Utah's Changes May Be as Fleeting as Olympic Glory

The New York Times ^ | 2/24/2002 | MICHAEL JANOFSKY

[Utah Girl]

Pfttt. Perhaps the NY Times would have all of us who prefer a quiet lifestyle go move to an Amish village (Rocky Anderson's suggestion the other day.) And the NY Times smacks all of religious conservatives through this piece, not just LDS conservatives.

If a state is predominantly conservative, why then of course, we must be sociologically backwards. And of course, as a result we fear any change. Well, we fear change that brings the problems that the big cities such as NYC has. We're not going to compromise our principles just so that the NY Times loves us.

And I take it as high praise indeed, that the only chic and diverse people live in SLC. The rest of us Utahns are redneck hicks...And the Nordstrom store is a test site for shoes for all Nordstroms, so the shoes were probably going back anyway. Yup, Nordstroms makes us wear clunky, unfashinable shoes...

And I have to laugh. The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints suggested in 1997 that the members need to be politically diverse, that some of us should be Democrats. Right after their comments, the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, and hmmm, nothing has been said since. Utah has a proud history of having many Democrats in office, it is the Democrat party that has moved, not Utah.

And this crack New York Times reporter failed to recognize the building in the photo with the ice skater on it is the Church Office Building, which is owned by...the LDS church.

[Utah Girl]

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[Technocrat]

The only thing that is going to change around here is diapers. And Rocky Anderson. Must get rid of him. Apart from that, this place rules and anybody who messes with it is my political enemy.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

downtown streets here, normally deserted after 6 p.m.

Man. Well, I wouldn't want to live there apparently, but you guys have fun :)

[Utah Girl]

LOL, the NY Times should have come down to Provo, where I live. The sidewalks roll up at 6 PM and the streets are deserted. I drove downtown last week at about 10:30 PM, and it was deserted. Provo put on Olympics fun, free even, it ended by 10PM every night, and everyone just went home afterwards. SLC to us looks like the big city. :)

[Wright is right!]

UG, I wonder if you might know the name of a SLC establishment that has temporarily slipped my mind. It's a Mexican restaurant south of downtown which is not only huge, features Tex-Mex, but also has a big aquatic show every night all during din-din. Donny Osmond featured it as a "must" during a whirl around the state that aired on the Travel Channel.

Seems like it starts with an "M".

Michael

[Utah Girl]

The Mayan in Jordan Commons. Great place, it is quite the dining experience. And there is a huge movie-plex there, like 24 screens.

[LenS]

It's a pity that Utah (with it's 85.3% non-Hispanic white population)isn't as diverse as socialist Vermont (96.2%) or liberal Maine (96.5%) or Byrd's West Virginia (94.6%) or Dashchle's South Dakota (88.0%) or liberal Wisconsin (87.3%) or Wellstone's Minnesota (88.2%). Oops, how can those caring diverse states be less diverse than repressive Utah?

Well, maybe someday it can be as diverse as progressive Oregon (83.5%). But of course, those conservative Mormons will never be as diverse as Kennedy's Massachusetts (81.9%) or Rhode Island (81.9%). That 3.4% difference is just too vast.

Worse, Gore's Tennessee (79.2%)and hip Washington (78.9%) are beyond reach with their overwhelming 6.1% and 6.4% leads. How do the people in Utah live in such a terrible close-minded world?

By the way, the US number is 69.1%.

[Utah Girl]

Thanks for those stats!

[LenS]

They come straight from the US Census 2000.

US Census 2000 Gateway

Towards the right middle, just pick a state. From the state options, just go down to Demographic Profiles and choose Table DP-1. At the top right hand column, under the Hispanic or Latino and Race category, there's a line for White Alone. Of course, the info can probably be found in a number of other places since the Census is churning out all sorts of Tables and Charts.

[Utah Girl]

I think the NY Times was slamming conservatism as much as religious conservatism. But that site sure give me ammo to fight the liberals with...

[LenS]

Actual real numbers often embarass liberals. Right now I'm reading The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjorn Lomborg. It's statistics are damning for much of the environmental movement's hysterical claims.

[Utah Girl]

How is that book? I've heard of it, the environmentalists seem to be ignoring it along with the media. His facts sure give the lie to the environmentalists claims.

[Aquamarine]

If SLC post Olympics is anything like Atlanta's the population will start to increase dramatically. People from all over the world have seen a "better" place to live and will move there.
Atlanta has gone through tremendous growing pains since the Olympics. Population growth is not as much a problem as the size of the growth in such a short ammount of time. Get ready SLC!

[Utah Girl]

We're hoping people will come here just to ski and then go home. It will be interesting to see how Utah's population will be impacted by the exposure from the Olympics.

[goldstategop]

The New York Times was hoping the Olympic Games and the influx of all those visitors would make Utahans more... (gasp) LIBERAL!!! Dream on. For people in the Red Zone States, its a question of values, not affluence. Even evangelical Christians will stop knocking Mormons for once on here since they embody family values, hard work, and virtue like no where else in the country. No one even comes close to how people live in Utah. And for the NYT the state's not so much a model for America as its a poster child for every thing liberals hate and fear about a Red America. Worst piece of biased reporting for the eastern Big City newspaper I've ever seen. Utah will go on just as it has always done without the need to bask in the seal of approval from the hoity toity liberals of the New York Times.

[LenS]

It's pretty decent. Not too bad a read, despite it really being more of a textbook (352 pages of text plus 82 pages of footnotes, 71 pages of bibliography, and 10 pages of index). It's an impressive piece of collating environmental research. Heck, he even knocks Al Gore around for faulty premises. I think that I'll put it on next year's Christmas & Birthday lists so I can have it as a reference for future arguments with environmentalists.

[andysandmikesmom]

I have been to Utah many time, tho only as a tourist, soaking up the beauty of Zion and Bryce Natl Parks....but watching these Olymics, I did not realize how absolutely beautiful the mountains there are....For some reason or another, I just did not envision Utah as being so mountainous in some regions...it was a pleasant surprise for me...And I live up here in Western Wshington among the beauty of Mt. Rainier, and the Cascade range...

On my visits to Utah, I have found the people to be nothing but warm and friendly, the scenery beautiful, and the crime to be low...

No mattter where one lives, there are pluses and minuses...better to concentrate on the pluses, than crab about the minuses...

[Dog Gone]

The whole premise of the article is stupid. Why would a two-week event change any city or state? It was a very expensive advertisement for the place that the city orchestrated, and they used it to justify a bunch of government projects like light rail, etc.

But after everyone has left, what has really changed? How many St. Lake residents are ever going to try out the bobsled run or ski jump?

Nothing is going to change. It didn't change any previous city. Heck, if anything, it was bad luck for Sarajevo. They became ground central in a civil war.

St. Lake City isn't going to have any permanent change as a result of this. And that's a good thing, because the people there like it the way it is.

[Utah Girl]

You must come and see the mountains! They are spectacular. And I'm glad NBC finally showed some of southern Utah on Sunday. The whole state has such different views and geography. And I too prefer to focus on the positives in life. I find that harping on the bad in life makes me cranky, and then I see nothing good. I'd rather be happy.