Any NON-Mormons living in SLC?

[EthansMom]

There aren't any "bars" in SLC. There are "clubs" where you have to be a "member". Some other patron in the club has to vouch that they know you and you have to ay a fee to be member. Usually, the club will send someone out to introduce themselves to you and then they'll vouch for you -- silly, huh?

Also, as other posters have mentioned, there are no doubles in UT drinks. Mixed drinks taste watered down. Also, beer has to be below a certain alcohol percentage. Liquor stores only carry alcohol that is listed in a "master list"-type book that is issued by the state. It is illegal to bring other alcohol into the state -- not supposed to be in a wine club, for instance.

Yes, adult bookstores and such have to be on the other side of the state line -- Wyoming seems to have a few big stores according to the radio ads in SLC.

I agree that the church runs the state of UT. A non-Mormon is unlikely to make it anywhere in UT state politics, for instance. On local t.v., when the newscaster talks about The President, he/she isn't usually talking about George W. Bush, but Gordon Hinkley, president of the LDS church.

 

[caitycaity]

The LDS people that I know will bend over backward to help you out if you're in trouble and are very friendly and generous.

this has been my experience as well. two of my friends here are lds from slc (had to come here due to their jobs) and they are two of the most genuine, nice people i know. i am an atheist and some of my friends (mostly catholics) have problems with this. however, my lds friends have never judged me and have even gone out to bars with us (though they don't drink, obviously).

can't speak to life in slc, but these people were from slc and i can't imagine they'd be that different regardless of where they lived.

 

[barkley]

did you ever think you'de see a thread about the advantages of moving with your kids to a particular town and get a bunch of "don't worry, they have plenty of bars and strip joints" not to mention that it's highly recommended for it's wild women

 

[NMAmy]

did you ever think you'de see a thread about the advantages of moving with your kids to a particular town and get a bunch of "don't worry, they have plenty of bars and strip joints" not to mention that it's highly recommended for it's wild women

I was thinking the same thing! That's the first two things I look for when relocating--bars and strip joints.

 

[ducklite]

did you ever think you'de see a thread about the advantages of moving with your kids to a particular town and get a bunch of "don't worry, they have plenty of bars and strip joints" not to mention that it's highly recommended for it's wild women

I wasn't trying to offend anyone, just pointing out taht it's a town just like every other town with all the usual cast of characters LOL!

BTW--proximately to live rock and roll clubs is a BIG priority for me when I'm looking to relocate. The peeler joints don't matter though. And wild women, well, they can be amusing to watch trying to work the roadies for backstage passes LOL!

Anne

 

[tar heel]

My best friend from college's parents lived there a year while we were in college. Her mother was a teacher who had taught all over the place b/c her dh was in the Air Force. Utah was the only place they lived that she couldn't get hired. Rightly or wrongly, she believed it was because she wasn't LDS.

 

[motherhen17404]

My best friend from college's parents lived there a year while we were in college. Her mother was a teacher who had taught all over the place b/c her dh was in the Air Force. Utah was the only place they lived that she couldn't get hired. Rightly or wrongly, she believed it was because she wasn't LDS.

I would also believe that she could not get hired because she was LDS. We had problems renting because we were not LDS. We wanted to rent a house instead of an apartment. We found this great house in a nice neighborhood. The owners really liked us, and our credit was better then anyone who had looked at the house. We were setting the move in date when the owner asked us what ward we belonged to. We said we were not LDS. They suddenly remembered a appt. they had to get to. By the time we got back to our motel, there was a message for us. We could not rent their home to us, they decided on someone else. We do believe it was because we were not LDS. My LDS boss even offered to call the owners for us, but it left a bad taste in our mouth, so we declined.

 

[SamIAm21]

That's some serious discrimination there. That's no different than discrimating against someone due to race. I would find that really objectionable and could never live in an area where those things happen.

