Salt Lake City, UT

[Chester]

Great. Thanks! I love variety, especially after a tiring day stretching my brain and stressing my eyes...

Would anybody be able to share info. on organic produce / natural remedies etc.? I have found a Food Coop on the web, so I guess there must be some alternative choices for vegans and naturopaths... although I guess some supermarkets would carry some organic stuff as well... hopefully. Homeopathic medicine?

[Chester]

How bike friendly is the city? Are there a lot of people who go around on bicycles?

Weather permitting would it be all right to rent a place in Sugarhouse / Avenues and bike to the U?

Thanks.

[was1984]

How bike friendly is the city? Are there a lot of people who go around on bicycles?

Weather permitting would it be all right to rent a place in Sugarhouse / Avenues and bike to the U?

Thanks.

The city is pretty bike friendly, but I don't think it would be particularly pleasant during the winter, and it's probably more than a little bit dangerous on some days. You'd probably want to ride the bus in the winter.

[BryanJ]

The city is pretty bike friendly, but I don't think it would be particularly pleasant during the winter, and it's probably more than a little bit dangerous on some days. You'd probably want to ride the bus in the winter.

Agreed. What's nice about the U is, you get a free bus pass and the buses all have bike racks on the front.

[BryanJ]

Great. Thanks! I love variety, especially after a tiring day stretching my brain and stressing my eyes...

Would anybody be able to share info. on organic produce / natural remedies etc.? I have found a Food Coop on the web, so I guess there must be some alternative choices for vegans and naturopaths... although I guess some supermarkets would carry some organic stuff as well... hopefully. Homeopathic medicine?

Sugarhouse has a handful of homeopathic/organic stores. That's not my thing, so I don't know about their quality. The East Bench area of Salt Lake (which includes the U campus and Sugarhouse) is fairly progressive, so I'm sure what you're looking for will not be difficult to find.

[Chester]

Thanks. It's lovely to know that buses carry bikes in SLC.

IMO homeopathic medicine is great, especially for minor cold/flu type illnesses.

[BryanJ]

Thanks. It's lovely to know that buses carry bikes in SLC.

IMO homeopathic medicine is great, especially for minor cold/flu type illnesses.

Oh, I forgot to mention: the best co-op in Salt Lake is called Bountiful Baskets. It's done on a weekly basis. You have to order each Monday to pick up on Saturday. You get tons of fresh fruit and veggies for about $16. Check it out at bountifulbaskets.org.

[Chester]

Oh, I forgot to mention: the best co-op in Salt Lake is called Bountiful Baskets. It's done on a weekly basis. You have to order each Monday to pick up on Saturday. You get tons of fresh fruit and veggies for about $16. Check it out at bountifulbaskets.org.

Awesome. Thanks!

Edited April 12, 2011 by Chester

[Hanyuye]

So how much would be the average rent in SLC? And also, how far from campus would you have to go for that price, etc.?

[DRT23]

Hello,

 

I am accepted to the University of Utah and I have had and will have interviews with other schools. Based on my search on the internet, I like the place but I need more information about the city to help myself for my final decision. I would really appreciate any information about Salt Lake City, esp. from people who have been there before. I am interested to learn cost of living, transportation, social life, the university and anything else you can tell.

 

Thanks in advance!

[StenderB]

I currently live in SLC still and graduated from the U in May '12.  Having come from California, I don't actually think there's lots of ethnic food variety, but I think there's enough ingredients in stores that especially if you're a foreign student you'll be able to make your favorite dishes or hook up with some of the very small cultural clubs/festivals to find some good eats.  I know some people who seek out vegan/vegetarian options and those do actually abound in SLC.  For you, DRT23, many of the people from out of the country end up hooking up with others from their country and always seem to have a great time.  SLC is good for exploring because it has really reasonable prices for rent (2bdr ~$6-800...studio ~$450)-- this also depends how close you are to the university (prices go up).  You can live in a city that surrounds SLC and have a reasonable commute (20-30 min... again I'm from CA where "Reasonable" is 45 min. minimum so I enjoy how short the commute is here).  Public transportation has exploded in the last 3 years servicing SLC all the way to 1 hr south to Provo and 1 hr north to Ogden and cities in between as well as branching out to the western cities like West Valley and and the new area, Daybreak.  This is a good option when thinking about living a bit farther out from the U.

