STOP! Don't Move to Utah (Unless You Can Accept these 6 Things)

so I have searched the internet on every platform that I could find answers of people that are talking about the reasons to love Utah and more importantly the reasons why they don't like Utah so I've searched Reddit threads I've searched Kora I've searched all these different threads in conversations in forums Etc that I could find and have conversations with people but I spent countless hours researching for this video so I really hope you get some value out of the answers to these questions here in this video and these are the top six reasons why many people do not like living in Utah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] if we haven't met yet my name is Scott steel and I absolutely love all things Utah I love helping people discover Utah including Utah Real Estate I am a local real estate agent here in Utah and if you have any questions regarding real estate I would love to be your real estate resource of choice hit me up in the comments or shoot me an email a text message or give me a call I'd love to help you out okay so most of the people that I interact with on a daily basis and weekly basis are not actually from Utah most of my clients are not from Utah most of the people that I'm surrounded with are not from Utah originally and so the question really comes to mind what do you love and what do you hate the most about living right here in Utah and I'm going to address the top six in this video right here okay first and foremost let's get the first one out of the way this is my number one reason why I don't like Utah and it's the top reason for many other people as well and that is the air quality we get winter inversions here I've explained it in many other videos but basically that snowf falls acts like a blanket keeps the air colder toward towards the ground and the warmer air up above which just simply traps all of the pollutants and based on the Topography of the Salt Lake Valley we have a massive mountain range just to the east that prohibits that pollution from escaping the air and so it just socks in and so often times during the winter months this can be pretty problematic in fact we just had an inversion blowout today with the next storm and as long as we have continuous storms each and every week the inversion doesn't get that bad but to touch on more than just the inversions in the winter time let's talk about the summertime as well often times wildfires run rampant in California and that smoke tends to come this direction as well sometimes we'll even get smoke from Canada or Washington depending on the ways that the jet stream is flowing and the winds but overall air quality is absolutely a valid concern it's the number one thing that I don't like about here but I've also found that there are ways to get around it you simply choose to do less outdoor activities at least down here in the valley but as soon as you climb up 15 minutes up the canyon up parley's Canyon or the Cottonwood Canyons or any Canyon for that matter you get right above that inversion and the sky is clearer it is warmer and it's beautiful now it's well documented that Utah is the number one fastest growing state in the country from 2010 up until the current year of 2023 and with this growth comes a lot of construction it comes in the form of buildings as well as housing but especially as roads are built as well and one of the things that's really apparent here in Utah our roads really take a beating throughout the wintertime and the summertime because we have extreme Heats in the summertime and we have that ice forming inside the road and cracking the road in the winter time not to mention the salt that comes with the roads during the winter as well it really reeks havoc on the roads and so each and every summer it almost at times feels like every road you turn down can be under construction and that's a real thing because asphalt paving just does not hold up very well in Utah it might only last a few years and although many of the large surface streets and definitely the freeways are mostly concrete there's a lot of repaving of Roads because of our climate but back to housing one thing that I thought really interesting was in this article right here so this article is headlined as the top 10 states building the most new homes here's a look at which states in the country are experiencing a construction boom of the most new homes and if you come down here it says coming in at the top of the list Utah has the most new construction homes being developed with 11.7 new builds per 1,000 residents which is more than double the US average of 5.23 new bills per 1,000 residents followed closely by Idaho with 11.43 and on the other side of the spectrum Rhode Island and Connecticut have barely over one home built per 1,000 residents and to to put this into clearer perspective we have to keep in mind the demographics of this state Utah is the youngest state in the country and as this map indicates let me show you this is the median age of people who live in the United States and as you look here Utah has the lowest median age at 31 years old every single state in the country is older and with that younger demographic we need to build more homes not to mention the birth rate here in Utah is higher than anywhere else in the country as well and we have a lot of people that are moving here okay next up on the list number three is our drivers many times over and over and over again people mentioned how terrible the drivers are here in fact my wife is from Southern California and when we first met and got married she told me over and over again that the drivers here are the worst that she's ever seen and I found this really interesting map here on Forbes let's take a look so this map is a representation of the states with the worst drivers however the worst drivers on this map are reflected by dangerous driving and as you as you hover over Utah you see that they rank as the third 38th most dangerous which means they're the 12th safest place to drive in the country so sometimes these numbers can be a little bit deceiving you'll notice if you come down to Texas it's the worst and as you go throughout the the southern states here in Louisiana Kansas Oklahoma there's some of the worst states in the country for safety but in terms of safety Utah ranks as the 12th best but I will say that there's a valid point in saying that we have bad drivers and I don't think it translates as much as safe or unsafe driving as much as it is just rude there are so so many rude drivers here that just simply do not let you merge into traffic or they don't turn a signal on and at the end of the day they just don't care and I think that this mentality of just not caring on the roads is something that's really problematic in Utah and that's a uniquely Utah thing all right next up on the list