The only people I've heard that don't realize this are my in-laws. They live in salt lake and talk about going "up" to Provo. It feels wrong every time because I've never heard anyone else do it. I let it pass because it is a 400 ft elevation rise and Provo's maintains are more impressive than salt lake's, half of which look like hills.
My wife's family are also somewhat handicapped by their upbringing. Their mom refers to it as "the BYU". That is so backward it should be a crime.