10 things about Salt Lake
Moving to a new place is always a little bit intimidating. It can be even more intimidating when it’s a place that has the theocratic reputation of Salt Lake City. I can’t even begin to estimate the number of polygamy jokes people told Jess and I before we moved here. In one of the earliest posts on this blog, Salt Lake Gloom, I talked about how I felt.
However, pretty much every stereotype I had has been proven wrong! Urban Salt Lake where I live (I define this as Downtown, Sugarhouse, & the Avenues) is as cool, liberal, hip, & funky as any New England college town.
Let me repeat that again, its significant…
Urban Salt Lake City is one of the most liberal places I have ever lived! (remember: I grew up in the people’s republic of Ithaca, NY).
What happened in Salt Lake is that a critical mass of artists/students/hipsters accumulated downtown, and all the LDS folks moved to the suburbs! So began this weird situation, of a kernel of hip surrounded by the “Zion Belt”.
But saying this is just spewing generalities, let me describe 10 specific things I have noticed that make this place unique, the sights, sounds, people, and the snails & quails from my own daily experience.
10. Before I met my first Mormon, I had conversations with Navajo artists, Gay pride activists, Tongans, Fire Island beach bums, robotics engineers, cute barista-marathoners, local bondage community folks, Russians & Norwegians, and of course -lots of speedskaters from the Midwest. When the missionaries finally showed up on my doorstep, they were from California & exuded mellow groove.
9. There are flags at many intersections, you pick them up, and wave them at traffic to get their attention as you cross. They are actually necessary at times, due to item #1 and I have used them.
8. The excellent Tibetan restaurant 3 blocks from our house, next door to that is an incredible fudge shop!
7. The counter-culture is sincere here, not calcified from decades of sarcasm & irony. It’s because there is really something to REBEL against. There is a higher ratio of tattoos & funky hair than anywhere I have ever lived. A symbol of the new Salt Lake is that just down the road from the massive LDS temple, is a business that specializes in Vegan Bondage wear! (the Andrew mentioned in this article about them is NOT me!!)
6. KRCL 90.9 RADIO FREE UTAH
An absolute shining star of radio, whenever I listen, I hear incredible music I have never heard before.
5. Liberal Mayor Rocky Anderson. Since things here are so fundamentally divided between extreme liberal & conservative, he does not have aim for that decisive middle electorate, since it really does not exist here. He marches in the gay pride parades and when George Bush came to speak last month, organized the counter protest!
4. Huge snails! I see them on the sidewalk every morning as I walk the dog. Salt Lake life is just not really complete until you are walking the dog, hear the crunch-squish, and have snail guts hit you in the knee!! This is not the only local fauna worth mentioning. There are skittering tribes of California Quail around. Lilly ignores the snails, but the Quail drive her ballistic.
3. Stylish women walking along with expensive umbrellas, but not because of the rain, but TO KEEP THE FIERCE SUN OFF THEM. Picture expensive black clothes, pink high heels, pink handbag, and a pink umbrella, & you are getting the idea.
2. The incredible number of cyclists/runners/multi-sport folks. The neighborhoods at the mouth of the canyons seem to be “athlete ‘hoods” where open garages expose stacked skis, snowboards, bikes, kayaks, & in-home climbing walls. In the early 90’s, I was a lone cyclist, pedaling along rainy Massachusetts roads, now I am just one of the lycra wrapped swarm pedaling up the canyons under sharp blue skies. It’s NICE!
1. Stupid Drivers! here is a comparison:
- Boston drivers are bad, but that is mostly because they are driving along asphalt covered cow paths designed in 1612.
- Washington drivers are scary, cause they are all excellent drivers and drive like it’s a NASCAR race to get to work.
- NYC is its own brand of terror, because most cars are driven by professionals who confidently squeeze through tiny openings in traffic.
- Florida can be a scary place to drive, but most of them were once excellent drivers, so I have more compassion.
But I have seen sheer stupidity in Salt Lake unmatched in the annals of human autmotage. There is lots of “create your own lane” antics, and late at night, you hear the high-pitched scream of young men/future organ donors drag-racing each other through the suburbs on motorcycles.
Filed under: from home
I must second thye number of HORRIBLE drivers. I have never seen that many bad drivers in one city in my life. Apparently, they teach the kids that no matter what the laws say, it doesn’t apply to them when they take Driver’s Ed. I thought it was just that SLC was a crime free town that so many wrecks are on the news, but then I drove around for a week. Stay off the sidewalks! Even they aren’t safe. hahaha
By now most of the horrible drivers in Florida must be in pine boxes. The rest are getting their Driver Ed via TV from Daytona.Their aim is to be first at the red light to be able to disappear out of sight. In contrast they all are increditably considerate of the handicapped at the mall. iT MUST MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD!!
