Beautiful Scenery / Fake People and Bad Drivers
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3/31/2020
Coming from a non-Mormon transplant who has lived in SLC for almost 2 years now:
Pros:
Outdoors - Mountain access is less than 30 minutes away, even in the farthest reaches of the valley, and it's closely situated to tons of national parks. The options for an outdoorsy person are limitless.
Jobs - There is a large job market, especially in tech, which means that you have a lot of maneuverability and growth opportunities.
Commute (outside of winter) - As long as you don't have to get on the freeway going north of SLC, or south of SLC, commutes are very manageable.
Cons:
Fakeness and Cookie Cutter Personalities - Unless you are Mormon, you will struggle to find people that can become friends or that you can connect with. The Mormons that I have met, the majority of the population, are very sheltered and their ignorance shows when they talk about social issues or issues that they would not have encountered, having lived in such a homogeneous place. People here are 'nice', but it's a fake niceness that fades and can be seen through when you spend more time around them. There is a huge passive aggressive and stuck up culture that permeates this area.
Prescription Drug Abuse / Anti Drug - Utah is number one in the united states for prescribed drugs relating to pain management and mental illness. That alone is not a problem. The problem is that the same people who are hooked on all of these 'legal' drugs, are staunchly anti drug and anti alcohol, while simultaneously acting like they are a small government state. The war on drugs has failed. It has failed in every country, city, state, or municipality that has implemented it. All research points to legalization of drugs resulting in lower crime and less strain on the prison system, and the government in general.
Plastic Surgery Capitol - Utah is one of the plastic surgery capitals of the United States (surpised?). It shows. Women here tend to look like barbies, and I don't mean that in a good way. A lot of people here are image obsessed, which is one of the things I hated about Los Angeles.
Drivers - The drivers out here are some of the worst I've ever experienced. There are more fatalities per crash than almost any other state. They're always in a hurry, even though this is one of the slowest, low key cities I've lived in. It doesn't matter if there is snow / ice on the road or not, giant trucks are going to fly down the highway and maneuver recklessly, causing accidents. There's also the other extreme, where drivers seemingly can't or won't make decisions in a timely manner. I've never been cut off so many times by slow cars making a right turn into busy traffic. It's bizarre.
Air Quality - In the winter, you get 'inversion', which is pretty awful. A lot of people experience sickness and / or trouble breathing during this time period. I moved here from Los Angeles, and I've NEVER experienced air quality that was nearly this bad. In the summer, during fire season, you get the smoke from OR and CA that blows across the US and settles over the valley in SLC.
Conclusion:
If you are not Mormon, or conservative, it can be challenging to live here. If, however, you do most of your socializing online and you love the outdoors, this can be a perfectly fine place to live.
transplant | Salt Lake City, UT