 

[hydster]

I live in SLC and have my whole entire life. I was brought up LDS but have pretty much scaled back to just trying to live a good life and don't attend church on a regular basis. I have many friends as do my children who are non-lds and we haven't had a hard time of it. Granted my kids DO go to the LDS church on Sundays as per their choice but the population of non-mormons is growing daily. I would suggest as a non-mormon to try NOT to live near Provo/Orem/Spanish Fork. There is a HUGE # of mormons there. Also you need to be prepared that people here WILL automatically assume you are LDS. They aren't doing it to be mean or make you feel bad...they do it I think mostly out of habit. I don't know how old your kids are but I do know that school friendships have changed since I was in school as there are many more non-mormons than there was when I was a kid growing up. You will occasionally meet the psycho mormons who won't let their kid play with anyone not in their "ward" for church but those are becoming less common with time.

If you want you can pm me anytime and I'd be glad to help out. It is beautiful here and ignore the poster who said to drive to Nevada to get the real scope of the state .....the mountains, the city are all beautiful. It is a family friendly town for the most part and I drink occasionally and it isn't hard to find somewhere to drink at. You just have to know your way around as a local you would learn that pretty easily. Plus living here you are only a 10 hour drive away from Disneyland

Anyway feel free to pm me if you want!

*eta: to those who are describing people not being able to get jobs based on religion I would have to cry BS on that! My dh isn't mormon and he has a great job, 3 of my friends are not mormons nor are their dh's and they all have great jobs. Every single teacher my kids have this year in school and all but 1 the last 3 years are all NON mormons and they've got jobs. I can't say much for renting a house from someone as that is their own choice but I can say that I HIGHLY doubt not being able to get a job based on being non-lds. The ONLY place that wouldn't hire someone non-lds is the LDS church offices or positions. We have several friends who have moved here in the last 5-10 years, none of them lds in all different fields and they ALL have jobs! This kind of stuff really ticks me off when people use broad range descriptions of "Oh so and so couldn't go to Utah and get a job because they aren't lds" I'm calling BS on that and I am irritated at the people who just love to put out the horror stories about my state! If you don't like it fine don't come here but don't put out misconception stories that make us all sound like some nasty mean people! And make sure that when you are putting it out there that you KNOW FOR FACT that it's true!

Ok off my soapbox but it really struck a nerve with me.

 

[ducklite]

That's some serious discrimination there. That's no different than discrimating against someone due to race. I would find that really objectionable and could never live in an area where those things happen.

I agree. The Federal Housing Laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, military service, disability to name just some. I would have filed a complaint.

Anne

 

[jgmklmhem]

Just to further Hydster's rant

How would some of you react to a thread titled "Any Non-Blacks living in Harlem." Or sentiments expressed on the boards about not wanting your kids to grow up in a black neighborhood because they would be outsiders. Why is it ok to do the same thing to Mormons? Remember I am not Mormon but I just find it a tad bit odd that the street is so one-sided.

 

[SamIAm21]

Well as a parent, I can see where the original poster is coming from. If it were just herself and her DH, it probably would be a no-brainer to move or not. Most adults can handle it if they aren't included in the neighborhood block party, but when it comes to your kids, you want them to have a nice childhood, good friends, and a minimum amount of hassle integrating into a new area. It was just a question without malicious intent.

 

[hydster]

Another thought:

I for one am glad that there isn't a strip club on every corner and that there isn't an adult video store in my neighborhood as I don't think my children or ANY children need to see that stuff. There are places here (believe me I know) where you can get "adult novelties & outfits" and you can get "adult magazines" you just can't walk into any old store and buy them. They are sold at certain places.

As for drinks...yes there are some peculiar laws that go along with it but you CAN get drinks! It's not like you have to drive to Wyoming or Nevada to get a drink. We go to a local bar/club and we paid $10 for a year membership and we can go as often as we like and get served liquor just like in any other bar/pub/club in the country. We can even get a double *though they bring you the 2nd shot in a ""sidecar" that you pour into the glass yourself* but it can be done. True you may have to shell out an "entrance fee" but you CAN get it and it's accessible. .

I do find these comments about my state and some of my family who are mormon entirely insensitive, sad and misguided . Yes there are some weird things here but you know what in every city or state there is something that strikes someone as odd.

 

[jgmklmhem]

Well as a parent, I can see where the original poster is coming from. If it were just herself and her DH, it probably would be a no-brainer to move or not. Most adults can handle it if they aren't included in the neighborhood block party, but when it comes to your kids, you want them to have a nice childhood, good friends, and a minimum amount of hassle integrating into a new area. It was just a question without malicious intent.

