Thinking of Moving to Salt Lake City from SF Bay Area

I've been living in the SF Bay Area for 10 years. The plan was always to move after a few years of checking things out. Lately I've been feeling the itch to relocate.

I love the Bay Area. It's become far too expensive and traffic is insane and getting worse. It's time to move along. The funny thing is I frequent the Eastern Sierra quite a bit. It's usually a 7-8 hour drive from here. Even though is a significantly further away from SLC it is alsa a 7-8 hour drive.

Job wise I can relocate within my company. I just have to be patient...it might take a couple years for something to turn up.

What appeals to me about SLC is its proximity to amazing wilderness. I backpack, mountain bike, rock clime (a little) and love being outside in remote places in general. Also, the cost of housing is very appealing. I can buy a house in SLC which is far far out of my reach where I live now.

What are the nice neighborhoods? Are there any areas I should avoid? What is food like there? For the TW'ers who live there what are the drawbacks?

I'm not from California so I'm not another person from California ruining Utah. I'm another New Jersien ruining Utah.

 

Avoid west of the i15, particularly West Valley City. Lehi is probably the nicest for being right off the freeway. Most of the other decent neighborhoods are closer to the mountain.

 

I'd move to Ogden personally, if I wanted to be that close to SLC.

 

I’ve heard that! I don’t drink all that much. What I do drink is beer and wine. Mostly beer.

 

Can't say much about the SLC area, but I'll provide this...

I was born and raised in the South Bay. I left there in 2000, and it was the best decision of my life. I do miss some of it, and we visit annually, but every time we are there the feeling of "I'm so glad I left" gets reaffirmed and fortified

Good luck and GTFO while you still can!

 

Moved to Salt Lake from the bay area 6 years ago and love it. Granted I spent time and visited in Utah so that's what brought me out here. As well as cost of living, proximity to outdoor things

It might depend where you wanna move based on your company's location. The commute from one side of the valley to the other can be just as rough as SF areas

I still have family in California so I make the trip back a few times a year, and that's to all parts of California not just the eastern Sierras.

Also something to consider is you are a lot closer to other states that are great to explore as well. Like Idaho, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming

 

Utah is pretty amazing for all of its outdoor recreation. Great views from anywhere in the valley, canyons all over to ride through, hike, offroad in. Lots of fishing areas if you're into that. Freeway can be a nightmare at times, but I imagine it's like that pretty much near all large cities. No matter where you live (for the most part), you're close to an outdoor activity and great view.

Only draw back, is its a pretty religious run state...separation of church and state? Not really a thing here...mormons have ties into just about everything. SLC isn't as bad as other places. You used to not be able to buy alcohol on Sundays...a lot of stores are closed Sundays...liquor laws here are ridiculous..etc. It's the only drawback of living in Utah, honestly. Sorry to those of you I may have offended .

 

Don't forget about all the nut-bag sovereign citizen types.

 

This is 100% true and I'm an active Mormon. I may follow the beliefs, but the church needs to pull out of government. It seems like every year they get more involved in legislation.

By the way I'm not offended. How can someone be offended by the truth?

This is nonsense though. I've lived all across the state and this is just made up or drastically over exaggerated.

 

I've worked in DC, Seattle, LA, and SLC. Honestly, the traffic is pretty comparable in all of them (depending on your A->B). Seattle is the worst I'd say just because all the freeways are 2 lanes since they never saw the Amazon boom coming so there is no real place to maneuver. Point of the mountain to exit 297 in the AM and often PM is pretty annoying.

The whole ABC store thing is pretty familiar having grown up in VA, but the beer thing is a little rediculous. SLC is definitely a lot more progressive than the rest of the state. I live in Orem/Provo now, and the "song and dance" is amusing but also frustrating as an outsider.

In Provo, the 6 person line in front of the liquor store before opening time the day before Thanksgiving made the news...

 

I'm glad some inside the circle can be reasonable about this. I know a lot of folks in UT that get offended by the truth for what its worth.

Lots of "prepper" types here, but can't say I've met a full blown "sovereign citizen" since I moved here.

 

Got your bike with you? I was planning on riding this weekend.

 

We talkin motorcycles or pedal bikes?

 

Met one while crossing the grand staircase and another in a camper in Bears Ears.

Was... interesting conversation.

 

There's an E-bike joke in there somewhere...

Pedal. Thinking 'Sled or EaMo depending on conditions...

 

Damn, was hoping motorcycle!

 

As much as I want a moto, the last thing I need is another hobby / money pit. But I would love to pimp out a KLR650 or one of the Beemer dual sport bikes.

 

The absolute worst thing about living in Utah is all the people moving here and bringing their local issues with them, trying to change what is good about living here.

 

I feel that. Same about how I feel about my hometown, Seattle.

A little dilution of the church crowd is alright, but that culture also set up Utah as the nice place that it is.

 

This.