According to market research reports, Alpine residents tend to be home-oriented, make more home improvements than the national average and choose to eat at home more than travel to restaurants. Residents are also more likely to own pets, purchase sporting goods, and buy furniture. They also tend to make more investments, and take out more loans. "There is nothing big about Alpine, but everybody that lives here likes it," a lifelong resident and City Councilman stated. "That's one of the things that has caused our land values to escalate."

Settled by cattlemen W. H. Hooper, Quincy Knowleton, and George M. Burgess in the fall of 1850, the community was originally called Fort Wordsworth, after William S. Wordsworth. It was later named Dry Creek Settlement and Mountainville. The name was changed to Alpine at the time of incorporation because the area reminded Brigham Young of the Swiss Alps. Alpine was incorporated on January 19, 1855 -- the same year as several other Utah cities -- and was considered the smallest city in the world for its first 100 years. It is now Utah's 63rd-largest city with a population of nearly 6,000.

Highland was named by Alexander Adamson, a Scottish farmer who immigrated to Utah. He bestowed the name on the area because it reminded him of the highlands of his native Scotland. Highland was incorporated on July 13, 1977, and is Utah's 44th-largest city with a population of more than 7,000. John Poole built the first home in 1875, northeast of Stasburg Park. By 1888, 15 families had settled in the area. That year, a one-room brick school was built where the Highland Church now stands.

What attracts people to Highland? Its quiet, rural atmosphere and large lot sizes (an acre is required to build in Highland). Highland is truly a bedroom community. It has only recently adopted a commercial zone. The city's two commercial businesses, the Alpine Country Club and Kountry Korner convenience store, existed prior to Highland's incorporation.