I agree the intent was not malicious but again if someone were to post something in the same vein about Blacks or Hispanics or Gays people would go ape over it. Why in this case is it different? Just as not all Blacks or Hispanics are the same people of a particular religion practice it to varying degrees so are not of the exact same mind set.

 

[hydster]

Well as a parent, I can see where the original poster is coming from. If it were just herself and her DH, it probably would be a no-brainer to move or not. Most adults can handle it if they aren't included in the neighborhood block party, but when it comes to your kids, you want them to have a nice childhood, good friends, and a minimum amount of hassle integrating into a new area. It was just a question without malicious intent.

I just wanted to say that my posts have NOTHING to do with the OP asking questions about the state. I would ask as well. My posts have to do with people trashing everything about my state and some of them have NO idea what they are talking about. That is the part that gets me going! Sure ask questions about it and I can tell you a lot about the Mormon religion if asked but it's the constant put downs like these for instance:

*They said living in that area without being a LDS was like being the people that don't join the union.
Hmmm well my dh didn't "join the union" and we don't go to church and we've done fine.

*I do not want to start a LDS bashing thread, but...If you have children, please don't do it. They _will_ be outsiders.
My children rarely go to church and we don't go and they aren't outsiders. They all have many friends both LDS and Non-LDS.

*The only downside he has ever mentioned is night life. He's not a big drinker but enjoys a beer now and again. He says the city laws lean away from such activities, so bars and stuff are kept to a minimum.
Well I don't know where he is going or what he actually wants to do but we can always find something to do here when we go out at night.

*When we lived there, it was against the law to have say 2 people sitting at a table with 3 drinks on the table. In other words you can not have more then 1 alcohol drink per person on a table at one time.
FALSE!

*And if you want an adult movie or other adult novelity. Have to go across the state line for that.
Yet again FALSE!

*Then again, all the mormons go across the state line to do their gambling and drinking. Wendover, NV was crawing with mormons who were not suppose to be there.
And you know this how? Did you ask every single person there if they were all mormon? Or was this yet another assumption by a non-mormon?

*Oh, and my BIL ended up marrying a true mormon SLC girl. Let's just say, he is not allowed to see or speak to any of his family members without her there. She learned from a controling church just how to control others.

She didn't learn to keep him from his family from the teachings of the LDS church. Maybe her family but it is NOT a teaching taught by the LDS church to keep your spouse away from family. This was something that was taught to her by HER PARENTS! So I'm calling false on that one too!

*Some other patron in the club has to vouch that they know you and you have to ay a fee to be member. Usually, the club will send someone out to introduce themselves to you and then they'll vouch for you -- silly, huh?
FALSE! You don't have to have a patron vouch for you! If you are over 21 you can get a membership on your own. You can even get a 1 night membership for a few dollars.

*It is illegal to bring other alcohol into the state -- not supposed to be in a wine club, for instance.
True sort of. There are other states who will NOT allow liquor to be shipped over the state line...they are

Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Montana
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Pensylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
and Vermont

http://www.wineinstitute.org/shipwine/

So PLEASE get your facts right before swiping at my state as the ONLY state who won't let you do this!

*Yes, adult bookstores and such have to be on the other side of the state line --
FALSE! I can name you places not far from my house where you can buy adult toys, clothing and other "intimate things"

*when the newscaster talks about The President, he/she isn't usually talking about George W. Bush, but Gordon Hinkley, president of the LDS church.
Uh ok....that makes no sense but hey whatever right?

I am with jgm...can I start making comments about the Southern Baptists now just because I knew a guy who was one?
Can I start making comments about any other religious or ethnic group now?
Can I start making false declarations about any of YOUR states or religions?

Didn't think so..but hey if you feel better slinging my state and some of my families religion through the mud then I guess go ahead but you won't see me bash another state or religion for their laws or attitudes! Goes to show it isn't always the Mormons who are non-tolerant of others!

