23 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Park City, Utah
Source: stanisgarage, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nestled among Utah’s Wasatch Mountain Range and measuring just 17.5 square miles, Park City may not seem like an obvious choice of residence for high-rolling celebrities and business moguls. But behind its quaint façade, there’s a star-studded, adrenaline-fueled, party animal that emerges just in time for ski season. The juxtaposition of its picturesque setting and Hollywood-worthy nightlife make Park City, by some accounts, the best town in America. But is it right for you? That depends, in large part, on how much cash you’re willing to part with, and how you feel about these 23 indicators.
1. Striking It Rich
Park City began as a mining town whose primary resource was silver. Once mining was no longer viable, however, the city reinvented itself as a skiing destination and has been playing that angle ever since. In 2013, the state of Utah brought in $6.4 billion in tourism, a large portion of which came from Park City, making it something of a cash cow for the Beehive State.
2. Speaking of Silver…
Two of Park City’s three ski facilities, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort, were used as official competition venues during the 2002 Winter Olympics and all three (the third is Canyons Resort) are consistently rated in the top ten ski slopes in the nation. More recently, at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, 13 of the US’s 28 medals were won by Utah athletes, 6 of whom hail from Park City. Cool runnings, man.
3. Greatest Snow on Earth
Utah’s not at all shy about their claim to fame, with their license plates proudly boasting “Greatest Snow on Earth.” While the debates rage on about the ideal composition of the best snow for skiing, it’s undeniable that with 390 ski runs and approximately 9,300 vertical feet of slopes between them, Park City’s three resorts are some of the best one-stop-shopping you’ll find anywhere in the world. Take that, Telluride.
4. Unless You’re a Snowboarder…
Only three ski resorts in the United States ban snowboarders from using their slopes: one in Vermont and two in Utah, including Deer Valley in Park City. The city’s other facilities permit snowboarders, but Deer Valley has maintained a strict separation that has many snowboarders citing discrimination—the issue has even bred its own form of civil disobedience, called poaching, wherein snowboarders sneak onto the prohibited slopes as a form of protest.
5. In the News
Park City Mountain Resort has been popping in and out of the news for the last few years in a most unfortunate way: In 2011 the corporation that operated the resort and owned the land and equipment at base level was two days late in submitting the paperwork that would have allowed them to continue leasing the upper two-thirds of the mountain at the astonishingly low rate of $150,000 a year. Following the blunder, they became locked in litigation and negotiation with the landowners and Vail, the company that operates neighboring Canyons Resort and various facilities across Colorado. They ultimately lost the court battle and agreed to sell their portion of the land to Vail, which is in the process of combining Canyons and PCMR into one mega-resort. Puts that time that you were a month behind on rent in perspective, doesn’t it?
6. The Sundance Film Festival
Besides world-class skiing, Park City is best known for the two-week January film festival bearing, ironically, the name of a different ski resort town (where it was started) about 35 miles down the road. Begun in 1985 by Robert Redford’s company, Sundance is now the largest American film festival, and one of the most prestigious in the world. Popular movies such as Resevoir Dogs, The Blair Witch Project, Little Miss Sunshine, Clerks, and Napoleon Dynamite are among those that hit it big at the festival. Gosh!
7. Celebrity Status
Unsurprisingly, the Sundance Film Festival attracts a large crowd of actors, directors, producers, and others still hoping to break into the biz. Given Park City’s small size and the fact that most of its restaurants and clubs are centered on one main street, the festival is an ideal destination for those enticed by celebrity sightings. Celebrities present in 2015 included Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Kristen Wiig, Chris Pine, Winona Ryder, and James Franco, making the event a paparazzi’s dream come true and a bucket list item for fans the world over.
8. Home Sweet Home
While most celebrities come and leave within the festival’s timeframe, a few have apparently been so impressed with Park City that they’ve taken up residence there. Famous people with homes in the Park City area include Will Smith, Michael Jordan, Mitt Romney, and Katherine Heigl.
9. Foodies Forever
Perhaps taking a cue from the blossoming food scene of nearby Salt Lake City, Park City’s restaurant culture has grown in recent years to include some outstanding high-end and locally sourced options, including top-notch dining within the ski resorts themselves. Most of the city’s 100 eateries, however, are located right along the quaint but lively Main Street.
10. Drink Dilemma
What’s that? Do you also want a drink? No problem, as long as it doesn’t contain more than 1.5 oz. of alcohol, isn’t offered at any kind of discount (goodbye Happy Hour), and you also order food. And that’s not the end to Utah’s crazy liquor laws—you also can’t buy anything alcoholic (except beer with less than 4% alcohol by volume) at grocery or convenience stores, and bartenders at restaurants are prohibited from making drinks in plain view of the patrons. This had led to the installation of “Zion Curtains” in most restaurants, which are usually a frosted glass partition. It’s like the Cold War of Cold Ones up in here.
11. Ski In, Chill Out
Strange liquor laws aside, Park City Mountain Resort does have the distinction of operating the country’s only ski-in, ski-out distillery, and pub, High West Distillery, and Saloon. It was the first distillery open in Utah after Prohibition, and their spirits, according to many reviewers, are second to none in the state . . . Which, considering the lackluster alcohol atmosphere, may or may not be saying much.
