Guest Writer: Charlotte

I've lived in Utah for thirty-five of my thirty-nine years. Not surprisingly, I've found that summing up thirty-five years in a post that will be short enough to hold anyone's attention has been a daunting task. Daunting enough, in fact, that I've been mulling this post over for several weeks now.

However, this morning I decided the time had come to stop taking myself so seriously, and just sit down and write a few of my thoughts on living in Utah.

So, here I am. And here it is:

Living in Utah: Six of the Pros and Cons
(in my opinion)

Three Things I Don't Particularly Like about Living in Utah:

1. Utah Drivers, especially on the freeway: Utah drivers don't know how to share the road. I have two theories about this, one having to do with the fact that there's a lot of open space in Utah and we're just not all that used to needing to share. The other has to do with the fact that Mormons tend toward self-sufficiency and planning ahead. You know the fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant? Well, your typical Mormon is the quintessential ant in most scenarios. So, applying that to this situation, let's pretend that you as a motorist didn't happen to have the foresight to get into the right lane ten minutes before your necessary exit. Sorry fella, you can forget about me making room for you now. Better luck next time, Grasshopper.

2. Politics: Utah is right, right, right, ultra-conservative right. Utah is so conservative that our Democrats are right of the Republicans in most other states. (true story--my brother-in-law, who was a registered Republican in Nebraska ended up being a delegate for the Democratic Party in Utah.) What this means is that Utah gets very little positive attention from the Federal Government. Why should we? The Republicans know they have us in the bag, and the Democrats know they don't have a chance of winning us over (another true story--In the 1992 Presidential Election, Bill Clinton took third place, behind George Bush and Ross Perot). So, it's in no one's political best interest to try to please Utah.
Sigh.

3. Polygamy Jokes: Actually, this one doesn't bother me all that much, but I needed a third thing to dislike. So, I'm going with polygamy jokes. They do get old after awhile, especially if you grew up in Southern Utah, as I did.

Three things that I absolutely Love about Living in Utah:

1. The Beauty:

I grew up less than thirty miles away from this:




And this:



I spend time here nearly every year:



and now I'm within moments of this:

I've traveled all over the world, and loved many other places, but when it comes to natural beauty, I find Utah really hard to beat.

2. The Temples: As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints residing in Utah, I have the unique opportunity to live within two and half hours of ten different Mormon temples, with yet another temple in my vicinity under construction. The subject of temple worship isn't something I really have the space to go into right now, so I will just say that this is a big deal to me. A really big deal to me.


3. The Arts, particularly the performing arts: There are more pianos per capita in Utah than in any other U.S. state. Utah, with it's relatively small population of 2.7 million people, is home to a world-class symphony, two world-class opera companies, and a world-class Shakespearean festival. In an added bonus, because of the economics of supply and demand, it is possible to attend performances at all of these venues for prices that are about as much as you'd pay for a movie and popcorn in many areas. I love that.

Several years ago, Utah's primary tourism campaign focused around the phrase: "Utah: A Pretty, Great State". That particular ad campaign was somewhat controversial. (after all, who wants to be known as a resident of a state that's pretty great, but not absolutely marvelous?) These days Utah's main tourism campaign is the less controversial, less folksy, more generic "Utah: Life Elevated".

For me, I prefer the first phrase. Honestly, I think Utah is pretty great. It may not be the perfect place to live, and I certainly don't recommend it without reservation to everyone I meet. But Utah is my home, and I absolutely love it here. With all its quirks, I find that Utah works for me and my family quite well.

And I don't even like Jello.