 

[wide awake]

hydster,
Most of the anti-SLC posters HAVE had personal experience...sorry, we're not loonytoons out to bash your state just cuz we're bored. I can remember being in 4th grade, being sick, begging and crying to use the restroom because I needed to vomit...no go...I threw up on myself...the only other person in class made to follow the no bathroom rule was the other non-Mormon. And I stand by my original post that Utah isn't an attractive state...have driven through it on I-80 at least 30 times in my life...last time was in July of 04. My personal opinion. I don't understand the upset...I'm from California, people on this board bash CA ALL THE TIME !!! I chalk it up to being their loss. The OP has obviously heard that there could be a problem...that is why they posted. I have a child, Utah and Idaho are the last states I would ever move to...and we lived in lots of different places while I was growing up, and DH is in the Air Force so I've lived in lots of places as an adult.

 

[maleficent1959]

We lived in Idaho Falls, Idaho in the mid 70s...very large LDS population. My sister and I are both gifted, both skipped grades in our other schools, I got an 800 on the GRE...we were failing in grade school !!! We were also not allowed to use the bathroom, when others were. We knew lots of people that said "Oh yeah, we're not LDS, but we joined the church because you can't live here unless you're LDS "...very true. My parents left after 8 months...they weren't willing to be hypocrites. From my experience...if you have any way out of this transfer take it...or join the LDS church so your kids can get along in school. My BIL married an LDS woman...he converted...all of us live in the Sacramento area...luckily LDS is not the majority religion here...but I haven't seen any change in their behaviors, just in the amount of their influence.

Boy, that sounds like my DH's family's experience in Idaho Falls in the 60s. His older brother and sisters were ostracized and bullied because they weren't Mormon. Treated very differently by the teachers. His mother was called a "damn dirty Gentile" on more than one occasion and in the 10 years they lived there she only made a few friends with wives of other non-Mormons who worked with her husband at the lab. She's repeatedly said that she was treated like a second-class citizen, and she is particularly angry over the treatment her kids received. It's been a long time, and I know attitudes have changed, but it left a lingering bad taste in their mouths. They have nothing nice to say about Idaho Falls except that the mountains are beautiful.

 

[hydster]

Wide Awake-that's your opinion and so be it but some of the posts are BLATANTLY not true! I'm just trying to quell some of the misconceptions that people are putting out there. Yes I agree I-80 isn't particularly pleasing to the eye but SLC proper and the mountains ARE.The stretch between Las Vegas and Barstow and places along the way aren't particularly beautiful either. It takes until you get into San Bernadino and such that you see beauty and not desert. And people aren't bashing only the State like you claim about CA they are bashing a whole religion that either they don't understand, don't like or don't know anything about. You have your feelings and I have mine but I don't like to sit by and have misconception after misconception spewed. Sure we Utahn's are different. Sure we have faults. Sure we have a lot of problems but in THIS THREAD we are being bashed for many non-truths or 1/2 truths.

I'm sorry about you vomiting on yourself. Me personally or my children have never experienced it but if it did happen I'm sorry. No one should have to go through that and for that I am disgusted but some of the other things written about living here are either insensitive or just plain wrong.

Flame if you want but not ALL of us living in Utah are as bad as some posts on this thread make us out to be. I want the OP to know that it isn't that way EVERYWHERE in this state. I have no idea where you lived or anything about you and actually it is irrelevant now since you were here years ago living here anyway but some of the things I highlighted in my last post are things that are just not true. All I wanted was to let the OP know that it is possible to live here with the "mormons" as a non mormon but you have to be prepared for what may be asked of you like what ward you belong to.

I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree and leave it at that. And by the way I don't particularly like California myself (except for Disneyland) but I've never bashed it on any thread because it serves no purpose. I don't believe I've ever read a thread about how bad CA is with all of the *insert religious beliefs* like you read about my state! That is where the anger comes in....the state and religion are being targeted and in SOME cases unfairly commented on.

That's it. I understand your position and that's fine but I want the op to know that not all of us are awful horrid people! Actually I am pretty fun and nice when you get to know me.


OP feel free to pm me if you have any questions

 

[ducklite]

One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my travels through all 48 continental states, three Mexican states, and Quebec City to Vancouver Island, plus some Caribbean countries (I say this not to brag, but to put my statement into perspective) is the sun rising over the mountains to the East of SLC--and the hot air balloons rising with it. The pure beauty of it is forever burned into my memory.

Anne

 

[hydster]

Anne.... You must have been at the Park City Hot Air Balloon Festival. It is beautiful when they all go up in the air at the same time!

We try to go every fall to watch the balloons but usually it's too early