Where is a nice place to rent in Utah?

We just drove into Salt lake today to look for a house to rent. Once we got here we noticed all the smog alert signs and a terribly strong odor in the air. I should have done more research I know but we found out it's really polluted here. Anyone know if this is just in the city limits? What are some surrounding cities that would be good for renters that are not polluted like this part of the state. Read a lot of articles about how this part of the state gets really polluted in winter and we noticed this in June. Maybe we are just near the factories here and only the city part smells like this?