Moving to Salt Lake City/ Park City?
Hi parents! We are a family of a 4yr old and 2yr old, and 3rd baby due in August. We are strongly considering moving to Utah and would love to hear about someone’s experience leaving the bay for more room, outdoor activities, less expensive lifestyle, etc. We are not religious.
Dec 27, 2023
Parent Replies
Please be sure to check out what is happening with the toxic air quality as the great salt
lake dries up. Just google it
I left the bay for several years for exactly those reasons, and recently moved back. Both moves felt right to me. My top considerations:
- It’s easy to take Bay area diversity for granted, many outdoor-oriented locations are very white and homogeneous, there might be culture shock if your kids (or you) are not white
- Weather. Bay area weather is so chill, you may be taking a lot of life shortcuts you aren’t even realising. Anywhere with snow in the picture requires a whole extra set of gear of all family members, the house, the car(s), the bikes. You may discover the joys of shoveling/snow blowing and snow tires. And putting 4 layers on your baby to take them all off when they poop in the diaper. If you’re used to getting around by bike year-round, you’ll need to make accommodations for rain, sleet, snow, ice. On the other hand I’ve had California friends specifically move to places with brutal winters because they are in love with the logistics of snow, so it depends.
- Sunlight. The Bay has a lot of light, many cities (I’m thinking PNW) is super dark most of the year and seasonal depression may be an issue.
- Public transit and walkability. If you’re used to taking BART and buses, there’s likely not going to be as great of coverage in outdoor towns. If it’s important to you, research ahead of time to target transit-able and walkable neighborhoods in the new town. We went from 1 car to 2 cars after leaving the bay.
- Making an entirely new set of friends and community as an adult with dependents. I have found some cities have surprisingly closed off social scenes, that’s just the culture. I’ve also experienced the opposite, so it goes both ways.
- I missed the ocean.
- Air quality, as mentioned above, was also noticeable to me. But that goes both ways, some outdoor cities have better air quality than the bay!
- Crime. Granted the bay area is all over the place and I’ve lived in super safe areas and also gunshot areas, but the outdoor town I lived in was the kind where people didnt lock their cars and doors, which was an unexpected relief after living in the city.
- Produce in other places can be really bad (until you find the farmers markets). California grows a lot of produce, so we are used to great food. If you have a strong sense of taste like me, this can be really annoying and you end up buying the expensive produce in the end anyway.
- I really enjoyed the reprieve from having peers constantly hustling and clawing on the hedonic treadmill. I felt myself relax for real for the first time maybe ever. On the other hand, I felt like it made me intellectually lazy and less creative.
- If you care about competitive academics, be aware that other places might shock you in how uncompetitive they are.
I might suggest doing a trial run (renting out there for several months, maybe try a couple neighborhoods or seasons) if you’re on the fence! I personally love to explore the world and see what else is out there, and you can always come back if you want.