Hey, welcome to the swarm. I love Utah for the many challenges that I can invent for myself through just being here.
On the driver thing! Think about the only time in a Mormon life when one might experience the only moments of real freedom…..alone behind the wheel.
When would you rebel living under that pressure and controll?
everyone is keying in on the driving thing! interesting, I thought at least one person would take me to task for mentioning snail guts… I left out that on summer evenings, during backyard parties in the avenues, if you put your beer down, you sometimes find a snail climbing up the side when you pick it up…
I can’t emphasize enough how I have felt the LACK of mormons in Salt Lake, although I see them around the temple.. it’s very strange, this is, also, the OPPOSITE experience my freinds in the suburbs have….
it is really weird about the occasional bizzare driving here, most places where there are bad or dangerous drivers, you can often find explanations in the culture or road conditions/setup.. like NYC feels so dangerous to most people because an average of 60% of the cars on the road are driven by professionals, & they are agressive & fast & very good.. if you think long enough, you can usually find reasons for bad driving…
but I can really find no reason for the occasional incredibly stupid & bizzare car things I see here.. the roads are very well maintained, clean, huge by east coast standards (almost all are 4-6 lanes wide), marked well.. this is an incredibly easiest city to get around in.. so why does one see so much stupidity???? its not agressive driving I usually see, just mostly dumbass clueless idiots…
Growing up as an “eastie” in Cortland, N.Y. ( just down the road from Ithaca ) I assumed the wide open spaces of the west led to the bad drivers you mentioned. I envisioned long 4 lane streets like Sacramento with traffic flying by. Or hundred mile an hour flashes of steel on wheels on a highway. But your street shot reminded me of the neighborhood I grew up in - quiet, restive, play ball in the streets ( the south end of Main Street, actually ).
The flags blew me away. It seems this is a cure of the symptom, not the problem. As a long time commutor by bicycle and foot mobile, it seemed like the motorists have more rights than the pedestrians.”What do you mean? I have to watch for pedestrians? They should stay the heck off the street!”. If they get run over, it’s their own problem! How dare they expect me to slow down while I ( take your pick ) 1)bring my daughter to soccer practice 2)drive drunk as fast as I can 3)drive as fast as I want, where ever I want.
We had similar conditions in Cortland, but from mean, homicidal drivers. They would just as soon run you down as door you ( quite a choice, I know ). We finally started walking and riding with a small ball peen hammer. When a car tried to run you down or came close enough to brush by you as they passed by, we would just put a little ping in the front, right fender. It was Darwinian, really. The worst offenders had a series of dents in the right, front fender and pedestrians and cyclists would stay away from them. Less violent folks used red spray paint. This served as an early warning system ( you can see it from a long way off ). Shyer joggers ( I knew one from Ithaca ) used to carry ball bearings. They became proficient at just tossing the bearings up in the air at an angle as soon as the car behind them saw them and opened up the after burners to whoosh by them 6 inches away to scare them. The bearings hit the offending car in the windshield and put small, starry holes in them. They thought it was rocks from the road.
Yes, I know, deep inside I am an angry, “power to the people - join the revolution” human powered commutor. Only evolution will tell who eventually is most successful in filling the concrete niches we travel in!
JD
“just mostly dumbass clueless idiots…” I think you summed it all up there!!!!
snails - bad karma for a speed athlete’s website
but if I am KILLING snails on a daily basis, does that indicate a reversal of said karma.. mr “anonomous” (anonomous gave their email address as speedy@snails.com, that is funny!)
This june it was just about impossible to go for a walk at dusk/dawn without accidentally stepping on a snail… the snail body count is quite high in the neighborhood..
John, the photo is taken right down the street from me, I do live in a much “leafier” part of town (one reason I chose it), but the flags are very prevalent through most parts of Salt Lake that have a significant pedestrian presence… and cars really do slow down dramatically when they see someone with a flag in their hand….
KILLING snails?!?!?! an improvement, a reversal? that’s beyond bad karma, that’s curse territory! put out three cans of open beer on the ground and let the snails drink freely to atone or face the curse of le escargot!
Hi Andrew!
Hi from Norway. I got home on friday and I miss Salt Lake already. The Viking ship oval where I am training now is very very VERY cold.
I like to read your blogs but never send you a comment… sorry about that. Also want to wish you a great season! We all know you are a fast skater, so it’s up to you to let the world know. See you all in November.
Jannicke
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