When you ask people what they think of when they hear “Utah,” you’ll probably get some variety of this response: “safe, family friendly, naturally pretty, and… family friendly.”
What about the fun? The entertainment? The excitement? Well, in the latest analysis here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, that’s exactly what we set out to find in the Beehive State. So, which places were the most buzzing with things to do?
Ogden, of course, came out on top. Here are the 10 most exciting places in Utah:
1.
City of Ogden
2.
City of Salt Lake City
3.
City of Midvale
4.
City of Logan
5.
City of Provo
6.
City of Clearfield
7.
City of Sandy
8.
City of Orem
9.
City of Roy
10. CDP of Millcreek
Okay, maybe you weren’t expecting Ogden to beat out Salt Lake City. Or perhaps you thought Provo would be a bit higher up than Logan?
Well, keep reading, because in the following paragraphs, we’ll go over the method of our analysis and just what makes each of these 10 places so exciting.
How We Created This Ranking
In order to come up with this most thrilling of lists, we started with a…slightly less exciting place: The 2010 U.S. Census.
Here, we made a list of all the places in the state with populations of 25,000 or more, which left us with a total of 32 places. Then, we used the Census and business listings to research each place according to the following:
- Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
- Live music venues per capita
- Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
- Arts and entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
- Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
- Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
- Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
- Population density (the higher the better)
Next, we ranked each of these 32 places with a score from one to 32, according to the above criteria; the lower the number, the better the score. We averaged these rankings into an overall
Big Deal Score, where the lowest score was our most exciting place.
If you simply can’t handle all the excitement, feel free to skip down to the end of the post where we’ll show you a complete ranking of all the places we looked at. Otherwise, put on your party hats, because we’re going to pay a virtual visit to each of the state’s 10 most exciting places, starting with our winner.
1. Ogden
This city may have recently been rated the sixth best place to raise a family by Forbes, but never fear, non-family oriented youngsters, Ogden is also a good place to party. In fact, out of all the places we looked at, Ogden ranked second for its nightclubs and third for its music venues per capita.
If the nighttime scene isn’t your thing, Ogden still has you covered. Especially when it comes to arts, active life, and food, where it ranked third, third, and seventh, respectively.
If this seems like a lot to do, see, and eat, that’s because it is. But don’t feel overwhelmed—just start with Jeremiah’s for brunch and coffee, maybe hit up the Art House Cinema, and cap off the night at the Wine Cellar for some jazz.
Plus, with 30.39 percent of people between 18 and 34, you’re bound to run into somebody who knows the inside scoop on having fun.
2. Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City: Home to the Church History Museum, the Clark Planetarium, Discovery Gateway, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and more arts and museums per capita than anywhere in the state.
SLC also had more nightlife, live music, and active life options per capita than anywhere else in the state (though, really, The Garage is reason enough to move here).
So why didn’t Salt Lake rank…a bit higher on our list? It lost the winning spot simply because it was not quite as densely populated at Ogden, it didn’t have quite as many restaurants per capita, and as far as fast food goes… Well, Salt Lake City ranked among the worst. Perhaps that’s why there are so many listings for gyms?
Still, beyond all that, this was still the second most exciting place in the state, hands down.
3. Midvale
With a population of just under 28,000, Midvale is easily the smallest place in our top 10, but as the numbers show, that certainly doesn’t mean it is lacking in things to do.
In fact, because we based our analysis on listings per capita, you might be surprised at this place’s numbers.
This relatively small city was packed with arts and entertainment listings, from the Midvale Performing Arts Center to the Pinnacle Acting Company.
It also had the third most nightlife options per capita, the seventh highest percentage of young people, the fifth most active life options, and, as if all that wasn’t enough, it is the fourth most densely populated place in the state.
So even if you’re not into arts, nightlife, being active, or basically having a good time, you can at least be sure you’ll bump into somebody while you’re out and about; hopefully somebody more exciting than you are.
4. Logan
If you read the above paragraphs about Provo, it might be hard to imagine a place equally as exciting, but our numbers tell us that place is Logan. Can’t argue with numbers.
