Does Salt Lake City have its share of worldliness?

[Bini]

I know that Utah has a huge Mormon population, so it seems that most cities there would not have the same number of abortion clinics and adult businesses and such. It seems that it would be a good place to raise a family as a result.

Is it different from other parts of the country because high numbers of people adhere to good morals?

I agree with whoever said that many LDS are by tradition rather than belief here in UT.

Still, I think UT is a beautiful state and while in some areas you may find segregation between members and non-members, it's still a very nice place to raise a family. I personally, however, would not choose Salt Lake or surrounding areas, as ideal spots for starting a family or retiring. I spent a good portion of my time here in the US living in Southern UT and it's much nicer down there. It's cleaner, it's safer and there's a good strong member network as well, that will motivate you to attend and participate in church and its activities. These are some things I took for granted while I resided there.

[Tarnished]

haha Tarnished..that's another thing to add to the cons of SLC. We had the worst air quality in the nation this week due to inversion. Hopefully the storms we have coming for the next 6 days will clean that out.

Yea, if we want to get into the cons of SLC I really could make a list. Inversion would be very close if not at the top of that list. I remember when we were living there that there were days where they would tell you not to go outside for more than 5 minutes, not because of the cold but because of the air quality.

Then there is the fact that there are nuclear weapon disposal sites in the valley and there are certain reservoirs that they advise you not to swim in.

It is a very pretty place and I feel nostalgic whenever I come back to visit, but I am glad that I am now somewhere where I don’t pray for snow in the winter so that the sky will turn from yellow to blue once more.

[bytebear]

Thanks for that link, Dravin. That's fantastic! :)

Matt. 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth....

My thinking is that if any area has a high enough population of Mormons, then that area will be positively influenced so that it's real noticeable.

How much influence does the Mormon church have with city councils and people making decisions on moral issues in the community (i.e., nativity scenes in public parks, Ten Commandments monuments in public buildings, nude bathing beaches or spas, billboards advertising strip clubs along interstates, sleezy lingerie shops, etc.)

I'm sure Salt Lake City has some large shopping malls. In those malls do stores like Abercrombie and Fitch - and Victoria's Secret - paste large photos of mostly nude models on the walls outside their stores where little kids walking by can see them? This is the situation in most other parts of the country. I'm wondering if the Mormon church and members get involved enough in their communities to protest things like this in their communities?

Or do most Mormons just look the other way? Are these stores posting posters where passersby in your malls see them, no matter their age?

I hope what I'm saying makes sense. For those who have not lived elsewhere in the nation, I realize my question may not be clear.

The church tries to influence society, but they do not try to control it (although some non-LDS in utah would say other wise). We live by the concept of being in the world but not of the world. We don't hide away in separate societies. We do not force our beliefs on our neighbors, but we will tell them what we believe and hope they will likewise agree. We also believe in honoring, obeying and sustaining the law, which means we have to work through government and legal issues, rather than fighting directly against them. We aren't passive, but we aren't aggressive either. Rather than protesting abortion clinics, for example, we instead provide alternatives like LDS Family Services. Rather than trying to shut down the local bar, we provide activities that give people an alternative to drinking. This is true, not only in Utah, but where ever the Saints live.

[AmyKate88]

Not to be rude but you have mentioned those areas that tend to be more affluent. I don't know if I agree that they are more LDS influenced but more money influenced. I live in Sandy myself and lived in Draper for 10 years which is probably one of the most affluent areas in the Salt Lake valley. I think sometimes we get a false sense of security in thinking that the more expensive the area the safer it is. Unless you live in a gated community.

While I lived in Draper we had more car break-ins, more homes vandalized, than when I lived in the huge city of San Diego in a not so affluent neighborhood. In fact my own car was stolen and returned the same day by the thief no less but that's another story. :) And this was in Draper.

I didn't pick those places because they are "more affluent", they are just the areas I have tended to live and/or visit friends. I don't think affluence creates a false sense of security, I just happen to like those towns and think they are a good balance between LDS life and the "real world".

[ozzy]

Sounds great huh? But with any large population, SLC has it's share of problems as well. Once rated the meth capital of the US. Has the highest percentage of anti-depressant usage of any state. Is probably one of the lowest of the states in what is spent per student per capita in education. So yes, we have our struggles like any other big city.

Now now, chocolate doesn't count as an anti-depressant.

