Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[RC14]

I have heard a few people make comparisons to Austin 10-15 years ago. given they are both blue, capital cities in red states. They're also, both developing strong tech sectors.

[felixg]

Phoenix, like Denver, feels a bit too big.

I don’t know I mean I understand Phoenix’s land area and physical population are crazy but nothing about it “feels” significantly larger than salt lake to me, as their most significant size differences are deep in the suburbs. Very comparable cities in my mind in terms of land use, history, proximity to mountains, etc

[bob rulz]

Originally Posted by RC14

I have heard a few people make comparisons to Austin 10-15 years ago. given they are both blue, capital cities in red states. They're also, both developing strong tech sectors.

Austin is also essentially in the center of 3 other major metropolitan areas.

Milwaukee may be similar in size and importance, but socially and demographically Milwaukee and Salt Lake are very very different.

Portland is much more similar in the sense of demographics and size, but it's not the capital and is in a blue state.

I agree there's no great comps for Salt Lake City. I think Denver is a natural comparison for a variety of reasons, but it is still difficult because of how much larger Denver is.

When you combine size, status (in relation to its state and the surrounding area) and culture, there's really no other city like Salt Lake.

[Atlas]

Boise, SLC, Denver seems like mostly a progression in size. They're pretty similar (state capital + biggest city + geographically isolated) but each has some unique qualities too. Denver feels more connected with the Midwest and Boise is on the cusp of being part of the Pacific Northwest.

What makes SLC unique is that it's the only city in this hemisphere that is the capital of a large religion. Over the last 150 years, the dialogue between the Mormons and the Gentiles in SLC has made its story and cultural climate very distinct, especially among American cities. The result is not always good but it's definitely different.

[DZH22]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Des Moines as a potential comparison. It's also a state capital and the biggest city in a large mostly rural state. That's my pick as a total outsider to the situation (only here due to my weekly search for "Boston" key word).

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by DZH22

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Des Moines as a potential comparison. It's also a state capital and the biggest city in a large mostly rural state. That's my pick as a total outsider to the situation (only here due to my weekly search for "Boston" key word).

Too small

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

Austin is also essentially in the center of 3 other major metropolitan areas.

Milwaukee may be similar in size and importance, but socially and demographically Milwaukee and Salt Lake are very very different.

Portland is much more similar in the sense of demographics and size, but it's not the capital and is in a blue state.

I agree there's no great comps for Salt Lake City. I think Denver is a natural comparison for a variety of reasons, but it is still difficult because of how much larger Denver is.

When you combine size, status (in relation to its state and the surrounding area) and culture, there's really no other city like Salt Lake.

Hence my point. Salt Lake is a very unique city and area.

It's a blue dot but its suburbs are far more conservative than any other comparable city. Every county surrounding Portland went for Biden in 2020 (including Multnomah - Portland - by almost 80%).

It's similar with Denver.

Outside Summit, the rest of the Salt Lake area is extremely conservative.

Boise remains the best comparison - a liberal city with very conservative suburbs and surrounding areas.

But Boise is still way too small of a city to be a relative twin.

We're in no man's land, tbh

[RC14]

One other thing that differentiates us from cities like Boise and Des Moines is that those are the largest cities in very rural states by percentage of the population, whereas Utah's population is mostly suburban, with most of them living in the Wasatch Front. In other words, Salt Lake City and it's suburbs are more influential in the state in terms of population then those other cities. In this way, we are more like Phoenix and Las Vegas then Boise or Des Moines.

I would put Jackson, Mississippi in the same category as Boise and Des Moines. They are all the capital and largest cities in their respective states and all those states have populations that are spread out across rural areas.

[RC14]

I actually think, ironically, that Las Vegas is the best comparison to Salt Lake City minus the capital city aspect. They are similar sized metro areas in similar sized, arid states with predominantly urban/suburban populations. SLC has the UofU, Vegas has UNLV, Both have two Major League Sports teams (if you count MLS of course) both cities are trying to get an MLB team. Both cities are geographically isolated. Both cities have international, hub Airports within close proximity to downtown.

Plus, the dynamic between "Mormon" SLC and "Sin City" makes for an interesting comparison.

[Rileybo]

From most comparable to Salt Lake to least comparable… Top 5:

1. Portland
2. Las Vegas
3. Milwaukee
4. Boise
5. Denver

No perfect comparison.

[Comrade]

I think Vegas is a good comparison but even that feels forced.

Portland just doesn't vibe like Salt Lake. Portland feels like a mini-Seattle.

