Ogden, Utah Read Guide >
Whether you’re a novice snowboarder or an experienced alpine skier, you’ve got the perfect terrain. Ogden’s mountains and ski resorts are renowned and frequently get spreads in ski and outdoor recreation magazines, so chill out, dude, you may have to wait your turn for a lift.
Wishing you would have paid more attention in science class now? It’s not as bad as it might sound though. Visible dust particles and pollutants are trapped in the cold wintertime air near the ground by a blanket of warm air above. What’s the bright side? It can’t be much worse than Los Angeles! Joking aside, most of the pollutants are caused by people—from wood burning stoves and vehicles, so with a population of under 90,000, the smog is nowhere close to what larger cities have to fight year-round.
Located in Northern Utah, Ogden is just about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. If you have visions of riding down the tracks to Salt Lake City on an ancient streamliner, keep dreaming. The FrontRunner, powered by the Utah Transit Authority, will be your go-to for transportation to and from Salt Lake City sans automobile but most locals get to and fro by car.
Although vastly improved, the downtown area and inner Ogden have a crime-ridden reputation, even to this day. Most of the crimes happening since the early 2000s have been nonviolent thefts but fear not, there are very few remaining masked men in black and white striped shirts running around with bags of stolen loot. The good news is that the city government is doing a lot of work to revitalize Ogden and its downtown (Historic 25th Street) has become an exciting shopping mecca with new rental property developments. In 2010, Forbes magazine named the Ogden–Clearfield metropolitan area, which includes Ogden proper, one of the top ten places to raise a family. Hey, look at that!
Your neighbors are probably not going to be fundamentalist Mormons practicing polygamy like on HBO’s Big Love. Utah is known for its past and present roots in Mormonism, but the city of Ogden wasn’t actually settled by Mormons. Ogden is not nearly as homogenized as other parts of Utah; there is a higher percentage of foreign born residents (mostly Latin American) than most cities in the state. If you’re into gettin’ down like they did in the days of bar fights and gun slinging, you can find a few state run liquor stores in the area as well.
Craftsmen, bungalow, and Prairie School architecture is aplenty here. Built by wealthy Ogden families in the early 1900s to 1920s, there are many Victorian mansions worth gawking at.
The distinct and desirable quadrants of the city are most commonly referred to by the names of the streets and have a similar character and price tag throughout the city. For ease of searching for your new digs, the city can be broken down into these areas: Central Business District and Historic 25th Street After many years of neglect, the downtown area has gotten a healthy dose of renewal. Historic 25th street which leads right up to the old Union Station (which now holds 4 museums), is home to farmers’ markets, restaurants, boutiques, fine art galleries, antique shops, and lucky for you—a surge in apartment rentals. Shop and dine your heart out and then head back to your 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment to shoot some pool in the billiards room for $800-$1000 a month. East Bench Many people will tell you this part of town is the “safer side of the tracks.” Housing here is plentiful. Rent a two bedroom, one bathroom house in East Bench for around $700-800 with a covered porch and a yard to tend to in the summer months. SE Ogden/ Webber State University Ogden is a town with a college, not a college town. Webber State University is located in Southeast and is the area where most WSU Wildcats reside. The area consists almost entirely of residential buildings, many of which are multi-family to accommodate ramen eating twenty-somethings. The homes in this area can be newer and there are a good number of condos. Use a Jacuzzi year-round and work on your basketball form with a one bedroom with all the amenities you need (and then some) for $600-$800 a month.
Once you find your new pad, you will need a snowboard or mountain bike to keep up with the rest of the pack. Happy trails & Happy Hunting!