Anyway, yeah my two bits are that there are great places all over to live, and there are not so great places all over to live. I've been to a few places in Utah and wasn't overly impressed with any of them. Course that may be because I'm Mormon, or it may be because I just don't like major cities. Either way, I agree with the others who have said that SLC has its share of worldy inclinations. Thing is though, where doesn't? Unless you become the wilderness family of course and go live in Alaska all by your lonesome. :)

[Prodigal_Son]

Hmmpfh. I'll take the inversion over a city loaded with smokers any day of the week. (Which is every large city BUT Salt Lake.)

[Tarnished]

Hmmpfh. I'll take the inversion over a city loaded with smokers any day of the week. (Which is every large city BUT Salt Lake.)

There are smokers in Salt Lake as well, I remember what shocked me most when I went to Utah State University and University of Utah after attending BYU-I was that people were smoking on campus. You can find people smoking at most of the light rail stops, as well as when you are walking down the street downtown.

[Prodigal_Son]

There are smokers in Salt Lake as well, I remember what shocked me most when I went to Utah State University and University of Utah after attending BYU-I was that people were smoking on campus. You can find people smoking at most of the light rail stops, as well as when you are walking down the street downtown.

Of course they exist. But they are few and far between in comparison to anywhere else.

[Tarnished]

Truthfully I am not a big city girl, I don't like driving downtown and I really don't like walking around downtown. So for me to say that I felt comfortable walking around downtown Salt Lake is really saying something. It is a nice city, but it is a city and like other cities it has parts of the world involved in it. The fact that it is the center of church headquarters does mean that you have less worldly things in it than in other large cities, but it is not exempt from those things.

[pam]

I thought that was due to the inversion...

Today I feel like singing the song "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills." Why? Because I can actually see them today.

[theoriginalavatar]

Stick with Las Vegas. It is a nice, quiet, family kind of town.

[ADoyle90815]

One thing about smoking, is that several states where the LDS population is a minority do have anti-smoking laws where it's banned in buildings, including bars and restaurants. As a result, many smokers go outside and away from doors in order to get their fix.

Another thing about the Wasatch front is that those mountains were formed by earthquakes, and that fault is long overdue for another major earthquake, about the size of what hit Haiti. It's a good reason to always be prepared.

Edited January 19, 2010 by ADoyle90815

[KayCee]

Today I feel like singing the song "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills." Why? Because I can actually see them today.

Yup...BEAUTIFUL day here in Salt Lake! :)

[pam]

Too bad it's not going to last huh KayCee?

[Dravin]

Today I feel like singing the song "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills." Why? Because I can actually see them today.

Drives me nuts. I'm used to being able to see Mt. McKinley/Denali some ~160 mi away from Fairbanks. Here the mountains are often lost in the haze. Them mountains sure are pretty, like you say, when you can see them. :)

[boyando]

haha Tarnished..that's another thing to add to the cons of SLC. We had the worst air quality in the nation this week due to inversion. Hopefully the storms we have coming for the next 6 days will clean that out.

The Ute tribes preferred the colder mountains in the winter time, because when there was an inversion, the smoke from there camp fires didn't go up into the air. So guess the air quality problem has been around for a while.

[boyando]

I grew up in Santa Ana, California in what I would consider the edge of the rougher part of town. Growing up, I did not feel safe.

I now live in one of two community's, in the Salt Lake valley, the most would consider the rougher part of town and I feel safe.

But when I go visit my Sister in Seal Beach, California, a bout five miles from Santa Ana, I also feel safe. So it really depends on were you are at, block to block.

[Nikkie85]

I live in NC and most of the Elders that serve missions here come from Utah or Idaho. They always seem in shell shock and confused at first. Most new families that move from out west hate it here and want to move back. They say the south is totally different than out west. I would love to live in Salt Lake where I would be "surrounded" by people my age with beliefs and morals but hubby wont have it! Pretty much every single young couple that gets married in our ward moves out west either for school or for the culture.

[Prodigal_Son]

...Most new families that move from out west hate it here and want to move back. They say the south is totally different than out west. I would love to live in Salt Lake where I would be "surrounded" by people my age with beliefs and morals but hubby wont have it! Pretty much every single young couple that gets married in our ward moves out west either for school or for the culture.

My most formulative years came during my high school period. I lived in the suburbs of Atlanta. It was, unequivocally, the best thing that could happen to me.