The outdoors are gorgeous here.  I never experienced snow until I moved to SLC and it was a ton of fun exploring snow activities like snowshoeing, skiiing and snowboarding (really not good at any of these except snowshoeing  ).  Social life is ok.  Again I've found it's really only fun here if you have people to try it out with but that's just been my personal experience.  I don't think people here are as nice as other places I've been but again that's an opinion.  I came here thinking everyone MUST be nice because they're religious and family-oriented.... well, not for me.

 

Hello,

 

I am accepted to the University of Utah and I have had and will have interviews with other schools. Based on my search on the internet, I like the place but I need more information about the city to help myself for my final decision. I would really appreciate any information about Salt Lake City, esp. from people who have been there before. I am interested to learn cost of living, transportation, social life, the university and anything else you can tell.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 17, 2013 by StenderB

[DRT23]

Thank you for your reply, StenderB. I would like to ride bicycle to go to the university/home but I now know that it is not a good option in winter. As you say that prices for rent are higher around the campus and public transportation system is good, it would be the best to find a house that is away from the campus and cheaper but close to public transportation routes. Yet, I do not like the idea of living in the nearby cities and have about 1 hour or more hours for commuting everyday. Unfortunately, I am very bad at cooking and I hope food prices at university cafeterias/dining hall are also reasonable. I like nature and I think I will enjoy outdoor activities.

 

Thanks again for your comprehensive answer.

[StenderB]

Perhaps it's a good idea to start out at a place closer to the U and on the public transportation route and then if you get more comfortable and want something even more affordable take a look a little farther out.  You can live in places like Midvale/Murray that have cheaper rent and still only be about 40 minutes away from the U by public transport.  The buses are sometimes faster, too.  As well, they just started a new shuttle system from the SL Central Station which is more towards West Salt Lake and the shuttle takes people straight to the U every 30 minutes to try to clear up congestion on the rail line to school.

I lived at CedarCliff Apartments when I first came to the U and it's only 2 blocks from a TRAX station.  Check them out.  I don't know if prices have gone up or not there and if you find any living arrangements that you want me to take a look at I can do that for you, too.  I remember the hardest part about moving was finding apartments but not really knowing how truly close (or far away) from public transport they actually were since I wasn't in SLC to know

Thank you for your reply, StenderB. I would like to ride bicycle to go to the university/home but I now know that it is not a good option in winter. As you say that prices for rent are higher around the campus and public transportation system is good, it would be the best to find a house that is away from the campus and cheaper but close to public transportation routes. Yet, I do not like the idea of living in the nearby cities and have about 1 hour or more hours for commuting everyday. Unfortunately, I am very bad at cooking and I hope food prices at university cafeterias/dining hall are also reasonable. I like nature and I think I will enjoy outdoor activities.

 

Thanks again for your comprehensive answer.

[DRT23]

It's a good strategy to live close to the campus at the begining and then search for other options. Cedar Cliff seems to be very close to the university on Google Maps and it may be a good start point   Thank you for the suggestions and all the information. If Salt Lake becomes my destination for PhD, I would like to have your ideas on my apartment searching. As you wrote above, all I can do is searching on the Internet without really knowing the place and the information given on the websites can be different than the reality.

 

By the way, a question has just popped up in my mind: do you have to pay bills for electricity, water, internet or they are all covered in rent price? Because, you have to pay for all of them separately in Istanbul but I know they are covered in rents in some other places.

[StenderB]

It really depends on the apartment complex.  Some have all things included "in the rent" and some will say "sewer/gas/garbage" included.  This does NOT mean it's included in the rent price!! I was unfortunate enough to realize this my first couple of apartment leases.  This just means that the apartment handles "sewer/gas/garbage" collection, but it IS included as separate prices when you get your bill for the month to pay.

So it is the same as Istanbul for most places: everything you pay separate and have to hook things up yourself like internet, cable, or electricity.  The company here is Rocky Mountain Power but that's as simple as just calling them to let you know where you live and your name so they can set you up.  Internet is either Comcast or Century Link which you also pay for separate and have to call on your own.  They usually have good prices where it will say something like, "internet for the first 6-months for only $20/month".... that's great until the 7th month comes up and all of  a sudden your bill is at $60+ at regular price.  Switch companies before your 6 months are over so you can get a good price from the other or different company.

[StenderB]

Oh I would also like to say that the University of Utah seems to have good information on housing for students and also for international students.  They print out this book with other U information that includes housing for students (recommendations on outside housing).  If you choose the U, I'm sure the student office or international office will be very helpful in also suggesting places to live

 İyi şanşlar (I studied Turkish for a while a couple of years ago  )

[mlannie]

Another Salt Laker here, although I went to the Y.  I live in Holladay, which is officially Salt Lake but about 15-20 minutes south by city streets of the University of Utah, verging on the more suburby areas.

