Introducing The Duke of SLC

My name is Connor Rickman, and I want to show you my city. First, however, some context.

The late Tennessee Williams is credited for saying:

America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.

While this may have been true in Tennessee's day, modern economic conditions have driven commercial rent prices so high in both New York and San Francisco that retail spaces in these cities are less likely to be occupied by interesting local businesses than by large chains. Therefore I would argue that New York and San Francisco aren't as interesting as they once were, not when unique local business are increasingly being replaced by CVS and Starbucks. There are ambitious, creative people fighting this trend of course, and I admire them for it, but the era of New York and San Francisco as America's only cultural hubs has almost certainly passed.

New Orleans has managed to avoid this fate, but the city paid a hefty price for it. After Hurricane Katrina you couldn't even give away a house, let alone a store front in that city. How could you? They were all unusable. Now, almost 15 years later, the city has rebounded. People restored what they could and innovated with some new ideas along the way. The result is a New Orleans that is better than it was before Katrina according to food journalist and Netflix personality Phil Rosenthal. New Orleans remains interesting because it remains affordable for regular people, not just large chains.

They key phrase in the above paragraph is: "affordable for regular people." People are what makes a place interesting. People can turn a boring job into a decent place to spend your day. People can turn a boring city into an interesting place to live. As America's cultural hubs become less accessible to the majority people are increasingly moving to cities that were previously only considered "flyover territory." Cities like Portland, Austin, Denver, Atlanta, Columbus, and Salt Lake City. Not only are they moving there, but they are making them interesting places to live.

I like to think I'm one of those people having chosen Salt Lake City as my permanent residence. Aside from a brief stint in San Francisco and a brief stint in London, I've lived in Salt Lake City my entire life. I keep coming back because it allows me to live cheaply, live well, travel often and be near to my family. I really like living here and I'd like to tell you what I've learned the past 30 years. That experience alone certainly doesn't qualify me to be the king of Salt Lake City, that title likely goes to Tan France, but I think self-identifying as a Duke is appropriate for my level of expertise.

For those of you who have just arrived in town, welcome, and I'd love to show you around.

Photos by Caty Gainer