Although visiting the University of Utah this past July for orientation was not the first time I had been in Salt Lake City, it was the first time I had been there in warm weather or had spent very much time exploring. I had visited Salt Lake the previous March over spring break for both university students and myself. The weather was still cold and there was a substantial amount of snow on the ground. THat visit consisted of a day-long tour of campus, a day spent at the slopes, a visit to Temple Square, and a visit to the ballet. I did not spend much time observing or discovering the mood of Salt Lake CIty, and can only remember it being cloudy and cold. Since it was spring break, it was difficult to catch the mood of campus or what types of people went to school at the U.
The summer of 2010 was my first real time spent exploring the city, the campus, and meeting people that went to school at the University. THe first significant impression I had of Salt Lake City was the geography leading up to the city. When I had visited previously, I had flow, therefore I was clueless as to how far the Wasatch Range extended or even what the land looked like between Iowa or Salt Lake. before visiting the previous March, I had never been west of Iowa at all, and before this summer orientation road trip, had never driven west of Iowa. On this road trip, I was surprised a how relatively littile mountainous territory we passed on Interstate 80 before reaching Salt Lake. There seemed to be a little less than an hour or two where we were actually driving through mountains. Driving really gave me a perspective on how the land changes across the mid west to western United States. Immediately after entering Salt Lake for the second time, I had an entirely different perspectie of where I was located in the country.
My next experience with Salt Lake City wasn't actually the downtown area, but was the neighborhoods in western Salt Lake, inbetween the airport and the county fairgrounds. I had never previously experienced any of the more run down areas of Salt Lake, and I noticed a lot of foreign, especially Latino, people. Western Salt Lake City seems almost like an entirely different city than the areas around campus and downtown because of the differences in wealth, architecture, ethnicity, and the flatness of the area. I went running around this area and noticed first hand more trash on the streets, differences in languages, and businesses that catered to different types of people than the people who shop in the downtown area.
Spending additional days on campus in warm weather gave me a new vibe on how people utilized the campus. Walking around to different buildings versus previously mainly takint the bus gave me a new perspective as well. Staying in the dorms helped me to imagine where I would be living throughout the school year.
Before my summer visit ended, I had the chance to walk around great amounts of the downtown area and visit many unique businesses. I was excited to learn of culture of Salt Lake City and found out about things such as concerts in the park and various other attractions. Since it was summer, I witnessed more people walking around the streets, and was excited to see many different types of cultures and styles represented.
I also got to see some of the southwest suburbs of Salt Lake, because we made a driving trip out to see Kennecott Copper Mine. Driving through places such as West Jordan and Draper gave me a view of some newly developed places and the starkness of undeveloped areas of the valley.
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