Utah is like...

[42]

So when I meet people at work (mostly travelers), they seem quite baffled by Utah. Therefor, I am attempting to create some phrases that might help explain the unique nature of Utah.

For example: Utah is like the antithesis of Seattle.

This is derived from the fact that Seattle is uber-liberal,  Utah is uber-conservative, and both have their respective extremists. Also, Seattle has many coffee shops and checking the phone book, I think there might be two in all of Utah county.

So how does one describe the uniqueness that is Utah? Please, no Utah bashing. I've heard way to much of that and it is all just whining that Utah isn't exactly like where so-and-so grew up. Get over it.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Utah is on the grid system.

Erm, what I most often say goes like this.  Yes, that's correct.  Yes, that's the right address. Yes, it's valid.  No, you see, Utah is on the grid system so all the streets have numbers, so 3800 West is the street name and the address of the building is 955 South.

Sorry I know that doesn't help.

How about this?

If you leave out SLC, the entire state is like a small rural town.  

[Eagle Prince]

Utah is like anywhere else, but probably with more tumble weeds.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Utah is like anywhere else, but probably with moretumble weeds Mormons

Tumbleweeds is Wyoming.

[Eagle Prince]

Uh... sure.  Wyoming is nothing, its the cold version of Utah.  Well, I guess they have Yellowstone, but jeez at least compare us to somewhere cool like Texas or Nevada.

And no more Utah = mormons, its overused and unoriginal.  But mostly its just dumb.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

it's also accurate. SLC has the lowest rate of Mormonism, at something like 50%. Utah County, on the other hand, is literally something like 90% Mormon. As the second most populous county, well, how is that dumb?

Utah is no trees but lots of really tall rocks.

[Entsuropi]

Utah is... sunny.

I remember that much.

[42]

Utah isn't like Texas or Nevada. It really isn't like any of it's neihbors except for maybe Idaho.

I've noticed that the people who have the hardest time adjusting to Utah are usually passing through the most cultural zones. For example: New York could be considered one cultural zone, Ohio another, ect... So basicly, the farther you are traveling to get to Utah the greater the shock.

One of the biggest problem I run into is that a lot of people think that Utah is just Salt Lake City and there are no other cities. They also expect Utah small towns (like Beaver or Price) to be like small towns back east or in the midwest. Utah small towns are really just holes in the rock just short of most basic essentials.

[42]

I oculd also add that about half or the Utah population, (mostly the elderly) have no desire for Utah to participate in the rest of the world.

[EUOL]

I think the original idea was to explain what Utah is in a way that would give outsiders an idea of what to expect.  

My suggestion would be something like this.  

Imagine if the Amish had decided to give up their forbiddance of technology and modernization, and had then decided to found their own state.  That's kind of like Utah.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

I forget you
I forget you
I forget Utah.

[Oldie Black Witch]

Utah is one corner short of a rectangle.

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Utah is the only state whose capital's name is made of three words. All three words in Salt Lake City have four letters each.

utah has mountains...
and brine shrimp...
and since a lot of the immegrants there were Norweigen and German they put mayo on a lot of stuff but they call it fry sauce.

Beaver UT is the birthplace of two very famous individuals of the past, Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television and Butch Cassidy, the notorious western outlaw.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

farnsworth lived in Idaho when he invented it though. *shrug* whatever.

But outlaw, yeah, that's Utah. Brimming with bad boys.