Living in Salt Lake City can be great! But, it also come with a few drawbacks you should know about if you’re considering a move to Utah. A few of these items caught us by surprise when we first moved here from Atlanta, Georgia. Let’s get into it:
1. Housing Cost/Affordability
Utah has become notoriously expensive regarding housing and is now one of the more expensive states in the U.S.. This has been fueled by strong economic growth and a huge influx of population moving to Salt Lake City from other states like California. The median home price in Salt Lake City $580k which is significantly higher than the national average.
2. Air Pollution
In the summertime, Utah falls victim to forest fires within the state and usually gets heavy smoke from fires in neighboring states. It gets pretty bad occasionally, bad enough you wouldn’t want to be outside exercising. In the wintertime, we deal with inversions where the warmer air rises and the cold air rests in the valley bring along the pollution with it. This last winter (23/24) wasn’t too bad really. Maybe it’s getting better. But it’s something to consider as our population continues to grow and add to the pollution.
3. Weather Conditions
Do you hate the snow and the cold? A move to Utah might not be for you, because it’s both cold and snowy for 4 to 5 months out of the year. But, most of the heavy snow is at higher elevations than in Salt Lake City. When we do get heavy snow, it causes some disruption for a few days.
Utah also has a very dry climate. Moving here from a humid place like Atlanta, Georgia, was a bit of a shock to the system. Plan on using a lot of moisturizer. The majority of the state (99%) is in some level of drought conditions, and the state is projected to get drier and drier in the future. The climate and weather are definitely worth considering when moving to Utah.
4. Transit System
The transit system in Salt Lake City leaves much to be desired. It’s not great and if you live here you definitely need to own a car to get around. I’ve never tried it, but I imagine getting around this place using public transportation would be extremely difficult and very time-consuming. I guess you could get by without a car, but you’d have to live and work in the right places to make it work.
5. Restrictive Alcohol Laws
This is more annoying to us than anything. There are weird and strange laws around alcohol in the state of Utah. They’ve changed significantly over the years. Many years ago, you had to be a member of a social club or bar to drink alcohol. This went away in 2009. They have changed slightly since we first moved here in 2017 – the beer you’ll find in a grocery store can only contain up to 5% (up from 3.2%!) alc. by volume. Still can’t buy the IPAs I enjoy in the grocery store, but they’re available at the liquor store.
A more concerning change is the state lowering the blood alcohol level for a DUI from .08, which seems to really be a national standard, to .04%. Now just a single glass of wine, cocktail or beer could push you over the legal limit.
All liquor transactions directly to the public must happen at state-run liquor stores.
You can expect smaller wine pours at restaurants (maximum is 5 ounces) and for cocktails (1.5 ounces of primary alcohol is the max allowed) at the bar.
Final thoughts
There’s certainly much to consider when making a move anywhere. This list isn’t all-inclusive of reasons not to move to Utah, I’m sure some things might be on your list that aren’t on mine. But, this is a good place to start as some of these are a big deal. Don’t be phased, though! Utah is an amazing place to live and if you can deal with a few negatives, the positives far outweigh them! Click the link below to see some of the top reasons to move to Salt Lake City!
11 Reasons to Move to Utah
If you have questions and want to know more about moving to Salt Lake City, shoot me a text or give me a call. Use me as a resource, I’d be happy to help.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback, leave a comment below!
