Guys, I will be moving to the area in the next few weeks and wanted to know what things were like and if there were any areas to avoid? I took a position at SLC airport, so I am looking to live west of the airport. So I am looking in the tooele, erda, grantsville area. Have to move on a short notice, so most likely going to rent for a month or so then look for a place to buy, any advice? Any good places near by to shoot? Anything will help,

Thanks,

I'm not from there but from what I hear there really isn't a bad area to avoid.  Shooting is ease head west 10 mins and shoot all you want.  I hear Grantsville is developing so prolly some newer homes there.

Tooele in a nutshell:


Main Street that starts out with a movie theater and a Walmart, a couple mechanic shops and car dealers, and a few other stores, a 7-Eleven, a Police station, a credit Union and a bank, then there's a whole lot of construction that's been going on for over a year now. At the end of Main street, there's a little reservoir where you'll see a lot of people with fishing, but few people catching. Pretty much every street outside of Main Street is residential and a lot of those streets intersect with Main.


It's a tiny town with a growing population. It has lower taxes, cheaper housing, no emissions if you drive a car, and really friendly people. You can go shooting 10 minutes West of the place or 20 minutes South. Grantsville is a couple miles West and that's an even smaller town which is very similar in the layout (Main Street with businesses on it and houses on either side of Main, and yet another small reservoir at the end of Main Street, except this reservoir has fish in it).

There's also a world class race track out there between the two cities. If you live near it, you might get annoyed by the sounds resonating from the place.

Both are great places to live and raise a family, but they're kind of isolated and there isn't a ton of stuff to do.

If you are working at SLC International, you don't have to live in Tooele (Too il uh).

It is quieter than the Salt Lake Valley though.

I personally have no issues with Tooele as far as a place to live, but there is no way I would want to undertake the commute to SLC in the winter on a daily basis.

Coming from the East coast, there are no parts of Salt Lake or Utah that are a "place to avoid".

As noted, the drive to from Tooele to the airport is not always that fun, especially on a snowy winter day.


Places to shoot out there are everywhere.


Welcome to a free state.

Thanks guys, I am just looking to live just outside SLC but I am flexible. I am moving from the DC commuting area so a commute doesn't bother me to bad. The winter commute was one thing that I honestly didn't think about until now. I am looking to rent for a few months then possibly looking to buy. So I was just looking for a starting point. Keep it coming!
Thanks,

Snow isn't the only issue with the winter commute.

The Great Stink Lake stands on the path between Tooele and SLC. There's always an early morning fog around that lake in the cold months.


So on the Tooele side, it'll look like this:





The Salt Lake side will look like this:






Only the Tooele side has fog though. The stuff you're seeing on the Salt Lake side is air pollution or as the locals refer to, "inversion". I think I'd rather drive through inversion than Tooele fog because Tooele fog is really hard to see through and when you combine that with an 80mph speed limit, the end result is an almost annual occurrence of multi-car pileup accidents.

The regular pile-ups on I-80 are a good point about the Tooele commute.

There is no reason for it for working at SLC.  You can commute a very short distance from surrounding suburbs.

Bountiful is 14.3 miles drive on the roads, with half of that commute on the 215.

South Jordan is 18 miles, with almost all of the commute on 215 from the South.

West Jordan is about the same, with all of that commute on the Bangeter Hwy 154.

Daybreak is about the same.

You're looking at a 20 minute commute or less from some really nice suburbs of the Salt Lake Valley.

As the others have pointed out the winter commute can be bad, but at any time of the year the commute can be a huge headache. I-80 is the only route between the two unless you want to add a ton of time and miles going all the way south around the mountains. One good wreck and your only route just became a parking lot. There is a stretch of I-80 that is mountain on one side and lake ( lake bed ) on the other. Any of the other options you will have at least two highways, plus surface streets to use as an option.

Hey, he could live in Magna. He'd be right close. Problem solved.

(I'm sorry. I was joking. I couldn't do that to you in good conscience. Do not live in Magna.)

Plenty of shooting in Magna too.

I live in Grantsville and make that drive every work day. It is a piece of cake. Talk about pile ups on I80? What other highway in the valley does not have pile ups.

Fog? Yea but very seldom. This commute is not an issue. The piece and quite is worth it in every way. Op, you are a 30 minute drive from either Grantsville or Tooele to the SLC Airport.

But when I-80 is closed, what are your other options to get to the SL Valley? Anywhere else you can take surface streets if needs be, but out there you are hosed if the freeway closes.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to live out that way, and I know the freeway being closed doesn't happen everyday, but between the wrecks and lake effect snow, I have seen it happen enough in the 20 plus years in emergency services to not want to have to deal with it. That might not be a deal breaker for everyone though, but it is nice to know before making the choice to live there and work in SL.

There is about a two mile stretch from Lake Point to the 201 exit that if there is a closure on 80 then yea you are stuck. Other wise use 201 to 80. I have been driving it for 6 years and it hasn't happened yet.

Weather has not closed 80, so accidents are about all thats left. The HP GENERALLY (not always) figure something out to keep at least 1 lane moving.

Thanks FreezeN,
That was kind of my thoughts, I will have somewhat flexible hours, so traffic or fog might not be as big of a deal. How do you like Grantsville? I am thinking Tooele, Grantsville or Stansbury Park areas. I will be out there within the next three weeks or so looking for a place to stay. Just looking for that 30-45 min commute area.

Thanks,

We really like Grantsville. The issue I have with Tooele is main street. It sucks. All traffic is funneled through town down main street (4-lane). Morning and 4pm and after untill 5:30 or so is a cluster fuck. That is if there is not an accident or something. If you lived on the north end of town and could go right home it wouldnt be too bad. I just hate the drive through town. My pet peve. Grantsville is 10 minutes to Tooele if you need to go there and there are back ways to alot of town with out dealing with main street. We live in the northwest part of GV and dont even drive Hwy 36 anymore. Strait north to 80 and the travel is a breeze untill Lake Point where you meet the Hwy 36 Merge.
I make this sound like traffic is heavy and I dont mean too. It's nothing like I15 in the valley. It is alot heavier than North East Montana where we came from. Come and see for your self.



We lived in Stansbury for a year and like it too. Lots of new construction going on there now. Grocery store and a few other little stores there. IM me if you have other questions. I don't visit the Hometown forum alot.




 

Reading the rest of your post, there is a new indoor range in Tooele that is nice and not too busy. 25 Yard 8 lane. I go there on Sunday mornings and have it too my self alot. The Lee Kay center just past magna off of 5600w and 201 is a state run outdoor range  that is pretty nice. There are tons of gun stores and many indoor ranges in the SLC Valley also. Alot of people just go out into the desert and shoot on public land. There is a trap club outside of toole that shoots on Sundays and Wednesday nights.

My friends live in Tooele and the traffic whenever there is an accident or bad weather drives them insane.