Friday, September 07, 2012

The long-awaited non-whining UT post

A while back, I whined about the things I don't like about Salt Lake City.

Cue the waaaah-mbulance!

Now it's time to even things out and talk about the stuff that rocks. 5 things, list style, no particular order.

1. The riding is awesome. The shoreline trail and offshoots is a 5 minute ride from my front door, and there is a lot of fun stuff to ride on it - at least 20 miles of worthy trails, and I'm still exploring. Red Butte is a darn fun little section, even though everyone told me "no fun for bikes", so I'm thinking I'll do a bunch more exploring on some of the "only fun for hiking" trails. Park City... can't say enough good things. I'll be on the computer desperately trying to get into the PCP2P for next year...not to mention the Draper 50, Heber 50, etc, etc.

2. Our house is in a great location. Less than 15 minutes to:
-Epic Brewing
-Squatters Brewery
-Lots of good grocery stores
-The U
-The very awesome Pie Pizzeria and Pharmacy Deli ($3 shakes you eat with a spoon!)
-Some great bike shops, including my personal fave Beehive.
-The LDS Temple. Oh, wait, I don't really care about that. But it's neat, I guess.

3. People are insanely friendly. We've made friends with all our neighbors, pretty much instantly. We went to the DPS (where you get your drivers license) and instead of a 5 hour Kafkaesque ordeal like in CO, it was 30 minutes and the friendly, competent (!) employees cracked jokes with us and cooed at our baby. Awesome.

4. Houses are cheap, cheap, cheap. We have a 1700 square foot house in a primo location, with a kickin' shop/garage, for less than our condo cost in Boulder.

5. The grid is kinda awesome. Need to figure out where you are? No problem, it's just Cartesian coordinates. Navigating around town is dead easy. Yes, there are a few one-way streets and such that you can end up having to drive around to get to where you want, but honestly, it's pretty insanely easy.

We like it, in short. It's going to be a fun time - think about coming out and visiting and watching your bike get built if you're interested.

14 comments:

tatgeer said...

Have you tried Red Iguana? Excellent Mexican food!

tatgeer said...

Have you tried Red Iguana? They have excellent Mexican food!

Walt said...

As I am from NM, I basically abhor all "Mexican" food anywhere else.

I'll try it anyway, though!

Walt said...

Ok, looked at the menu.
A) Not cheap.
B) Rellenos made with Anaheims? Fail.
C) Way out west.

I mean, if I'm over there and I'm hungry, sure. But I guarantee I can cook better Mexican food than they can.

Perry said...

Glad you're liking SLC. I've lived here for 15 yrs and I think it's pretty great. The whole Church/State mish mash takes a bit of getting used to, but the outdoor opportunities are amazing.

Have you tried any of the riding up around Park City yet? It's crazy how many miles of trails are up there. The Wasatch Crest is pretty unbelievable too.

Reid said...

Well, I'm from New Mexico too, and my vote on the Red Iguana is that it's pretty good. :)

Jesus_Castro said...

Hater's sounding a bit snobby on Mex food. I can attest to the molè's (circa early 90's)... I think they are great. Give them a shot Walt.
Peace, Jesus Castro

Clif said...

Love that New Mexican mexican food snobbishness. As long as it's not directed at me. As a Texan born to a New Mexican family it can be a bit painful to bear even if I didn't know enchiladas could be anything but blue corn with eggs on top until puberty.

Walt said...

Let me just remind everyone that the purpose of the blog comments is to reinforce my boasting with your own brown-nosing and compliments.

Just keep that in mind.

Thanks.

-Walt

Mike said...

Walt- you have got to go check out the high country singletrack around Ogden too. It's super cool...

Jared said...

I completely agree with your five choices. I currently live in Mexico City and will vouch for the Red Iguana. I agree with Jesus on their mole - although obviously I've had better here. Miss the grid and the riding though. I'll second the Wasatch Crest as a must ride and Park City is amazing with over 350 miles of non-motorized recreational trails, just one reason why IMBA named it as the first Gold Ride Center. Enjoy it in SLC! There is lots to love and some you could do without.

Anonymous said...

what about your photovoltaic setup in boulder? are you going to invest in pv in slc?

267 said...

First of all, as a man married to a real Mexican (ok New Mexican) mexican food in NM pretty much sucks. There I said it. That said, Utah Mormon mexican food equals ketchup = salsa. i.e. the worst. Cali easily has the best food, yes seafood belongs in there, and some of it is even good for you too.

Walt said...

267:

Nellies.

That is all I have to say...