Salt Lake City

"

what Vic said has the ring of truth to it.

The stores there seem to sell lots of makeup aimed at the preteen set.

It's a very strangely picturesque town too, the light there makes everything look strange.

SLC is nice but if you can get out into the mountains, you should. Sundance and Park City are pretty nice and whatnot, despite being a bit touristy.

Lost of self-deprecating indie/punk kids there that are all "this town sucks". Lots of goth/industrial kids too. (Coincidence?)

(ok, let's just get the record store issue out of the way)

The only "good" record store there is a small chain of modest Cd stores called Graywhale, and they all have some dour pale kid playing The Fall when you walk in.

However, my best recent vinyl finds ever was in a clearly Mormon used record store called Randy's records. (I say "clearly" because the record store owner was this guy who talked about his church and reminded his son to put aside the tithe from the day's profits) Found many rare late 80s rave classics and early 90s stuff like A Guy Called Gerald, St. Etienne, White Town, etc. for 50 cents a pop. I think they priced the artists that looked least like they would follow the Doctrine the cheapest... which is why all the metal stuff was sooo cheap.

(ok back to non record store stuff)

I think SLC is a great place to visit for a day or possibly a weekend, if for anything how spacious, kinda spooky, and quiet it is, behind such a beautifully mountainous backdrop. The streets are HUUUUGE one ways with like seven or eight lanes and some shit. And the names of the streets make it easy for you to locate without needing a map. They go like "1000 North" down to "100 north" then "100 south" and go up to "1000 south", and the same east and west. (Seems a common thing in Utah towns in general).

Best of luck trying to get a shot of tequila in town though. You have to be a private club member to get to to the hard stuff, otherwise it's just beer and wine for you. (have no idea what the membership costs are.. maybe they're just a buck?)

But hey, I was easily able to find an all vegan chinese place upon visiting that kicked ass.

Downtown area was pretty damn well dead, given how huge the widths of the streets are. And there's an interesting light rail system going on in town too.

Overall, interesting for a weekend, but I'd imagine i'd get bored there REALLY fast.. unless i was an extreme snowboarder or something.

SLC is the lowest percentage of Mormons for a Utah town I think.. 40% at most? Yeah, I hear Logan and Provo are much higher there (though never visited).

St. George is another interesting Utah town though it really works best as a rest stop for eastside travellers planning to go to Vegas (since it's just 90 minutes away), it has a few things going for it. Well, fuck, it's near Zion National Forest. Don't get me started on how neat Springdale, UT is.. or even Hurricane. i LOVE that place.. i can't wait to visit there again.. and the forest too.

Oh, and Daron Gardner of Landing, formerly 49 Hudson to thread. :)

what is the official LDS on where the gold tablets got to?

Having gone to school in Provo for a year and a half, I can't think of anything in particular that would warrant a visit. SLC is definitely worth a day, even if the only thing you do is check out Temple Square.

My favorite things about living in Salt Lake are:

Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore. Specifically the basement, which is huge and labyrinthine. I have spent hours at a time there looking for used books.

Kilby Court. garage in a back alley that serves as the city's all-ages music venue. They used to have local art exhibits there as well, but now I think it is all bands.

Red Iguana. Go and order the mole. Some of the menu items are average at best, but the sauces are fantastic.

There are other things as well that just aren't coming to mind. Maybe not worth a planned trip unless you're a skier/snowboarder, but you're doing yourself a disservice if you are passing through and you don't stop to check it out.

The tallest building in SLC is the business hq of the LDS church. Like a friend of mine (Mormon) said - they're making a statement by building an office building that's taller than the temple.

Really, don't bother with Provo. Go to Park City or someplace where you can have some fun and see beautiful scenery. Provo's just like any shitty suburb anywhere except even less fun.

desert industries has excellent thrifting btw.

I was there once, and I had the same reaction, although it wasn't a negative thing, since I was kinda amazed by the architecture and the very beautiful frosted red mountain backdrop to the east.

Within 15 minutes of checking into my motel room, I found a weekly paper that had a listing for a vegan chinese place.. which I went to, and had a great great meal.

