Salt Lake City was originally founded by Brigham Young in 1847. It was outside the US boundaries, at least at first, and thus immune to interference by the US Government. The Latter Day Saints, Mormons, fled from city to city across the United States because of religious persecution. I read about LDS earlier this summer in The 19th Wife. LDS officially renounced polygamy in the United States in 1890.
Salt Lake City is the capitol of Utah. It was home to the 2002 winter olympics and continues to host sporting events.
Some interesting facts:
Several of the statistics above were of great interest to me. I presumed that Salt Lake City was a conservative area. Obviously, it is not. Not only is the prevailing political party the Democratic party, the number of gay residents is mentioned numerous times throughout the Wikipedia article. I was also unaware that so many movies and TV shows had been filmed in the area.
- Salt Lake City has been considered one of the top 51 "gay-friendly places to live" in the U.S.[57] The city is home to a large, business savvy, organized, and politically supported gay community. Leaders of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Utah,[58][59] as well as Utah's largest Jewish congregation, the Salt Lake Kol Ami,[60] along with three elected representatives of the city identify themselves as gay. These developments have attracted controversy from socially conservative officials representing other regions of the state. A 2006 study by UCLA estimates that approximately 7.6% of the city's population, or almost 14,000 people, are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual, compared to just 3.7%, or just over 60,000 people, for the metropolitan area as a whole.[61]
- In 2007 Salt Lake City was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the most vain city in America based on the number of plastic surgeons per 100,000 and their spending habits on cosmetics, which exceed that of cities of similar size.[62]
- The city was also found to be the 8th most stressful.
- A 2008 study by Men's Health and Women's Health magazines found Salt Lake City to be the healthiest city for women by looking at 38 different factors, including cancer rates, air quality and the number of gym memberships.[63]
- The city has elected Democratic Party mayoral candidates since the 1970s. Councilors are elected under specific issues and are usually well-known.[citation needed] Labor politics play no significant role. The city has two elected openly gay women and an openly gay man, representing the city in the State House and Senate, respectively.[73]
- The city's political demographics are liberal and Democratic. This stands in stark contrast to the majority of Utah where Republican and conservative views generally dominate.
- The city is home to several non-governmental think-tanks and advocacy groups such as the conservative Sutherland Institute, the gay-rights group Equality Utah, and the quality-growth advocates Envision Utah.
- Many films, music videos, commercials, and TV shows have been recorded in the Salt Lake metropolitan area. They include: SLC Punk!, Touched by an Angel, Everwood, Big Love, "Bonneville", Dawn of the Dead, Drive Me Crazy, Forever Strong, High School Musical, High School Musical 2, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Unaccompanied Minors, Dumb and Dumber, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Independence Day, Poolhall Junkies, The Brown Bunny, The World's Fastest Indian, The Way of the Gun, Carnival of Souls, The Amazing Race 8, and The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights". In 2006 it was revealed that Dan Brown, the author of The DaVinci Code, was in the city studying the symbols on the Salt Lake LDS Temple and the Salt Lake Masonic Temple, among other historical buildings, for inclusion in an upcoming book.
It's so great to learn new things!!!
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