Life in the Wasatch?

Chris,
I came to SLC from VT. I have described SLC like VT on steroids. You'll like it

Tyler King wrote: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. So many unethical, unloving, irresponsible parents here in SLC. Shame on us!

You do realize that in context he had just talked for about 3 sentences about why the air quality is bad, right? I moved from SLC when I had a daughter because the rate for asthma in children in SLC valley is about 15%. That is downright ridiculous. Think about it.

Thinking iz hard.

Guys, thank you again for all the input, it is a huge help!

Another thought - how is the area for dogs? Saw some folks biking with their pups in the foothills, other spots to have them off leash (not at the crags and not up LCC of course :)).

Well dogs are not allowed in Big Cottonwood and Little cottonwood so not great for dogs... You can take them up mill creek(mtn biking and hiking but no climbing and limited skiing). Or the park city area. But strictly no dogs in Big and Little which is where most of the close climbing and skiing is.... So I would say it is one of the worst "outdoor cities" to live with dogs, you have some options though.

I disagree with Ted about not being dog freindly. Yeah you can't take them in BCC/LCC but the city as a whole is extremely dog friendly. lots of trails along the foot hills and many many official off leash parks.

The dog thing is all relative. There are a million people in this valley using a fairly small mountain range. LCC is only about 8 miles deep, e.g. Hence the term Wasangeles. I'm way thankful that I can somewhat get away from urbanity to recreate without dogs running over me, barking, chasing the wildlife, and generally creating havoc. They get to go elsewhere. If they didn't, I would.

"The dog thing is all relative. There are a million people in this valley using a fairly small mountain range. LCC is only about 8 miles deep, e.g. Hence the term Wasangeles. I'm way thankful that I can somewhat get away from urbanity to recreate without dogs running over me, barking, chasing the wildlife, and generally creating havoc. They get to go elsewhere. If they didn't, I would."

I agree. Only i feel that way about most people climbing i run into in LCC or BCC

I grew up just north of SLC, and I am a little surprised nobody has mentioned how shitty the traffic is yet. Every time I go back home for the holidays, the first thing I notice is the nasty haze all the way from Spanish Fork to Ogden. The next few hundred things I notice, are all of the vehicles on I-15 driving 15 MPH over the speed limit.

All that aside, if I were to live in any bigger city SLC would be at the top of the list. Great jumping off point for the mountains, deserts, and it even has a large body of water with a bunch of salt in it.

I don't understand how you guys can complain about traffic. Live in any big-ish city and you'll see that the traffic here is almost non-existent. I couldn't believe how little traffic there was when I moved here.

scott cooney wrote:I disagree with Ted about not being dog freindly. Yeah you can't take them in BCC/LCC but the city as a whole is extremely dog friendly. lots of trails along the foot hills and many many official off leash parks.

The city isn't dog friendly and is doing its best to make most of its off-leash parks go away (Tanners and the little spot at the mouth of Emigration recently went that way). You do know that the shoreline trail, which represents a major part of the accessible foothills, is on-leash only? I've had animal control called on me twice buy some butthurt specialist of the passive aggressive approach (it's a way of life in UT)...
That being said, if you're willing to get off the trails there's room for dogs. Let's not pretend this place is dog heaven though.

compared to ever other city and town I lived in with a dog SLC was by far the most dog freindly. in two years of living there not one single time did I have to drive anywhere to take my dog off leash, the amount of designated off leash parks amazed me. as far as them going away, we can only blame ourselves as dog owners... when we're given the parks and push the boundries by going past the parks and incidents happen what do you really expect? in that 2 years I had my dog attacked 3 times by off leash dogs in leash zones, two of them justified their dogs behavior as it was my dog being on leash that triggered them and if I didn't want my dog getting attacked I should be off leash in a leash area... as far as the shoreline trail, yes where it falls under city limits it is subject to city leash zoning, go past that into forest service land and city zoning flys out the window, but know forest service rules for that area to be safe. I live in Ogden now and the difference for dog owners in night and day, next to no off leash parks, and the few there are are no where near walking distance. many people go off leash on the shoreline but the same rules that apply to SLC apply up here, its just people get away with it, but for how long? and due to incidents that have happened up here they are starting to crack down hard.

The thing I like about SLC other than the obvious is the posibilities for weekend adventure. So many things to do in a 3-4 hour drive.

Whitewater kayaking is a a bit lighter than I would like but you can find good water for a weekend trip. Funny how great the Idaho rives are which is just north of Utah but sadly the all head west instead of south.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the Wasatch is awesome, and regionally SLC is a fun place to live. The best thing about SLC is being 30 mins from the canyons.

On the other hand, there are lots of cities in the West that given a 3 hour drive time are freaking awesome. Missoula, Seattle, San Fran, LA, Denver, Vegas, etc etc etc.

drock3 wrote:I don't understand how you guys can complain about traffic. Live in any big-ish city and you'll see that the traffic here is almost non-existent. I couldn't believe how little traffic there was when I moved here.

Exactly. When I moved from Los Angeles to Salt Lake, I couldn't believe how fantastically awesome the traffic was. Even compared to the Detroit Metro area where I live for now, SLC traffic is almost nonexistent.

Anyone complaining about traffic in SLC has obviously never lived in a real city. Traffic problems are close to non-existent here compared to any metro area of even half the size. It used to be a little irksome on friday getaways down south through provo, but now that that construction is done it is easy.

Compared to any other major city around, off leash every other day in Mill Creek makes SLC exponentially more dog friendly than most places. With summit park and other areas around park city, plus the west desert, slc is as dog friendly as a big city gets. Denver is so much worse, though they make it easier to have dogs at outdoor patios at bars.

Traffic in SLC is not nearly as bad as, well, even Birmingham, AL....
Certainly much better than Atlanta, any major city in California or Colorado, any major city on the east coast...etc, etc, etc.
If I were to ever move, SLC would be at the top of my list.
The Mormons are less of an issue for me than the snake handlers and meth cookers here in the SE....they're so friggin polite.

BirminghamBen wrote:...The Mormons are less of an issue for me than the snake handlers and meth cookers here in the SE....they're so friggin polite.

We say "flippin" not friggin.

Just a polite reminder. Have a nice day.

Unless we're really angry. Then we say "fetchin' "

Life in the Wasatch consists of...

1. Mountains
2. Good skiable snow for 8 months of the year
3. Great climbing of all kinds
4. A vibrant city with plenty of things to get into
5. Like minded outdoorsy folk
6. Warm summers and Cold winters
7. The desert beckoning to you after a long cold winter
8. Weekend last minute trips to the City of Rocks
9. 6hrs to Jackson, Vegas. 8hrs to RMNP or Tahoe.
10. Mountains