[bob rulz]

Las Vegas really doesn't feel anything like Salt Lake City to me, not just in terms of the obvious cultural differences, but the urban fabric of the city just feels drastically different to me. It's significantly larger than Salt Lake City, but there's no defined urban center that isn't just casinos.

And of course I haven't been to every corner of Las Vegas, but I'm not even aware of any urban centers in the vein of say Sugarhouse. There are a few older neighborhoods near the center, but aside from that, the strip, and Fremont Street, it just feels like a series of planned suburbs and strip malls for miles in every direction.

[Comrade]

Honestly, the best option is Boise if we ignore size. Capital. Liberal area within a massive sea of red (Idaho is a tad more conservative than Utah). Isolated. Foothills located just outside downtown.

[RC14]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

Las Vegas really doesn't feel anything like Salt Lake City to me, not just in terms of the obvious cultural differences, but the urban fabric of the city just feels drastically different to me. It's significantly larger than Salt Lake City, but there's no defined urban center that isn't just casinos.

I agree with your point about the urban fabric. Vegas kind of feels like a Phoenix suburb with allot of casinos. The landscaping also makes it feel very different.

Originally Posted by Comrade

Portland just doesn't vibe like Salt Lake. Portland feels like a mini-Seattle.

On paper, Portland doesn't make any sense but it does feel vaguely similar somehow. I still don't think it's a great comparable. I guess you could say SLC is to Denver what Portland is to Seattle?

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by RC14

I agree with your point about the urban fabric. Vegas kind of feels like a Phoenix suburb with allot of casinos. The landscaping also makes it feel very different.



On paper, Portland doesn't make any sense but it does feel vaguely similar somehow. I still don't think it's a great comparable. I guess you could say SLC is to Denver what Portland is to Seattle?

Denver and Salt Lake do feel similar. Denver is obviously much bigger and denser overall but once you get out of the central downtown area and into the residential neighborhoods, they do feel similar.

Of course, then there's the wide streets here ... which no city has.

But the housing stock is very similar. In fact, Salt Lake kind of has that more Midwestern vibe in its residential stock than most western cities. And so does Denver.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Rileybo

Portland and Milwaukee are the two domestic cities most similar to SLC.

Portland makes more sense to me, Milwaukee is 90 miles from Chicago and that can’t be overlooked. It definitely grew up in an era when that mattered less but certainly impacts things in ways SLC doesn’t have. I mean the states NFL franchise is in GB and the largest school is in Madison. Portland isn’t the capital of Oregon and the major schools also aren’t right in the city/metro.

Neither are perfect. What about Sacramento? Maybe Nashville?

[Atlas]

Nashville is a decent comparison, albeit it isn't nearly as geographically isolated as SLC.

That said, I still think Denver and Boise are the most similar to SLC, the main difference obviously being overall size.

Living in CO, I made a list of similar cities to UT:

• Denver - SLC (duh)
• Lakewood - Murray
• Westminster - Sandy
• Aurora - West Valley City
• Commerce City - North Salt Lake
• Denver Tech Center - Lehi
• Colorado Springs - Ogden
• Grand Junction - St. George
• Breckenridge - Park City
• Fort Collins - Logan
• Boulder - Provo?

I know the last one doesn't make sense culturally, and Boulder has way better urban form than Provo, but I think there are also some broad similarities there.

[bob rulz]

I forgot about Sacramento. I'm not very familiar with it, but I have heard it brought up more often as a comp lately. It is still larger than Salt Lake and of course has larger cities close-by.

[RC14]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Nashville is a decent comparison, albeit it isn't nearly as geographically isolated as SLC.

That said, I still think Denver and Boise are the most similar to SLC, the main difference obviously being overall size.

Living in CO, I made a list of similar cities to UT:

• Denver - SLC (duh)
• Lakewood - Murray
• Westminster - Sandy
• Aurora - West Valley City
• Commerce City - North Salt Lake
• Denver Tech Center - Lehi
• Colorado Springs - Ogden
• Grand Junction - St. George
• Breckenridge - Park City
• Fort Collins - Logan
• Boulder - Provo?

I know the last one doesn't make sense culturally, and Boulder has way better urban form than Provo, but I think there are also some broad similarities there.

Along these lines, the Puget Sound is a good analog to the Wasatch Front:
Seattle =SLC
Everett =Ogden
Tacoma=Provo
Lynnwood=Layton or Murray
Shoreline= Bountiful
Bellevue=Sandy
Redmond=Lehi
Sammamish= Saratoga Springs

[Rileybo]

^^^^

Lol I wish Sandy was like Bellevue.