Considering a move to Utah (SLC area)

[Sawin]

I'm not qualified to give much input here. But SLC gets lots of lake effect weather/snow. More than most of the east slope generally - SLC Winter is substantially shittier.

Good to know, we had not considered that yet.

I'd rather live with Mormons than Boulderites or the wannabes in Manitou Springs. I don't think much of the church itself but most Mormons I know are damned good people.

Us too...

[Sawin]

Yeah, would be horrible to live around a bunch of friendly white people that keep their property well maintained, own guns, vote for Republicans, stockpile food and water and are generally good neighbors that obey the law.

SLC Mormons are no big deal, now certainly you might not want to move to a small town that is nothing but Mormons (they'll be super friendly until they find out you're not joining their church then they'll just ignore you ... pretty much like ANY small town folk) but the "city Mormons" are fine.

If Colorado doesn't straighten its shit out in the next few election cycles, SLC is high on the list of areas we'd look at relocating to (as a Graphic Designer it looks like I'd always be able to find work there).

One little issue might be Ogden ... apparently that's where all the libs live (of course sometimes its nice to live in a somewhat liberal enclave in a conservative area because they're small enough not to damage politics overall, but you get good coffee shops and restaurants out of the deal).

Relax, I do not have anything against Mormons as neighbors/coworkers/bosses/etc.
My point is, if you live/work in SLC and are not a Mormon, you may be quietly excluded from some business/job opportunities. That is all.

We are not LDS and certainly will not be converting, but we mesh with them just fine. I have some family who are LDS, 7 of whom (aunt/uncle and 5 kids) live in and around SLC. I don't intend on relying on them by any stretch in our social life, but they're good and honest people who would absolutely help us find the right place for us in their metro area. I am not concerned about being "welcomed" by everyone, and honestly don't want to be. They shouldn't pay us much attention because I won't pay them much either...

I am a Director-level IT guy, highly employable. I don't worry about finding a good job and have already sourced a couple in less than an hour's time through various channels. If religion plays a part in job opportunities, I'd probably exclude it from the top of my application-list anyway.

[Sawin]

According to Motley Crue, SLC has the hottest women in the country.

About 5 years ago, I dated a girl from SLC... blonde, blue eyes, 5'7", fantastic body... and liked to take pictures of herself naked. I won't share them here, but.... I can't say they're the hottest in the country, but Motley Crue isn't altogether wrong.

[sellersm]

All I can contribute is some feedback from folks I know that used to live there, and some who moved back: check the air quality. Also, the point that davsel made *may* come into play, depending on the are in which you locate: according to some folks who moved here from UT, that happened to them.

[CHA-LEE]

If you are not part of the LDS church your career path out there will be significantly hobbled. I have never lived out there, but I have visited there many times and have quite a few friends out there. The LDS church situation is like a "Good Old Boys" club. The economic and employment wheels are heavily greased for LDS people, and as a non-LDS "outsider" you have a significant up hill battle.

[<MADDOG>]

If you are not part of the LDS church your career path out there will be significantly hobbled. I have never lived out there, but I have visited there many times and have quite a few friends out there. The LDS church situation is like a "Good Old Boys" club. The economic and employment wheels are heavily greased for LDS people, and as a non-LDS "outsider" you have a significant up hill battle.

My former boss moved there 5(?) years ago from C/S, and he, with underlying pressure from his wife, moved back to C/S a little over a year ago. What you state is very much what he stated; it's difficult for a non-LDS member from a business perspective.

[Alpha2]

There are some...un-named vocations right here in Colorado that are heavily LDS, and I've had some one in that vocation say directly to my face, "they won't make it in this town, they aren't LDS, I don't know what they were thinking".

When my co-worker and I left the place of employment, we looked at each other and both said, "are they supposed to say that out loud?!?!?!" That was on the Front Range, I can't imagine it isn't more pronounced near SLC.

[Bailey Guns]

Yeah, would be horrible to live around a bunch of friendly white people that keep their property well maintained, own guns, vote for Republicans, stockpile food and water and are generally good neighbors that obey the law.

Exactly. For some odd reason one of the first thing people say when we tell them we're moving to Idaho - "There's lots of Mormons there." My response is almost exactly what you wrote.

UT was on our short list of places to move to, though not necessarily SLC. We were looking further south. But we decided on ID instead. When I took the UT concealed handgun instructor course in SLC one of the instructors said, "Nothing gets through the legislature in this state without the approval of the gun lobby." I thought that was fantastic.

[Gman]

I do know that they stick together in regard to business. For a while I had an HP sales rep. from Park City and I asked her about business in the SLC area. She told me there really wasn't any since the CEO of Dell at the time, Kevin B. Rollins, was LDS.

I hope everything works out for you!

[th3w01f]

We looked at moving there a couple of years ago, I have a few co-workers (not LDS) and many contacts that live there (LDS was my customer for about 4 years). All the Mormons I've met have been great people and overall I got the impression that not being LDS wouldn't be a big deal for adults but that it could be difficult on kids in school (being excluded and difficulty making friends). That was the primary issue that took UT off of our list. Also, I was told the further south you go from SLC the more 'Mormon' people become.

Career wise it could be an issue working for companies owned by Mormons (not sure but it makes sense) but working for vendors and selling into IT departments in UT, it was never an issue not being LDS.