So how did Logan and Provo manage to get the exact same score? Well, actually, it looks like they’re quite similar, at least in terms of exciting amenities.
For instance, Logan was the only other place in the state with nearly as many young people as Provo, with a high 49.3 residents between the ages of 18 and 34 (mostly thanks to Utah State University).
It also had a high number of arts, nightlife, and active life listings—including a little place called the Hatch Academy of Magic and Music. Which is just awesome.
5. Provo
It almost doesn’t seem fair that we mention Provo as one of the most exciting places in Utah, what with all of its existing awards and accolades. In short, this city is just packed with awesome. Here’s why.
Home to Brigham Young University, Provo has the most young people out of anywhere in the state—in fact, an insanely high 54.52 percent of residents are between the ages of 18 and 34.
That being said, there are also a lot of music and nightlife venues per capita, and for those who’d rather eat their calories than drink them, tons of restaurants. Though, let’s be honest, Black Sheep Cafe is all you really need.
6. Clearfield
Jumping from Provo and Logan to Clearfield, you’re probably going to see some pretty notable differences—namely, the nightlife, music, and arts scene.
What Clearfield lacked in those categories, it made up for wholeheartedly with food, with the sixth most restaurants per capita.
Places like the Golden Ginger Bistro, the High Hat Diner, and Argentine Corner (which, if you haven’t been in because of the outside, don’t judge this book by its cover!) are probably reason enough to live here. But that’s not where the excitement ends.
Clearfield also ranked among the most exciting for its densely-packed population, and for over 33 percent of that population being between 18 and 34.
7. Sandy
This city may be a suburb of Salt Lake, but as our analysis shows, it has plenty of excitement to offer on its own, thank you very much.
After all, it’s the home of the South Towne Center mall, the Jordan Commons entertainment and dining complex, the South Towne Expo Center, the Rio Tinto Stadium, and it’s the birthplace of Julianne and Derek Hough, for Pete’s sake!
If that doesn’t make you want to boogie, perhaps the number of nightlife, arts, and active life options will—the sixth, sixth, and second most in the state, respectively.
8. Orem
Home of Utah Valley University, it may come as no surprise that Orem is filled with excitement—and young people; 34.19 percent, to be exact.
Unlike some of those other youngster-filled cities with their bars and their dancing and their music, Orem seems to have a much more laid back vibe.
For instance, it didn’t rank that well for nightlife or music venues, but it did have a lot of active life and arts listings per capita. It also ranked the third most densely-populated place in our analysis; perfect for…not walking from bar to bar.
9. Roy
What is so exciting about a city with a low percent of young people, hardly any nightlife or music venues to speak of, and a serious lack of art? Food!
Roy was easily one of the most exciting in terms of food on all counts. Not only did it have a ton of restaurants per capita, but it also had a serious lack of fast food, which as we all know, is much more exciting.
There’s Five Star Restaurant, Lee’s Fish & Rice, ABC Mandarin, and the best breakfast burritos in Utah at Rancheritos.
Roy also had some of the most people per square mile in the state—4,660 (for comparison’s sake, Salt Lake City has just 1,678), so you’re bound to run into somebody who’ll accompany you to an amazing dinner.
10. Millcreek
The final spot on our list goes to the Census Designated Place of Millcreek. If you’re asking, what in the world does that mean, we’ll tell you. Millcreek is a CDP and township in Salt Lake County, which, as of 2010, includes Canyon Rim, East Millcreek, and Mount Olympus.
Okay, now for the excitement. Even though this CDP includes a lot of land, it was still the sixth most densely populated area in the state. It also ranked pretty well for its nightlife, but where it really shined was in its cuisine.
With more restaurants and fewer fast food joints than any place in our analysis, Millcreek is the spot for any Utahn foodie (especially if you like Indian food).
All Industry, But With Plenty Of Fun Too
What do you think of when you hear “Utah”? Sure, it’s safe, family friendly, andbeautiful, but we hope now that you’ve read about these 10 places, you can agree, it’s also pretty darn exciting.
Of course, these aren’t the only 10 places buzzing in the Beehive State. Check the table below for a complete ranking of all the places we looked at.
