Comments about ‘Census shows Utah's highs, lows’

Lowest poverty rate and highest median income in Utah....oh it's sweet to be living in South Jordan!

Looks like the west side still tends to be ghetto with one bright spot being S. Jordan on that side. Lots of prideful arrogant people can be found in Holladay and Millcreek.

Before taking these figures as "gospel," it would pay to consider the very wide margins of error for some of these survey estimates--particularly at the city level.

Very interesting, thank you for printing.

I'm glad to see that Utah is challenging some perceptions. I grew up in West Valle and South Salt Lake, but haven't lived there for over 12 years. I'm still very proud of my hometown (Go Utes! Go Jazz!).

When I tell people here on the East Coast that I am originally from Salt Lake they always ask if I'm Mormon. I've gotten pretty used to saying, "Yes, I'm from Utah, but NO I'm not Mormon." I really dislike the stigma people attach to the state. Yes, not being Mormon in Utah is frustrating to say the least, but it's a better place to life than other intermountain and midwest states. And not everyone in Utah is a Mormon!

I hope all Utahns can embrace and celebrate Utah's increasing diversity. And I hope the rest of the nation takes note.

Highest income plus lowest poverty equals the more boring city in Utah (which, one might argue, makes it the most boring city in the country and the world). There is no art, no culture, no science, no discovery, no creativity, no variety and no nature in all of South Jordan.

But that's usually what those drawn to South Jordan are looking for....

What I would like to see is the median income per working person. South Jordan looks good on the #'s per household, but I wonder if it is because of the 2-income factor.

Is it more impressive to have only the dad working and making $100K while the mother is at home with the kids, or both a mom and dad working making a combined $105 because they cant live off a single $50K income?

Low poverty, high rates of education, and highest income levels. The city is a great place with parks. There is still business growth and more major businesses are on their way.Makes me proud.
Something at city hall must be going right.

Someone above said, "the west side still tends to be ghetto."

The term ghetto is used in a derogatory way in the U.S. today to convey one thing, an area with a high concentration of non-white residents.

They go onto say the "one bright spot being S. Jordan on that side."

So...a bright spot is apparently white, and high income. Why don't you just say S. Jordan is full of white and delightsome people while the rest of the westside is full of dark and loathsome. That's what racist/classist thinking you are getting at.

Is on the east side. And it's pretty ghetto.

You are the only one that mentions race. Are you saying black people can't be bright? Stop being such a victim.

S. Jordan (after touting his/her neighborhood as a "bright spot"): "Lots of prideful and arrogant people in Holladay and Millcreek."

Is that official census data, or made up? I didn't see "Holladay was highest with prideful/arrogant at 72.3 percent, followed by Millcreek 68.5 and South Jordan 65.7." (grin)

My brother, who attended BYU many years ago, referred to the married student housing as "The Breeding Pens." hahahaha! (Some truth to that!) (Oh - and we LOVE BYU! That comment was not intended to be derogatory, only observational.)

C'mon people, we're birthing tons o' kids and have one of the higher poverty rates in the state? These are probably linked. Pay students, ie me, more money imo. Yeah.

I'm shocked by the idea's written that because you are rated highest you are better than everyone else. Maybe you should consider that while you have the highest median income, there may not be as many retiree's in South Jordan. I also agree that the double income idea also contributes to that number. My friend lives in S. Jordan and has worked for years outside the home. The comment that Millcreek and Holladay seem by some to be prideful, I would say it's the east side west side thing going on. I moved to Holladay 21 years ago for the tree's, attractive and safe neighborhoods, and close proximity to shopping, but mostly for the safety of my autistic child. While I have stayed home, I question why so many mothers leave their homes to work. But that is another story. While Holladay has many that are well to do, many are just normal people trying to make ends meet. You will never find a more generous group of people with their resources in helping others. Hopefully we all try to contribute to our cities and neighborhoods in the best possible way.

What ever happened to the golden, wisdom of silence. The blogging era is certainly increasing anxiety and disputs amoung people. I think it is a harmful cathartic trend. Merry Christmas my friends.

I'm moving to South Jordan and I will commute to my job in S. Salt Lake so my income will go up. Should have thought of that years ago.

It's funny how ghettos have certain people living in them and more crime as well.

the don't haves are usually the won't works. spent to much time smokin and jokin to get educated.

The census is just data. A professor of mine once said, "torture the data, and it will confess." It does not explain causation, only correlation. If you know anything about statistics, you know the danger of extrapolation -- inferring meaning without having all the relevant information. It's foolish, for example, to assume, given data saying 91% of people who died in year X were not wearing lipstick at the time of death, that refraining from wearing lipstick causes death. Supporting personal biases with census data alone can make one look extremely foolish.

South Jordan, Draper, Riverton, etc all have some nice places and plenty of good people. I have lived there in the past and have many family members and friends that still live there. However, before people from that area (generalizing of course, I know this does not apply to all) start bragging about their high income/low poverty, just remember that it probably has one of the highest percentages of both parents that work full time. There are too many in that area that are caught up in "keeping up with the Jones'" and feel they have to work just to look better than their neighbor. Even though they have the highest median income, it might be interested to see what percentage are living with in their means. Again, I know I'm generalizig because I have family and friends there and know many wonderful people in that area. Unfortunately, I have also seen the other side of it as well.