I spent this past weekend in beautiful Salt Lake City for a National Leadership Convention within the Air Force.  The city seemed very clean and modern, but this was most likely due to the major overhall that occurred while hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.

 

One interesting note is that they have a huge outdoor mall, residental, and commerical (mixed-use) section of the downtownconstantly full of people--hopefully very similar for what Robert Stark will be starting with Cleveland in the next year.

 

Last side note, the regional convention will be held in Cleveland this November with myself as the Directer of Operations (logistics of what everyone will be doing while in the city). 

 

Enjoy:

Wonderful! I love the surrounding topography.

Seems like a very quaint downtown.  Gotta agree with ink; those mountains make an absolutely gorgeous setting!

The mountains are quite stunning.

I got the chance to visit Park City two years ago. We passed through Salt Lake City on the way. We also visited Heber City and Provo.

 

I went with family, and only got to spend a little time in Salt Lake City itself. Some people just don't get it.  :cry:

 

I agree that Salt Lake City is very clean, and so is Park City. Heber City was more gritty. My first impression of Salt Lake City was that the streets were extraordinarily wide, and the freeways were mostly empty.

 

Anyway, here are some more mountain photos.

 

Mount Timpagonos

 

Near Guardsmans Pass

 

Near Provo

The city seemed very clean and modern, but this was most likely due to the major overhall that occurred while hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.

 

One interesting note is that they have a huge outdoor mall, residental, and commerical (mixed-use) section of the downtownconstantly full of people--hopefully very similar for what Robert Stark will be starting with Cleveland in the next year.

 

 

Other then the reconstruction of I-15 and the construction of the light rail, I don't think the Olympics had that much effect on any overhaul of dowtown.  I think it seems pretty much as it was before.

 

I'm glad the Gateway was crowded; maybe they'll stop asking for more concessions from the city because they don't have enough customers!

thx for this thread, i am always clueless yet kind of curious about slc. that mormon church aside, i didnt see any buildings of note, but maybe some nice neighborhoods? the downtown mall/residential thing is hopefully not too lifestyle-mallish? also, i wonder did you get to ride the new light rail? hows it compare to our old school clevo version?

 

anyway, slc looks very pleasant. and yeah that setting, surrounded by mountains, sheesh its just jaw dropping -- wow.

I have been going to Salt Lake each month for work, and I have actually been more impressed with it the more I have gone.  The whole LDS church being so dominant is a little strange, but the downtown, while not hustle and bustle, does have a lot.  It is definitely spread out, and they have quite a few hotels and restaurants.  Not that I am into chains, but I was surprised that they had things like a Hard Rock (near downtown) and Ruth's Chris.  The Trax system is pretty cool and does appear to have a decent ridership - I liked that they have a line going to the University of Utah and heard an airport line is going in.  This system looks similar to what Dallas has in their downtown area.

 

The Gateway is nice, but it is life stylish with a housing component.  On the retail/restaurant side, I would say it is a mix between Rookwood and Newport on the Levee, but at least it is part of the downtown area.  And the mountains are indeed stunning, almost distracting.

thx for this thread, i am always clueless yet kind of curious about slc. that mormon church aside, i didnt see any buildings of note, but maybe some nice neighborhoods? the downtown mall/residential thing is hopefully not too lifestyle-mallish? also, i wonder did you get to ride the new light rail? hows it compare to our old school clevo version?

 

anyway, slc looks very pleasant. and yeah that setting, surrounded by mountains, sheesh its just jaw dropping -- wow.

 

Everything I needed I walked, so I didn't get a chance to ride the "Uta Trax."  I did take a cab to go to the base of the mountain for some climbing, but that was it.  Most of the Trax I saw where positioned in the middle of the roads, which I'm assuming is what Dallas has. 

 

Here's possibly the most "impressive" of the Skyline architecture besides the Morman Temple (which they wouldn't let me go in..!): 

 

 

 

The Trax system is pretty cool and does appear to have a decent ridership - I liked that they have a line going to the University of Utah and heard an airport line is going in. 

 

Cincy1,

 

I think the next TRAX lines will be going to the west valley suburbs (who fought tooth and nail against it back when the Olympics put us at the top of the list for federal money.)  Now that it's so successfully, they're clamoring for more lines out their way.

 

Hopefully, a successful streetcars system in Cincy will convince suburbanites to finally support light rail there.

 

^ Exactly, I think the strategy has to be to build a small portion near the city center, connecting destination areas and then build from there.  Most of the systems I have read about actually surpass projections and make the case for extensions by that success.  I hope something happens, and it seems they are leaning toward doing this.

Crazy ass mormons

Murray - how was the climbing?

 

My first impression of Salt Lake City was that the streets were extraordinarily wide, and the freeways were mostly empty.

