A few years ago, right before we decided to buy a house, Seth and I were driving home from visiting his family in Southern Utah. The housing market is considerably less expensive there, and he was trying to convince me to move(spoiler, it didn’t work). That got us talking about the cost of living in our favorite cities. And thus, the idea for Bucket List Living was born. Just within the state of Utah, as we learned, the cost of living as well as the culture, varies drastically. As we entertained the idea of moving to different cities and states(for a while, we were planning to move to Chicago!), we read a lot of blog posts and articles. I wanted an idea of what it would really be like to live in Seattle, San Diego, or even just living in Salt Lake City. And I could never find a single article or blog post giving me all of the information I wanted.
We decided that that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to write a comprehensive blog post for some of the most popular cities in the United States, and share an experience living there. Because we all know that there’s a huge difference between visiting a new city, and living there. What’s the cost of living? Where do the locals like to eat? What if I want to sell my car before I move, and buy a new one there? There are so many questions that go into a move like that. This is also a great guide for someone traveling to a new city, who doesn’t want to be a tourist. I know that I love traveling for the sake of experiencing new places, and don’t want to be a tourist. I want to live there, even if it’s just for a few days.
Salt Lake City is our first destination. We got an Airbnb downtown so we could bring our dog, and spent 5 days living in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is a hub for startups and new companies, and because of this, all of Salt Lake County is growing significantly. That vibe is something you can feel immediately when you’re in the city. There’s the hustle of living in a city, but the pace slows down in the evenings and on Sundays. In fact, very few things are open on Sundays in the city, which is very much a cultural thing. That’s probably my least favorite thing about living in Salt Lake City.
Food and Grocery
While we were living in Salt Lake City, we shopped for our groceries at Harmon’s Grocery. There is a Walmart, as well as a Target, but they’re definitely a drive. And I prefer to shop at local grocery stores whenever possible. There’s also the Salt Lake Farmer’s Market, which I would definitely recommend to anyone living in or even just visiting the area.
We went grocery shopping and ate at our Airbnb a lot, but we still made sure to go out and experience as many of the best places to eat in Salt Lake as possible! I wrote an entire post on my favorite places we ate while living in Salt Lake City, but a few standouts that are worth mentioning here are Hub and Spoke Diner, Spitz, Stanza Italian Bistro, and Last Course.
Cost of living is more expensive the closer you are to downtown
I feel like this is true of almost any major city you move to. There are definitely advantages to living right in the heart of the city. But you will have to pay considerably more for your living accommodations. The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is $1,087 in the downtown area. Sugar House is going to be more expensive than that, but the farther you get away, you’ll notice that rent prices drop below $1000 for a one bedroom.
When it comes to the cost of buying a home in Salt Lake, the average price of a home is $285,000. Considering some of the more expensive cities in the US that you could choose to put down roots in, this isn’t a horrible starting point! Just keep in mind that the majority of homes with 3 or more bedrooms start at prices around $300,000.
Is public transportation or a car better when living in Salt Lake City?
I loved getting to take advantage of the UTA system while we were living in Salt Lake. The Trax system is free within a certain area of downtown. So for most of our use, we never even had to buy a ticket. This allowed us to go to either of the shopping malls in the downtown area, the library, or over to concert venues, without having to worry about parking in such busy places. However, I would definitely recommend owning a car if you’ll be living in Salt Lake City. Even if it is just downtown. The public transportation is efficient, but the radius in which it is efficient, is small. If you go much farther outside of that area, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of walking.
How to not be a tourist in Salt Lake City
When I travel, I hate being grouped into that group of people who are “tourists”. I’m there to experience the culture as best as I can, and don’t really care to visit the “must-see” spots. So I won’t be recommending any museums or the Beehive house. If you’re looking for a classy place to eat that isn’t Olive Garden, my suggestion is to try and ask the people who live there. They’ll know the best places. The hole in the wall restaurants, as well as the ones that aren’t over hyped(for me, Penny Ann’s is over hyped. If you want good brunch, steer clear, and seriously, head to Hub and Spoke).
What did we learn about living in Salt Lake City?
Maybe I have a soft spot for Salt Lake, since I lived here during my Freshman year of college. But I love it. It’s not hard to find a secluded part of town to live in, so you don’t have to live among the bustle of everything going on. But if a busy atmosphere is what you thrive on, you can find that, too. This is a city that, whenever we visit, either Seth or I will inevitably sigh and say, “I would love to live here”.
Do you live in Salt Lake? If you have any tips or insights on living in Salt Lake, comment below!
Now that we’ve explored our backyard and experienced living in Salt Lake…where should we “live” next??