Also, the street naming conventions in Salt Lake City (each usually denote each street as having a lesser "official" name, then a primary name relating to its position in the downtown grid, like "300 south", "1000 west", etc.) makes it very convenient to find a place in the city just by address alone. Also, I remember there being a relatively comprehensive light rail system.. UTA? Anyway, visiting there is NOTHING like living there, I'd imagine, once you start to get to know the history of the state, Mormonism.. although SLC is the least Mormon city in the state, and one of the least Mormon cities in the Rockies/southwest desert, overall. (Provo, OTOH)

The only downside is the bar/membership thing.. if you're not aware of it beforehand. Other states have this, too, like North Carolina.. but once you get the membership (which is really cheap and easy after a small waiting period I'd imagine, and -- again -- if you know this a few days in advance), then it's no biggie.

Also, RANDY'S RECORDS!

"ALL of Salt Lake City is gay, darling. ALL of them are gay!" :D

Also, Randy's is not a Mormon record store.. I was corrected by someone in SLC on ILM about that.. apparently the owner was dryly joking about the tithing thing.

It is Utah's main bastion of liberality/culture...I wouldn't live anywhere else in Utah. There's a lotta Mormon bitterness among the non-Mos there, but SLC has it the best. Compared to a small town in Utah County (home of Provo) or southern Idaho or Wyoming, they have all the culture in the world. I grew up in a predominatly Mormon town and then moved to SLC for a few months. All the bitching about the Mormons drove me nuts, because Mormons don't control every square inch of the culture in SLC, unlike a lot of other towns.

The "giant Airstream trailer" is where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings! It had the U.S.'s biggest hand-hewn pipe organ or something like that. It is a cool pipe organ, and its silhouette graces the cover of the Mormon hymnbook.

so the mayor said "OK, well, here's the deal. No public school in SLC will have any support groups at all."

That was very punk rock.

I hope someone knows what I'm referring to..

very wide

i was only there for abuot 18 hours. there is a HI, but its not really a HI

it would have been boring, but it was an escape from 5 days of weirdness with a weirdo, in reno. i would have taken basra at that point

Hello SLC ilxor

There's got to be one on here, right?

I'll be in town next Thursday, August 23rd. We're going to see Calexico in the plaza and then...and then what? Where to go, later? We like dance music. We like drinking. We like arty Thursday gallery scenes.

How's Kilby Court? That seems like something promising for that night.

I used to live there about 5 years ago and I've been a couple times since. Kilby Court is funny, it's kind of set up like some hobo slumgullion camp: burning oil barrels, walls of corrugated tin. But, you know, nicer and artier. It all depends on who's playing that night, not extra extra fun if the shows are just meh.

I don't know of anything else bcz I wasn't a drinker at the time.

thanks Abbott! Yeah, the band that night sounds...okay. I can't listen to myspace at work, but they're called Oliver Future, from LA. Something to do, maybe, I guess. (also it's my birthday that day so I'm really hoping against hope to do something fun after Calexico earlier in the evening)

What kind of restaurants do you like? There's a really good Thai place right near Kilby Court called Lemongrass. Good coffee shop next door to that one, too.

ooh, yeah. i tend to really love asian food: thai, vietnamese, korean, etc. I'll check it out.

my friends are coffee fiends so that's a good heads-up as well.

i'd do the urban lounge over kilby because you can drink & play pool and you don't get so many 17-year-olds and you'll have air conditioning. looks like the detroit cobras (throwback garage-y girl group?) are playing there thursday night, could be fun.

dancing options are pretty limited. there's the w lounge downtown which has a few ok nights, thursday might be dead though. there's always area 51, a pretty funny goth club. you'll usually find folks on the floor there and it's a big space, fun exploring, though the music can be atrocious/fantastic depending on what you like i guess. i'd probably avoid port o' call, shaggy's, green street, and lumpy's unless yr into frat dudes and westside rednecks.

other cool bars: monk's house of jazz, a basement dive with ok dj sets sometimes and random undie hip-hop acts. BURT'S TIKI LOUNGE -- pretty cool dive bar with heavy/hardcore bands playing. the tap room -- little basement bar, decent martinis. keep in mind you'll have to pay private club membership fees for the bars but if you want beer you can usually find it at restaurants with food -- desert edge brewery is a decent place for this.

my favorite thai in salt lake is either thai siam on state street or there used to be a thai place on 900 south and 300 east next to cocoa cafe, not sure if it's there anymore. sage's -- pretty great vegan place. carlucci's bakery in newly gentrified west downtown has my favorite coffee. coffee garden (downtown or in sugarhouse) is also v. good. tried a new place called jack mormon coffee co. in the avenues that uses a nifty vacuum french press. they roast in the store and the coffee was really tasty, they don't sell anything else though.

salt lake isn't a nightlife town to put it mildly. the best stuff is to be seen during the daytime outside of the city. drive through the wasatch, etc., if you get a chance. park city's pretty but aspen-y if that makes any sense. snowbird has great restaurants and a bar and it feels like you're in europe or something, pretty cool architecture up there.