 

They have to be that wide (132 feet) so that SLC can handle the traffic when it becomes the Mecca for all of the True Christians after the Second Coming.

Nice to see DAVID and X keeping the bigotry alive and well in Urban Ohio!

Nice to see DAVID and X keeping the bigotry alive and well in Urban Ohio!

Do you know me? I don't think you do, because if you did, you'd know that I'm not a bigot. I'm in the C*۞אּعI ร † group on facebook for God's sake. Jeez, you people are so sensitive. 

 

 

Edit: and I didn't mean anything by "you people".  :roll:

I just got back to from SLC this past week for the second time in the last few months.  Didn't do any real sightseeing of the downtown area.  I became more familiar with State St. which is practically their Main St. since it divides East from West in their numbering system.  As far as driving around the city, 15 and the 215 loop are pretty much constantly busy at least South of the city.  Half the vehicles on the road are trucks.  Most of those are large SUVs.  I'd say its a little more dangerous of a place to drive because of the wide mix of peoples speeds and vehicle sizes.  I was driving consistently around 70-72 and constantly had someone on my tail and usually several trucks flying by me on the left.  Typical traffic was varying from 65-80+.

 

I really have no particular thoughts about the city in a positive or negative way.  They have a very flashy downtown and they do have beautiful scenery of the mountains.  They definitely have great skiing and snowboarding nearby.  The place that seems the most familiar and comfy to me is the U of Utah area. It reminds me very much of U of Akron with a lot of new neighborhoody development around it like U of Dayton has seen.  Its become a "cool" neighborhood they call Sugar House.

 

I can't bring myself around to ever want to move there since I think the mountains would be a big tease and it would also spoil my appreciation of going on vacation.

My first impression of Salt Lake City was that the streets were extraordinarily wide, and the freeways were mostly empty.

 

They have to be that wide (132 feet) so that SLC can handle the traffic when it becomes the Mecca for all of the True Christians after the Second Coming.

 

Actually the roadways were designed so that wagons could turn around on a street. That is why they are so wide.

 

Your other comment show a lack of understanding and respect for different religions and beliefs.

Do you know me? I don't think you do, because if you did, you'd know that I'm not a bigot. I'm in the C*۞אּعI ร group on facebook for God's sake. Jeez, you people are so sensitive. 

 

 

Edit: and I didn't mean anything by "you people".  :roll:

 

No I don't know you, nor did I call you a bigot.  I do know what you said, and it was, as I pointed out, a bigoted statement.  And if you didn't mean anything by "you people", why did you say it?  I'll assume "you people" means those of us born and raised in Golf Manor!

I just came back from a brief visit to SLC, where my sister and brother-in-law have lived for a dozen or so years. I find that, as with any city of any complexity, it is hard to describe Salt Lake in a few short paragraphs.

 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Moshe Safdie-designed public library which opened a few years ago. I find it to be one of the most spectacular public buildings I have ever seen. The views of the mountains from within are spellbinding.

 

The opening of the TRAX light-rail system really changed the city for the better. The system is well used and convenient and adds an element to the public realm that just can't be found in trainless cities. Even though the suburbs that are spreading out across the valley floor are as disturbing as suburbs anywhere, the older SL neighborhoods are full of beautiful old houses, many of which seem to be miniature versions of houses you would find in the Midwest.

 

The Mormon presence is obviously everywhere, though the church seems to be struggling to maintain its influence in the city proper, as immigration from other parts of the country and world have added remarkably to the region's diversity in the past few years.

 

The wide streets and vast scale of the downtown are a little hard on the pedestrian, but there is a lot of interesting stuff happening there.

Do you know me? I don't think you do, because if you did, you'd know that I'm not a bigot. I'm in the C*۞אּعI ร † group on facebook for God's sake. Jeez, you people are so sensitive. 

 

 

Edit: and I didn't mean anything by "you people".  :roll:

 

No I don't know you, nor did I call you a bigot.  I do know what you said, and it was, as I pointed out, a bigoted statement.  And if you didn't mean anything by "you people", why did you say it?  I'll assume "you people" means those of us born and raised in Golf Manor!

 

 

Theres a bigoted statement in "favorite quotes" about Southern Baptists not recognizing each other in liquor stores, why don't you go preach the same thing to that person? Go verbally lambast every person on here that jokes about Kentuckians...  It'll make you feel even more uppity.

Murray - how was the climbing?

 

 

Climbing was great!!  I didn't have that cool equipment though (and I almost fell twice...so I probably should have), but the views were worth it once i got to the top.  I was just a little cut up and bruised in some places.

Do you know me? I don't think you do, because if you did, you'd know that I'm not a bigot. I'm in the C*۞אּعI ร † group on facebook for God's sake. Jeez, you people are so sensitive. 

