Hello all,

A bit about me, I grew up in west Texas, did 6 years in the navy, and after getting my degree landed in Houston working in oil and gas. I have been offered a fairly significant promotion in SLC with my current company, it is an offer I think is probably too good to pass up. My question is, how is life in SLC for a single 29 year old? I enjoy shooting, bicycling, stuff like that. Not much into bars or partying but concerned about meeting women and making friends in Utah as I'm not mormon. This may be a silly concern but I've only been to Utah once....nothing against LDS folks, I'm just ignorant on the subject and as far as I know they like to stick with each other. No offense intended.

Also, what are some good areas to live in SLC? Budget would be probably $1500/mo max; don't want to buy a house right now so renting would be a must. I'd prefer a place with a parking garage but not a must, in a nice area of town or just outside.

Thanks!

You will have no problem meeting women.  Also live in Bountiful to work in SLC

From someone that moved here 8 months ago, Utah seems to be a bad place for people that want to party, so you're in luck there. Tons of biking (mountain / trails). Shooting on public land is okay in many places, not restricted to a range.

Sugar House is city living but decent area, as is the Avenues. Bountiful is nice too. You will have lots of options based on your budget.

As for the Mormons, my wife has been shunned by many of her college classmates because she isn't of the same faith. I find this quite funny because we are Baptists, attend church on Sunday, and try to live by the Bible. I cannot really comment as I am extremely quiet and rarely talk to anyone. While there are a lot of Mormons, there are a lot of "others" as well. I don't think you'll have any issues meeting people.

I'm new here as well, and I like the area.  From what I understand, the culture in SLC isn't nearly as dominated by Mormons as it is in Utah Valley.  That being said, the Mormons I've met have all been quite pleasant.

I'll admit to moving here with some preconceived notions about what the area would be like, and it hasn't worked out that way (that's a good thing).

I live in Daybreak (South Jordan) which is 20 minutes roughly South/West of the city and it's an awesome area by the Copper Mine. You are correct in the fact that it is really tough to meet people if you are not a member of the church but there are plenty of people who are not members. Sugar House is a pretty cool place to live and probably meet people but that's only because of all the bars. If your not into going to the bars and partying your pretty much screwed as far as trying to meet people. Now as far as shooting and outdoor activities well you came to the right place, plenty of places to shoot outdoors, camping, 4 wheeling, skiing/snowboarding etc. Now the 1 thing I will say about the morm's is that I have never dealt with people that are so nice (sometimes overly nice). I am originally from California and moved here 3 years ago and it took a while for me to get used to how nice the people actually are and inadvertently makes you want to be a better person. I love this place.

Utah Valley is it's own little spot of bizarreness.  It's like you've teleported into another world.   Even other Mormons often shake their heads at how things are in Utah County.

BTW, OP, when you try to drive in to the state, you'll be stopped at the border.  The trooper will ask you something like "So, how's the weather?", or "What do you think of that sunset?"  If your answer starts with "Oh, back in Texas", he'll hit you with his night stick, and tell you to drive right back where you came from.

Utah has Mormons, for better and worse.  As long as your don't have a chip on your shoulder about it, it likely won't be a big deal.  Probably not a lot different than baptists in TX--you get a lot of one group and you face some challenges as an outsider even if it's not intentional on their part.  Accept that some people are not going to go to a bar with you, but that doesn't mean you can't do other things.  Lots of people who will share your interests in shooting, outdoor stuff, etc.  I always find it nutty when person A hits it off with person B and then they figure out one is Mormon and one is not and decide they can't be friends.  


Nonetheless, there are fairly limited "cool" areas in SLC for a single guy--lots of the SLC metro area is family suburbia.  You'd want to look in SLC proper, Sugarhouse, Avenues, Capitol Hill, up toward the Univ. of Utah, etc., but you shouldn't have a problem on a $1500/mo budget.  Speaking as a transplant, Salt Lake is overall a pretty nice place to live, albeit much smaller than Houston.  Sometimes it's a little bit backwater-ish (much more so in small towns!), but that's the mountain west for you. Summers are awesome compared to Houston.  Vegas is an easy weekend trip.  Lots of outdoor activities within an hour of SLC.  Salt Lake has more outspoken counterculture than you'd expect; my theory is that lots of people just want the world to know they're not the plain-vanilla Utah Mormon stereotype (see the "chip on your shoulder" comment above").


 

It's not the Mormons you have to worry about....it's the illegal Mexicans. :)

Is the job in downtown SLC?

One area you might want to check out would be Park City.