park City area for 10 years and love the smaller town feel that Park City has.

Are you going to buy or rent? What's your budget? Do you backcountry ski or resort ski? What type of climbing are you into?( Trad ,Sport , Ice?) Where are you guys working?

Allen Sanderson, whats so shitty about Park City have you ever lived up there? Summit Park is about the same drive time to LCC that the avenues is which is about 25 or so minutes without traffic. On my commute to LCC I do not hit a traffic light till I get off 215. From Park City I typically ski in LCC or BCC but do get some days in down Provo Canyon and down in the southern wasatch where there is some amazing backcountry with no one skiing unlike LCC/BCC. Provo canyon is closer to Park City which is nice for Ice Climbing and Backcountry skiing. Timp, Lone Peak, South Fork of the Provo River all are good access from Park City for skiing. The unitas are closer to Park City aswell which have good climbing and skiing. If money were not a issue I would buy a house in Little Cottonwood somewhere around there wasatch resort area near the Gate Buttress. That would get you out of the inversion most of the time which is one big reason I dont live down there. That however would cost a lot of money to buy but you would be walkin distance to some amazing climbing and skiing. (That would be my dream.) That being said other more affordable locations in the salt lake valley would be up by mill creek, a cabin in big cottonwood, cottonwood heights or the avenues.

Caz Drach · · C'Wood, UT · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 310

Thank you guys for some great responses!

petzl logic · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 730

You're welcome

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
Super Fluke wrote: Provo (Wasatch Front South) Pros - 1 ski resort within 1 hour, Sundance... Ogden (Wasatch Front North) Pros - 2 ski resorts within 1 hour, Snowbasin and Powder Mountain.
Just as an FYI, Super Fluke is way off on the ski resorts within an hour of either provo or ogden. Both Provo and Ogden are within an hour of all 4 big cottonwood canyon ski resorts, so add 4 to both of his numbers there, also, although not really worth anything, Ogden is also within an hour of wolf mountain ski resort, and provo is almost exactly an hour away from deer vally, so really you are looking at 7 ski resort within an hour from either location.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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