 

 

Edit: and I didn't mean anything by "you people".  :roll:

 

No I don't know you, nor did I call you a bigot.  I do know what you said, and it was, as I pointed out, a bigoted statement.  And if you didn't mean anything by "you people", why did you say it?  I'll assume "you people" means those of us born and raised in Golf Manor!

 

 

Theres a bigoted statement in "favorite quotes" about Southern Baptists not recognizing each other in liquor stores, why don't you go preach the same thing to that person? Go verbally lambast every person on here that jokes about Kentuckians...  It'll make you feel even more uppity.

 

I know that I have joked and even shown outright disgust for Kentuckians (although I working on that).  But the point is that these types of comments (even in a joking manor) perpetuate a stereotype of a particular group (typically minority).  I know that I don't appreciate hearing such comments made by people in a malicious or light-hearted way.  Now I know that "crazy ass Mormons" doesn't necessarily promote a particular stereotype, but I can see how someone would be disturbed by such a comment.

 

[/speech][/rant][/serious]

 

Sorry about that...just had to get it off my chest!

SLC is a big yawn!

I have a friend who just spent a weekend at Park City (near SLC). She's pretty unbiased and said the following:

 

-beautiful mountains

-there is no city planning. they have tin warehouses next to strip malls next to mountains.

-they sell 3.2% alcohol beer.

-in an upscale store that she visited, the clerks were talking out loud about "those stupid faggots"

 

I had expected her to come back with a better review of SLC.

Hey Rando, show no hate to people like me :) I may be Kentuckian, but I'm not blue!

 

How expansive is the TRAX light-rail network today? I haven't heard much on it in about a year, but it seemed as if it was on its way to further expansion.

I have a friend who just spent a weekend at Park City (near SLC). She's pretty unbiased and said the following:

 

-beautiful mountains

-there is no city planning. they have tin warehouses next to strip malls next to mountains.

-they sell 3.2% alcohol beer.

-in an upscale store that she visited, the clerks were talking out loud about "those stupid faggots"

 

I had expected her to come back with a better review of SLC.

 

your friend is dead on.  In regards to liquor, (this might have changed) you can only order on drink at a bar, if you would like a second, you need to order food with it.  I remember this from the Olympics.  The light rail, is souless version of the shaker rapid, IMO.     Upscale Stores? Puh-Leaze

 

How expansive is the TRAX light-rail network today? I haven't heard much on it in about a year, but it seemed as if it was on its way to further expansion.

 

Seicer,

 

There are plans for three expansions: two 5 mile or so long spurs off of the existing north/south line, one to West Valley City (western suburb) and one to West Jordan (southwestern suburb).  And, the 6 mile long airport line which is undergoing re-evaluation of its route.  This airport line thru the west side of the city offers the most promise of good development, the other two seem to be more "commuterish".

 

There was funding issue passed last November for these (or maybe it was for the commuter rail(?).)  Can't remember exactly.

 

 

^I also have to concur.  I was driving around Easter Sunday trying to somehow figure out if SLC could be a city I could seriously move to and live in.  It was definitely a pleasant enough day.  I noticed the whole trip more so than in the past that people weren't "midwest friendly."  People seemed to be a little more Western standoffish.  Any conversations I struck up were typically with other tourists/skiers mainly from Pa., Ohio, or Illinois.  After eating out about 6-7 times in SLC this year, I'm starting to believe that Park City does have the better mix and quality of restaurants.  I think it would take a 3-5 months to start to feel comfortable living there.  I'd probably end up spending a lot of time up in Park City since its such a great ski town although def. a lil pricey.

 

The liquor law hasn't changed.  If you go into a bar you still need to buy their private membership before you can be served.  Also the liquor stores do carry higher percentage beer but you have to pay upwards of double the amount for it. 

 

All in all the negatives of unchecked sprawl, gated communities, oddball laws, and dangerous highways seem to still outweigh the positives of moving to Utah.

Was in SLC last week for the American Chemical Society conference....  It is a rather strange place as has been discussed above.  Since I don't host, I'm gonna split a few pictures up into 3 posts - the first being around downtown SLC, the second being random pictures from downtown SLC, and the third a couple pictures of Park City.  Enjoy!

 

Captions:

1.  Sunrise over the Wasatch/Rockies/Whatever our first morning.

2.  We took over the entire Salt Palace Convention Center (quite the monstrosity) as well as all the hotels in downtown.  All the people in Salt Lake knew about this conference - apparently it was highlighted in the local news and stuff!

3.  Here comes my TRAX ride!

4.  Inside a TRAX train.  They move very slowly - much slower than the healthline BRTs.

5.  The Gateway Mall (the lifestyle center on the edge of downtown that was discussed above).  Yes, sadly, it is a lifestyle center.  There's a road in this picture, but you can really only access the Clark Planetarium (left) and parking garage entrances from the street.