Park City is kind of my personal vision of Hell.

yeah it's pretty bad. even worse during sundance!

strgn u r a prince

you're very welcome! if you have any other questions just post and i'll try my best. that thurs. night gallivan center thing is the best idea slc has had in ages. hope you guys have a good time. it really is a good city, i miss it, special place in my heart, etc. hope you guys have a good time.

thanks again abbott and strgn. i'm on my way now and will report back. also, spiral jetty.

is anyone living here now?

Yes! I've been here snce I posted about my job interview upthread.

anything i should know for a layover at the SLC airport?

It's not very big. Three terminals that can be walked between easily. If you're planning on leaving the airport downtown is close, just 10 minutes away.

very unlikely i would leave. i'm guessing there isn't anything worth eating, and i can figure out what views there may be from the terminals on my own?

It's a run-of-the-mill airport with nothing special to eat as far as I recall. You'll see mountains wherever there's a window.

the Wasatch Range is fucking incredible

i live in SLC right now - i'm the ILM'er who donut was referring to upthread. also upthread, strgn on the $, but here's some more options

there's a relatively new thai place in town called 'chanon thai' that all my friends rave about constantly. i had a bad experience the one time i ate there but my friends chalked it up to me ordering seafood (calimari) instead of the pad thai or gang panang

there's another SLC ILM'er who works @ a middle eastern restaurant called Mazza. not really my fave kind of food, but thought i'd mention it because everyone else here seems to love it

sushi - hit up takashi or ichiban. the sushi @ takashi is as good as i've had anywhere - my fave place in SLC

pizza - settebello pizzeria: LDS missionary goes to italy, brings back wood-burning stone oven from Naples, opens pizzeria, makes awesome thin-crust pizza. the actual restaurant is sorta cramped and awkward and stuffy, but you could always order takeout. the pizza is good enough to deal w/ eating there, tho

the pie pizzeria: super gooey and cheesey, right next to the U of U campus. decent tunes on the jukebox, good beer on tap, very low key

randy's records is still around and kicking. we also have a new record shop called Slowtrain on 3rd south that mostly mostly carries indie rock, but they have a pretty decent vinyl selection. located right below slowtrain is a great shop called 'signed and numbered' that sells screenprinted flyers, shirts, etc. there is also positively 4th street records on 4th S and the record collector up in sugarhouse on 21st S

Two of my favorites not mentioned: great Meditteranean food at Atlantic Cafe on Main St, best bbq in town at Pat's.

nice call on atlantic cafe, that place is fantastic. where is pat's? i'd love to eat some good bbq. supposedly q4u is amazing, but it's all the way out in kearns

Pat's is near 21st South and West Temple. I've never been out to Q4U.

oh hai i'm moving back in a month

<3 Randy's Records

randy's is amazing, i think i'll appreciate it now a lot more than i did 6-7 years ago. do they still have lots of old jazz/soul/rnb/country records?

Nice article about Randy.

I very much need to get out/make some friends in this city.

The last census update showed Utah was the fastest growing state in the USA. I presume this is not entirely due to native Mormons copulating like weasels, in which case the growing influx of outsiders may make Utah more habitable as time marches on, and the historical LDS domination may soon recede to towns with less than 1000 inhabitants.

SLC's hilarious in that the peeps there mad complain about how Mormon their town is. They do have those stupid liquor & alcohol laws to deal with, but SLC is the biggest liberal bastion in an 800 mile radius. I lived in SLC for a while after growing up in east Idaho and any time some hipster (or I guess normal person) complained about how "Mormon" everything was, I wanted to smack 'em.

Seriously guys you have theaters that will show R-rated movies.