 

Keep in mind that apartment sharing is the norm here, and if you're checking shared listings through the U's website or Craiglist or whatever you will want to be aware if the ad is for "LDS standards" or mentions Mormons if you're not very conservative.  It varies by person and even by gender (LDS girls are often more conservative than LDS guys, using rules like "No guys in the bedroom ever").

 

I don't mean to imply it's an oppressive environment -- every person is different, no matter the religion.  There's just a lot of cultural terms that aren't always obvious in their meaning.

 

Actually, I think Craigslist is quite a decent tool if you want to get a general idea of the housing market here.

[DRT23]

Teşekkürler StenderB

[DRT23]

Another Salt Laker here, although I went to the Y.  I live in Holladay, which is officially Salt Lake but about 15-20 minutes south by city streets of the University of Utah, verging on the more suburby areas.

 

Keep in mind that apartment sharing is the norm here, and if you're checking shared listings through the U's website or Craiglist or whatever you will want to be aware if the ad is for "LDS standards" or mentions Mormons if you're not very conservative.  It varies by person and even by gender (LDS girls are often more conservative than LDS guys, using rules like "No guys in the bedroom ever").

 

I don't mean to imply it's an oppressive environment -- every person is different, no matter the religion.  There's just a lot of cultural terms that aren't always obvious in their meaning.

 

Actually, I think Craigslist is quite a decent tool if you want to get a general idea of the housing market here.

 

Well, actually I do not want to share apartment at least at the very begining when I do not know anyone yet. Thank you for your suggestions.

[Tuck]

I noticed that most people here seem to be talking about renting apartments and doing room shares. Am I likely to be able to rent a house in SLC? I live with my boyfriend and our two dogs, so if I end up going to UofU, we'd like to rent a little house/cottage/bungalow/whatever with a fenced-in yard.

 

I've done some online searching, but I can't seem to find the right keywords for houses that aren't housemate/room share situations.

[StenderB]

I noticed that most people here seem to be talking about renting apartments and doing room shares. Am I likely to be able to rent a house in SLC? I live with my boyfriend and our two dogs, so if I end up going to UofU, we'd like to rent a little house/cottage/bungalow/whatever with a fenced-in yard.

 

I've done some online searching, but I can't seem to find the right keywords for houses that aren't housemate/room share situations.

Yes it is possible and if my husband and I were planning on living in SLC for any longer than the end of this year, we'd absolutely be wanting to find a little townhome/bungalow option as well.  Firstly, you may not find something that's within public transportation distance of the U, so if you can compromise with certain travel times you'll widen your options in the surrounding areas.

Check Craigslist for rentals and just keep your eyes open for those words like "house" bungalow" etc. OR go to ksl.com.  It's a local website of classifieds that I didn't know about (but wish I did) before I moved here.

Lastly, you may end up just finding large apartments that also have dog parks but with the amount of time I'm sure you have until you move you'll have time to browse those sites

If you're not sure about the location just do a quick google map search from the address to the U and I would say if it takes ~20-30 min then it's really not that far out.  As well, the public transport lines are extending SO far out now that you can live quite a distance and do a park and ride situation, too, so you could get lucky in finding both the house and the PT if you're interested in that.

Edited March 4, 2013 by StenderB

[Tuck]

Thank you for taking the time to offer these tips! I'm going to go ahead and bookmark that website - it looks very helpful.

[Dingbatty]

Hi all. I just recently moved from SLC back home to California. My wife and I both did our undergrads at the U of U. We lived in a couple places while in Utah...both close the U. If you are searching craiglist, or KSL.com classifeds, consider renting a basement or garden level apartment. Most of the basements are finished and some are like seperate homes beneath the home. We had a really nice garden level apartment 2 blocks from the U. Newly renovated and clean. All utilites and everything included for $600, fenced in backyard for our dog and off-street parking. There are places, you just have to be patient for them to pop up, especially close to the school. There are tons of students moving in and out so they come up in waves. Feel free to send me a message if you have specific questions!

[JenCook]

There is phenomenal student family housing just next to campus (like a 5 min walk), with a park nearby and plenty of playgrounds in the Student Village itself. Plus, utilities are included. Where else can you get a 2-bedroom for less than $750 a month, with cable and utilities all included?

[deathmetal]

I would definitely recommend looking into the Student Village housing like JenCook suggested.  I'm single but was able to get a 1 bedroom apartment there and it's not expensive either.  But you need to apply early for sure.