It appears that the $1-$2 billion dollar gondola-up-the-canyon proposal is currying favor with more elites. Snowbird has purchased the land where the base station and parking lot of the proposed gondola would be located. Snowbird currently charges $130 for a day pass and for an extra $60 elites can get a special exemption from waiting in lines. Snowbird is probably the best … [Read more...]
Inland Port Ruling: Utah Supreme Court Says Utah State Legislature Can Usurp Salt Lake City’s Authority
The Utah State Legislature determined four years ago that 16,000 acres of land in mostly Salt Lake County would be the best place for a massive inland port. The inland port initiative began over a decade ago when the Wasatch Front was seeking new economic opportunities to build our economic tax base and add high-paying jobs. But the picture since then has completely … [Read more...]
Moab Growth Limited by Building Cost and Water Supply
When a mobile Park home went up for sale on Walnut Lane in Moab, it would have been a sure bet for any area developer to realize windfall profits if they flipped it into luxury condos. Instead, Moab City stepped in and decided it would be better to safeguard the park and its residents against eviction and use the site for future affordable housing. In the past five years, … [Read more...]
Bulldozing Utah Farms For Vacation Condos: Is this what progress looks like?
Why isn’t food security and the preservation of farms and fertile soil and water an issue in Utah? Fights in Costco and grocery stores over scarce food items during Covid-19 demonstrate that food security and preservation of farms must be a greater concern of Utah political leaders. This past spring we had a small window into what happens when food insecurity and the … [Read more...]
Salt Lake City Must Decide If We Are Smart Enough for Smart Growth with Soren Simonsen
There is plenty of excellent planning in the Salt Lake Valley. "But we have to focus on implementing what we say we are going to do," says Soren Simonsen, executive director of the Jordan River Commission. Simonsen says that the focus on the auto must evolve to emphasize public transit and personal mobility. "We don't solve our traffic problem by adding capacity to roads. … [Read more...]
Six Legal Questions Concerning Salt Lake City’s Inland Port
Salt Lake’s contentious inland port will undoubtedly impact the quality of life for City residents, especially those who live at the lower elevations along the Wasatch Front. It will add hundreds if not thousands of additional semi trucks to our roads, hundreds of additional jumbo cargo airplanes to our airways; and massive amounts of pollution to our air—which has … [Read more...]
Utah medical cannabis: the green lottery heats up
On the afternoon of June 6, the second floor of the Utah Department of Agriculture was packed full of people who want to be farmers. But farmers? or lottery winners? These farmers will be licensed to grow product that hasn't been legally grown in Utah since before 1930. Medical Cannabis farms are coming to Utah. And these prospective "farmers" are actually mostly monied … [Read more...]
Salt Lake City Housing Crisis, Escalating Real Estate Prices and What is Being Done about It
A conversation with Salt Lake City Planning Director Nick Norris Utah's population growth Salt Lake City is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and Utah’s population is quickly growing. For the first time since the Mormon Pioneers settled in Salt Lake City, there are thousands of people who want to live, work and play in downtown Salt Lake City and they are … [Read more...]
Boom Town: Salt Lake City and Utah are Rising
The main local headline for 2019 is that Utah is officially a boom state, with no end in sight. According to U.S. News and World Report, Utah is the third fastest-growing state, just behind Idaho and Nevada. Salt Lake City was number 24 on Forbes list of fastest growing cities. Saint George appeared in the top ten fastest growing cities on two lists. Provo and … [Read more...]
Rafting the Yampa: A Libertarian Publisher is Exposed to the Beliefs, History and Ideology of Environmental Protectionists
“Okay,” I thought, “I’m going to be going down a river with people whose primary ideology I disagree with.” But then I reasoned, “maybe my point of view could provide an interesting story. Why should every story be about everyone being agreeable? I’ll go, I decided, be nice yet disagreeable, and completely honest.” So I went on a trip down the Yampa River with a group of … [Read more...]