They sell bongs in the gas stations.

One of them, anyway.

Any of you SLC-ers like Atlantis Burger?

atlantis burger is good, but i'll admit that i can't really tell the difference between it and crown burger, apollo burger, and best burger...

abbott otm, our previous mayor was one of the most outspoken liberal mayors anywhere. (rocky anderson)

aimless, utah is plenty habitable as it is. but the recent population explosion is probably due to the huge influx of refugees we've been getting (burma, burundi, somalia, iraq, iran, pakistan, etc)

peter james, you should check out the urban lounge one of these nights. good local music scene, lots of good touring acts, most of the peeps are under 30

and while i'm babbling away, i should mention my new fave place to eat - granato's deli. best prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella sandwich in town (better than caputo's)

So I'm guessing Salt Lake City isn't a good place to up and relocate to if I'm looking for fun and beautiful scenery (in that order)? Or is it?

Are there any decent record stores yet?

How does the 3.2% beer law work? Can you still by heavy-ABV craft beer?

Depends on what you think of as fun, I would guess. SLC used to be the ice-cream parlor capitol of the USA. It may still be for all I know.

It is also where I first saw The Sound of Music. My family was visiting SLC on a summer road trip and my dad took us all to the theater to see it. That was fun.

Coming to SLC tomorrow for a week. Aside from the suggestions upthread, what more should I do? Specifically, where should I wander around taking pictures while my host is at work? And what's the most compelling daytrip to take outside the city?

i kind of feel driven to express my strong dislike of salt lake to people in regular conversation, when we're just at that stage of talking about where we came from, and i think it takes people aback a little bit when i'm like "i hate that place." and i get to thinking about it more - why i dislike the city so much - and it becomes more of a feedback loop of something approaching broadly true cultural qualities and my own perceptions and experiences. all i know is that almost the entirety of my experience being in that city for 10+ years was like the feeling of someone prettier than you are smiling at you and then looking away and pretending like you don't exist when you smile back. i think a small part of it was me not wanting to be close to anyone while being there for fear of the city itself and what it represents culturally (in my own head at least partially but also not, considering how constantly present mormonism is in the background of the place) intruding and turning the relationship into something menacing and hurtful, which happened time and time again while i was growing up. in other words, i felt haunted there, which tended to spoil endeavors and relationships before they had a chance to take root.

but also i think there are some real things going on in the city that are more generally bad beyond my own particular pov: its gentrification feels especially absurd, its youth culture emptier than most. it's not a rich place compared to any big city but it has some protective mormon (and oil and gas) money that keeps things fairly vacuous and culturally bankrupt. the best parts of the city are the ones that deviate the most from the mormon settler axis - hispanic neightborhoods west of i-15, remnants of greek coal miners. but still you can feel the passive-aggressive edge of smile-at-you-with-empty-eyes judgmentalism and all the damage it's done wherever you are in that polluted cesspool of a valley.

so i guess i like to think of reversing the curse it brought me and aiming it back at the city and its inhabitants like a spiteful amateur witch. i no longer live there and hope i never will again and, honestly, fuck everyone i got to know there - i'm thinking of one or three people in particular who turned out to be horrible assholes - but also most everyone else, all of whom were at least a little bit empty and insincere and not coincidentally liked living there in the first place. to this day i don't trust anyone who chooses to make salt lake city their home. i hope it becomes more of what it is, sees its lies come home to roost and suffers for it.

wow i feel better having posted that lol

i live about 3.5 hours southeast of salt lake city in a small desert town. i drove up to the city last night to attend a party.

salt lake is notorious in the winter for its inversions, which trap all pollution at the bottom of the valley. most of it is car pollution. the inversions last for months. to me it feels like drowning at the bottom of a toilet bowl filled with liquid plastic.

right after i drop into the valley i'm coughing and my breath is short. after being at the party for an hour i realize i feel terrible. breathing hurts. my head hurts. everyone else seems fine, but i am not -- it feels like i'm being tortured and i need to get out of there as soon as possible. so i drive the length of the valley and as i go up the hill that leads to the mouth of the canyon that leads to the desert where i live, i sense a stream of clean air and it's like my whole body is gasping for it. most of the rest of the drive i had my windows down even though it was 20 degrees outside. clean air has never felt so essential and joyful.