Dave & Dujanovic: Most likable place to live? Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City ranks No. 1 as the most likable place in the nation to live, according to a new report from rent.com. The report said SLC earns near-top scores in its walkability, bike-ability, and business opportunities.

The city itself was a popular choice for the capital because its ideals aligned with the country at the time — growth, expansion and religious freedoms.”

Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic discussed the top five rankings from rent.com.

Likable place

“I love being number one. We probably don’t do this story if it’s like number two or three, but when you are the champion, you have to take your victory lap,” Dave said. “The 2020 census just came out and said that over the last decade, our population has gone up nearly 20%  — 18.4% to be exact.”

“The report itself dives into what is attracting people to live here,” Debbie said.  “And they looked at a variety of factors including rent. They said the average rent is about $1,233 a month for a one-bedroom in Salt Lake City.”

Debbie said the report also looked at commute times.

“If you could just toss out a commute time, what do you think the average commute time is in Utah?” she asked.

“I think I know this because I live in Kaysville, and it takes me 23 minutes to get to the [KSL] station. I had a buddy, a co-worker that lived in Salt Lake. And it took him about that long because he lived up on the east side. It took him about that long to get in, so I’m gonna guess somewhere around 20 minutes commute,” Dave said.

“21 minutes and about six seconds,” Debbie said, after making the sound of gameshow buzzer.

“You did not just buzz me for one minute. There is no way you just buzzed me for being one minute off!”

Rounding out the top five most livable places in the nation:

2. Austin, Texas, 

3. Cheyenne, Wyoming,

4. Madison, Wisconsin, and

5. Boise, Idaho / Denver, Colorado (tied).

“If you had to move to Denver or to Boise, if you had a choice, which town would you pick?” Debbie asked Dave.

“Did you just say that with a straight face?” Dave replied. “Would you rather live in Denver that has every professional sports team imaginable?”

“I’d rather live in Boise,” Debbie said. “Denver’s close to nothing, right? You got to drive hours to get to the ski resorts. I just look out . . . there’s like, there’s a wind and just flat terrain everywhere. Dust storms, too, by the way.”

Dave pointed out that the winters in Boise are “brutal.”

“We have bad winters,” he said. “I can’t imagine driving another six hours north that it’s going to be any better.”

Cheyenne as a place to live?

Debbie pointed out that rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Cheyenne averages $930 per month.

“What’s wrong with Cheyenne?” Debbie asked.

“It’s basically Fairbanks, Alaska,” Dave replied. “I applied for a job in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I wanted to be their sportscaster. Thank everything in my life that they didn’t give me the job. Thank you, Cheyenne, Wyoming. It’s not just because I was wronged by your news director. I am so grateful that I did not get that job because then I would have to live in Cheyenne, Wyoming.”

Related:

Festivals and events are returning to Salt Lake City this summer

 

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, a.s well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.