6.  2-story Rube Goldberg thingy inside the planetarium.  Sweeeeet :-D

7.  I'm bouncing on the moon!

8.  What?  Pluto is still a planet???

9.  Well, with the exception of the teeny tiny correction sign.

10.  Looking northeast from our room on the 9th floor of the Embassy Suites Hotel (600 S and West Temple).  The surface lot in the lower left corner is HUGE.  And there are multiple HUGE surface lots.  They put Cleveland's lots to shame (which is good for Cleveland!)

11.  Looking southeast from our room.

12.  Temple Square

13.  Mormon Tabernacle (where the choir performs)

14.  Pipe organ inside the Tabernacle (approx. 12,000 pipes!!!!!)

 

And a few random shots around downtown:

 

1.  Crane party!!!!

2.  WTF???

3.  Best hotel door hanger ever.

4.  Interesting...

5.  King of spuds!!!

Nice pics Doc. 

And a couple from Park City (yay skiing!  :-D)

 

1.  That's a long way down!

2.  Looking up from the bottom of historic Main Street.

And a couple from Park City (yay skiing!  ;D )

 

1.  That's a long way down!

2.  Looking up from the bottom of historic Main Street.

I had to change into my long johns just to look at those two pictures.  I'm not a SLC/PC person! 

And a couple from Park City (yay skiing! ;D )

 

1. That's a long way down!

2. Looking up from the bottom of historic Main Street.

I had to change into my long johns just to look at those two pictures. I'm not a SLC/PC person!  

 

It was actually really really warm (like about 45-50 degrees).  I had to take off my coat every time I got to the bottom of a run cause I was sweating like a pig (and I only had a t-shirt on underneath!).

Thanks for the pics! Looks like you had a lot of fun. I've never been skiing before. I need to try it some time.

 

I like how that mountain terminates Main St. Very picturesque.

And a couple from Park City (yay skiing!  ;D )

 

1.  That's a long way down!

2.  Looking up from the bottom of historic Main Street.

I had to change into my long johns just to look at those two pictures.  I'm not a SLC/PC person! 

 

It was actually really really warm (like about 45-50 degrees).  I had to take off my coat every time I got to the bottom of a run cause I was sweating like a pig (and I only had a t-shirt on underneath!).

 

Ehh.  I'm not a skier so I just looked up at the mountain.  Besides I've had to be there in January.  It's not cute and there is very little eye candy IMHO.

And a couple from Park City (yay skiing! ;D )

 

1. That's a long way down!

2. Looking up from the bottom of historic Main Street.

I had to change into my long johns just to look at those two pictures. I'm not a SLC/PC person!  

 

It was actually really really warm (like about 45-50 degrees). I had to take off my coat every time I got to the bottom of a run cause I was sweating like a pig (and I only had a t-shirt on underneath!).

 

Ehh. I'm not a skier so I just looked up at the mountain. Besides I've had to be there in January. It's not cute and there is very little eye candy IMHO.

 

Hahahaha :-D

here are a few transit related pics from SLC on a recent visit...

I've been going out to Utah every President's Day weekend for the past 8 yrs, as my family has a condo at Solitude resort in the Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It's really beautiful, but every time we go down into Salt Lake City I get creeped out and am so glad I don't live there.  The dynamic of the city is just very...odd.  The whole city is incredibly clean, meant for families, full of chains, and the people are just weird.  They look at my dad weirdly for ordering a drink with dinner, and if my parents would get a bottle of wine, as well as a drink a piece, they almost are hesitant to serve.  That, and the city is almost entirely white and has virtually no grit what so ever.  I heard that they are seeing an increase in their Mexican population, and they have a small GLBT district, but over all the city is almost entirely middle class, white, conservative mormons.

I've been going out to Utah every President's Day weekend for the past 8 yrs, as my family has a condo at Solitude resort in the Little Cottonwood Canyon. It's really beautiful, but every time we go down into Salt Lake City I get creeped out and am so glad I don't live there. The dynamic of the city is just very...odd. The whole city is incredibly clean, meant for families, full of chains, and the people are just weird. They look at my dad weirdly for ordering a drink with dinner, and if my parents would get a bottle of wine, as well as a drink a piece, they almost are hesitant to serve. That, and the city is almost entirely white and has virtually no grit what so ever. I heard that they are seeing an increase in their Mexican population, and they have a small GLBT district, but over all the city is almost entirely middle class, white, conservative mormons.

 

There in fact is a very large Mexican population - it actually caught me quite a bit off guard.  But, yeah, other than that, it's conservative white people.  Their idea of downtown restaurants are Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, California Pizza Kitchen, P.F. Changs, and so on.  There are a few local choices, which we patronized gladly and stayed away from the chains.