12. More or Less Mormon
Like most of the state, Park City was founded by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons), which explains, among other things, their strict liquor laws. But, whereas Utah as a whole comes in at almost 60% LDS, Park City is “only” about 35%.
13. A Hop, Skip, and a Jump from Salt Lake City
For those seeking more food, drink, and entertainment options while in town, Salt Lake City is an easy 40-minute drive down I-80 from Park City, and the Salt Lake International Airport is equally close. This makes Park City one of the best options in the world for people who only have the day or weekend to ski and don’t want to waste time with travel. It’s also a great place to live if you work in Salt Lake but want to come home to a smaller town vibe.
14. Summer, Too
If you’re not into the ski scene, Park City probably shouldn’t be first on your list of potential places to settle down. That being said, it’s not winter all year round, and the city does offer a number of fun summer events to keep tourism alive and well even when there’s no snow on the ground. Those visiting Park City in the off-season can expect an array of free summer concerts, music and smaller film festivals, a classic small-town America 4th of July celebration, and some good old-fashioned rodeo. Yeehaw!
15. Alternate Adrenaline Rushes
The summer, when the slopes are cleared of snow, is also when thrill-seekers of other varieties come out to play. In addition to the alpine slides and alpine coaster, the resorts boast beautiful trails for both hikers and mountain bikers, both of whom come out to Park City en masse when the weather warms up. Many of the ski lifts are also in operation, so interested parties can take a ride up and down the mountain to enjoy the views, or lazy hikers and bikers can skip the hard part and get straight to the downhill.
16. It’s Literally Breathtaking
Park City’s high elevation means that it offers some of the best sweeping landscape views of the valley below, and attracts many artists who come to paint the scenes. But the views won’t be the only thing taking your breath away—the city sits at 7,000 feet elevation, making the air much thinner than most people are used to. It also means that you’re getting less oxygen to your brain which, in extreme cases, can cause certain types of brain damage. So, if those teenage ski lift operators seem a little out of it, give ‘em a break.
17. Take a Walk on the Wild Side
In addition to the beautiful landscape, hikers in the mountains of Park City are apt to come across a variety of wildlife—moose, elk, coyotes, cougars, snakes, pheasant, and deer by the dozens can all be spotted around the trails.
18. A Little Less Cinderella, A Little More Bambi
But if you’re thinking that man and nature peacefully coexist in Park City, with cute fuzzy animals frolicking in your front yard, you’re only half right. A big portion of Park City residents are wealthy, high-brow sorts who would rush to their windows, expensive digital cameras in hand, to snap pictures and marvel over the deer and moose that come trekking by. The other half, however, are those born and raised in rural Utah, and for them, the appearance of deer means only one thing: hunting season. So while you may be feasting only your eyes on the beauty of the wildlife, know that your neighbor may be looking at the same animal and wondering how much room he has in his freezer.
19. Privacy
Enticed by several acre lots and the small-town feel, many people (celebrities among them) move to Park City thinking of it as a mountain getaway. And while that may be their experience for part of the year (particularly for those who can afford a lot of land), owning a home in Park City comes with the understanding that your town will be invaded by tourists all winter, and especially during the Sundance Film Festival, when every hotel and roadway is filled to capacity. The town itself has a population of under 8,000 but brings in over a half million visitors every year. The good news is that the full-time residents get to bond over their disdain for out-of-towners all year long.
20. About the Winter…
While we do stand by our assertion that summer exists in Park City, it would be misleading to let you think that it follows anything close to a normal pattern of seasons. The slopes get serious snowfall starting in late October all the way through April, and even in the summer, it’s unusual for temperatures to reach above the 80-degree mark. If you dig Utah’s culture and the great outdoors but get depressed by winter weather, Park City is definitely not the place for you. Instead, check out cities like St. George in beautiful Southern Utah, where they have the exact opposite problem.
21. We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Truck
If Park City’s winter weather itself doesn’t scare you off, keep in mind that the roughly 11 feet of snow you’ll get in town (and more the higher up the mountain you live) isn’t going to shovel itself. Living in Park City often means owning (and knowing how to operate) a big 4-wheel-drive truck, a tractor snow plow, and about a dozen shovels. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
22. Hate Driving? You’ve Got Options
If you live in central Park City and don’t want to drive, you’re in luck—Park City operates a public transportation system with buses that stop at all of the major spots and neighborhoods around town. There’s also a trolley running up and down Main Street from 10 am to 11 pm for all of your shopping, dining, and sightseeing needs. And best of all, these services are 100% free to use, always. The city’s just figuring that you’ll more than make it up to them between the cost of your lift ticket, watered-down booze, and Sundance movie admissions.
23. House Hunting in Park City
If a rural but rich, celebrity-filled, snow-packed, semi-Mormon winter wonderland seems like your idea of home, Park City is definitely the place for you. To see homes for sale in Park City check out Estately.com.
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Estately is a national real estate search site whose articles have been featured in the The Wall Street Journal, CNET, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, NBC News, Philadelphia Magazine, GeekWire, The Denver Post, and more.
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