Salt Lake City, Utah

SLC is a fairly progressive city in a very conservative state. If you’re concerned about overwhelming LDS culture, there’s quite a bit of influence from anti-conservative Mormon counterculture here. You won’t see the kind of diversity that you see in a big, eastern city, but there’s a significant LGBTQ community, a lot of just plain outdoor enthusiasts (unlimited national parks -- Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Capital Reef) and the tech people are flooding in. It might interest you to know that much of the internet traffic flowing west comes through the not-very-prone-to-natural or weather disasters state of Utah, so jobs follow the flow, including Adobe, Microsoft, and a few startup unicorns. And UofU and BYU don’t hurt. However, rent costs have skyrocketed.

The weather is generally mild, and the listicle people seem to think it’s hip. It is an outdoor lover's paradise, and it is extremely safe from violent crime. It’s also pretty homogeneous if you're coming from NYC or DC or a West Coast major city. It lacks grown-up nighttime entertainment, and there are certainly vestiges of LDS in quirky rules and laws (speaking of, no alcohol sales on Sundays or outside state liquor stores and bars do not do generous pours).

We highly recommend visiting Salt Lake City and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

You love to be outdoors and like a safe, mid sized city life.

chemistcarpenter
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

I’m an ex-Pat, so I’ll give you my point of view as such. It’s a wonderful city and very unique. The typical American downtown does not apply here. It’s a walkable, clean, safe city. “Downtown” is large, spread out and as close to a European city as I’ve seen. Food options are great and abundant. Not to say all options are great, but there are limitless options. Making friends outside of work will be a challenge, however that not a big concern as you’re interning. Cheers.

For more reviews of what living in Salt Lake City is like from locals check out: The Reviews.