I was a "Mormon". I was different. I was watched, I was questioned, I was drilled, I was called out. I grew so much from having to stand firm and really "know my stuff" that I would simply not be half the disciple I am now (not that I'm any sort of superstar... but I could be even worse ) had I not spent 4 years in the Bible Belt. Truths were affirmed, convictions were deepened, and the foundation I based my life and efforts on was strengthened.

Utah is a beautiful place, and one can grow anywhere at any time with proper personal motivation... but there IS a trial out here that one of the brethren referred to in conference a few years back called "spiritual drift". Because there is nothing unique about a Latter-Day Saint here, it's easy to become casual in our religious strivings. Much easier (at least in my experience) than in a culture where those who surround you are watching, waiting, and keeping you constantly on your toes.

Perhaps it's not the same for everyone, but the strength that came from my time in the South is an indispensable part of who I am now - and who I will always be.

Truth be told, I don't live in SLC... and wouldn't want to. It's a beautiful city and a safe place... but it's just not my style. It's a bit worldly for my tastes... Instead, I'm in a rural farming community (think Napoleon Dynamite) up on the UT/ID border where people are simple, plain, honest, hard working folk. I have room to breathe (even if our air is allegedly terrible), I leave my keys and wallet in my car, my front door unlocked, have to drive behind and around hay trucks, tractors, and combines day in and day out, and everything I could need can be found on Main Street. Small town America. Perfection (or as close as it gets).

[bytebear]

I grew up in a SLC subburb, but have lived in Southern California for the past 12 years. The thing that still surprises me is how much Mormonism is spotlighted in the culture of the city, and not by the Mormons. Every city has a free newspaper that's kinda hip and modern. They are usually called the Weekly as in we have the LA Weekly, and the OC Weekly, and I think the Utah version is called SL Weekly (but I could be wrong). The thing is, when I read the Utah paper, it was all jokes about Brigham Young or church dances, molly Mormons and things like that. I tell you, I love living in California, where the church is big enough that people don't think we're a cult, and yet not so prominent that our neighbors feel threatened by us and our culture. In fact, living in conservative Orange County, my neighbors have pretty much the same moral and family values.

[Tarnished]

I like what Prodigal_Son says about living in the "mission field". I grew up in the Chicago land area and found the same thing. You stick up for your values, because everyone around you is doing things differently. You become your own person and are strong because it is your religion and you are being true to it.

When I first went to college, I attended Ricks College, which being located in Rexburg Idaho is in the highest population of LDS people per capita in the world. When I got there I experienced culture shock. I was not ready for roommates who watched R rated movies, classmates who swore, and known housing areas where there was prostitution going on. And the big shocker for me was that all of them were LDS, went to church on Sunday, paid their tithing (that is how the prostitution was discovered, they paid tithing on what they earned), and thought themselves to be doing just fine. It was a bigger struggle to stand my ground on my morals out there then it ever had been to keep my morals out in Chicago-land.

It was why my mother never wanted to live in Utah, she didn't want to raise her children in a place where, though surrounded by good strong LDS members there was also a large population of very weak LDS members who by their example encouraged others to become weak as well.

It is much easier to say no to someone who holds different beliefs than you do, than to say no to someone who believes the same things that you do, but just wants to give in just a little bit...

[Faded]

I know that Utah has a huge Mormon population, so it seems that most cities there would not have the same number of abortion clinics and adult businesses and such. It seems that it would be a good place to raise a family as a result.

Is it different from other parts of the country because high numbers of people adhere to good morals?

Yes there are strip-clubs, adult bookstores, bars and the like. But the numbers are SIGNIFICANTLY lower than the average American city of comparable size. I remember living in an apartment complex that just happened to be across the street from the only Hooters restaurant in the entire state (no idea if there are more now, but at the time anyways.) Crime and gang violence are there, but they're also significantly lower than comparably sized cities elsewhere.

No idea on abortion clinics though.

I would say it's one of the better places to live. It does have challenges for Latter Day Saints, as has undoubtedly been pointed out.

[pam]

I only know of one Hooters in Utah and that's in Midvale.

[Faded]

I only know of one Hooters in Utah and that's in Midvale.

Yep, that was the one. Of course, the difference between Midvale and Salt Lake City proper is just lines on a map. Typical metropolitan area.

[pam]

True..honestly I don't know where one boundary ends and the next starts anymore.