is housing and housing costs are absolutely On The Rise the most expensive homes typically are in the Western United States or parts of the Eastern United States as well let's take a look coming in as the most expensive state in the country is Hawaii at $971,000 and if we we move over to California you'll notice it's number two at 760,000 followed by Massachusetts at 607 and then coming out to the West again you have Washington at 585 Colorado at 548 and Utah at 518 so Utah comes in as the sixth most expensive state in the country in terms of Housing and you really do feel the full effect of that and that is definitely a negative when moving to Utah all right next on the list number five is the food scene so if you're a foodie and you wanted to live in a place where they have really good restaurants in the past Utah has been one of the worst states in the country but in recent years in the last 5 to 7 years things have really changed and there are so many new restaurants opening each and every month however most of those new restaurants are located in and around Salt Lake City or other cities along the was Edge front or Park City often times the suburbs and the places that are a little further away from downtown tend to just have a lot of chain restaurants but I found another interesting map let's take a look so this map is according to wallet Hub and this shows the best states or cities in the country for Foodies and Orlando comes in at number one you can see right here it's ranking number one is Orlando and they're basing this off of a score that combines the diversity accessibility and quality of the food along with the price and so that's why Orlando's at the top of the list you'll notice also here that my Amy Florida is number one in terms of diversity accessibility and quality of the dining but as you scroll down the list you'll notice that Salt Lake City comes in at 37 overall in the list but the interesting thing is it comes in at number 32 on this side of the table but in terms of affordability it's 127 so Utah does have quality food maybe not to the scale of many other larger cities but it is on point based on how large our metropolitan area is and so I think it's somewhat of a myth to think that we no longer have really good restaurants here in fact there's a really good diverse selection of all types of ethnic foods and so I think it's really improved in the last like I said 5 to 7 years but the fact Still Remains that it is really expensive okay last up on the list number six and this is kind of a sensitive one for many people I'm from Utah I was born here I've lived here my entire life other than just a couple of years but the interesting thing for many people that have made the move here they're always concerned about fitting in with the community here as somebody who's not of the predominant Faith now when we talk about Utah most people know about and think in terms of we have a really large Mormon population which is true and Mormons are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints also known by the acronym LDS and so if somebody is LDS or of that faith it is something that's really a concern for many people that are com here from other places and it's definitely a valid concern for many people so I wanted to dive down this path and look at people that I know so I spoke with many people that are close to me in my office and people that I trust that will give me straightforward answers based on their experiences having been born and come from a different state and relocating here and I got some really interesting feedback but the overall consensus both in online forums like Reddit threads and whatnot as well as people that I've spoken to is they find that the people in Utah are some of the friendliest people they've met but it certainly can be awkward if you don't feel like you fit in that might mean socially that might actually be something in terms of business or career opportunities as well and oftentimes people have this preconceived notion that it's going to be really difficult to get into the right positions in terms of their career advancement because they're not part of the good old boys club as they say but from my experience I don't see that and I don't get that from the people that I interviewed or the people that I trust that have moved here from another state I've gotten nothing but positive experiences so hopefully that not a real threat for most people that are concerned about moving here but it's definitely something worth being curious about and finding out where you're going to fit in and ultimately there's a tribe here for everybody all you have to do is Step yourself outside of your comfort zone and go find those people that you really connect with and share similar values Hobbies interests Etc in conclusion living in Salt Lake City as non- Mormon can be a positive and enriching experience the key is to embrace the city's diverse offerings engage with open-minded individuals and respect the choices and beliefs of others while celebrating your own own identity and values salake City's sense of community extends well beyond making it a very welcoming place for people from all walks of life and as we see time and time again like here with us News Utah ranks number one in Employment Number One in best states overall and number one in economy the bottom line is Utah is a wonderful place to live it does have its cons it has its negatives and so I wanted to create this video to make sure that it's really transparent what people are concerned about before they come here and I love having open conversations about this type of thing so leave a comment below if you visited Utah I want to know your experience whether good or bad or if you're from Utah or you have lived here in the past I would love to get your perspective with respect to these six things that I've mentioned in this video and as always my name is Scott steel a local real estate agent if you have any questions regarding buying or selling or investing here in Utah I would love to be your real estate resource of choice hit me up in the comments shoot me an email send me a text or give me a call I would love to be here to answer any and all of your questions and until the next video [Music] thanks

Channel: Scott Steele - Living in Utah

Views: 29,096

Keywords: living in utah, living in salt lake city, moving to utah, moving to salt lake city, moving to park city, moving to park city utah, moving to salt lake city utah, winter in utah, things to do in the winter in utah, utah real estate, buying a home in utah, buying in utah, buying a home in salt lake city, buying a home in salt lake city utah, what to expect utah, Local Hot spots utah, Why people hate utah, bad things about utah, bad things about salt lake city

Id: MqmSCm2dQks

Length: 11min 20sec (680 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 06 2023