Utah’s Most Outdoor Friendly City Is….Salt Lake City?

I don't know about you, but I think we have a group of people who have way too much time on their hands, and who spend the days bombarding us with endless amounts of data that really doesn't reflect the way things are around us. Who is this group of people, you ask? Listmakers.

It seems on a daily basis I receive story after story of lists and rankings and factoids that are supposed to supercharge my knowledge base, and give me pertinent background on which I can make a decision. Or sometimes they can just be good for a laugh.

Take the case of this list from RV Share telling me the Most and Least Outdoor Friendly Cities in America.

We love being outdoors here in Utah, right? A good part of our economy here in southern Utah is based strictly on the basis that people who live here, and people who come here, love the recreational opportunities offered by our surrounding parks, forests, lakes and reservoirs, and hiking and biking trails.

So forgive me if I found it a bit surprising that according to RV Share the most outdoor city in Utah is.....Salt Lake City?

For real?

This was really puzzling when you considered the metrics they used in compiling the list. You can see all the elements they took into consideration to compile the list when you click the link I included above, but some things they include make me think somewhere away from the Wasatch Front would be the most outdoor friendly city in the state.

For example, one metric was “proximity and access to Federal Lands (e.g., National Parks, BLM Land, National Forests, Wilderness Areas.” Isn't all of southern Utah pretty much in one of those categories?

Of how about the metric of “equipment owned for outdoor recreation?” Do you know anybody who doesn't have at least one piece of equipment that couldn't be considered to be used for outdoor recreation?

Now, it's possible, maybe even likely, the folks at RV Share only considered cities that were in the top 50 for population. I guess that would account for New York City being on the list at number 24. Who doesn't say let's grab our camping gear and head to NYC?

But, I would think the folks at RV Share would like to send people who live the RV lifestyle to places where they can enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, while having plenty of places where RV's can be based and and communities established, if only temporarily, to share these common experiences. Sorry Salt Lake, but that sounds more like southern Utah to me.

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And if this is the kind of information I can continue to expect from the makers of lists, I may just become listless.