Utah's Changes May Be as Fleeting as Olympic Glory

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

[Utah Girl]

I did go up to the ski jump last summer, took some out-of-state friends there. This is one Utahn you'll never see do a ski jump! And SLOC worked really hard to make sure that the venues would be used after the Olympics are over. It will be interesting to see how many more Utahns (the young ones) take up Olympics sports, we now have world-class facilities.

And John McCain has been complaining about Utah getting light rail and a reconstructed highway. We got TRAX earlier because of the Olympics, it was scheduled to be built here a few years later.

And the NY Times did miss the point, you are absolutely correct. Salt Lake City is the way it is because of the people. If we changed, then SLC wouldn't be SLC anymore, it would be a little NYC or San Francisco (heaven forbid!)

[Dog Gone]

I visited the jump and bobsled run last June. They were pretty impressive!

St. Lake City is a great place, unless you are into a lot of hedonistic pleasures. It's like a family town that became a real city. There's nothing wrong with that, and there's a lot to like about that.

New York City reporters, who look down their noses at the rest of us, not only don't understand that but actually abhor it.

[Utah Girl]

Well, it makes me crazy at times. I visit NYC once a year and love my visits because of the culture. I am tolerant of their views and how they run their city and live their lives. I don't see why they don't extend the same courtesy to us when they visit Utah. But then, that is what liberals do, squawk and scream if their viewpoints aren't addressed, but tromp all over everyone else's. /rant :)

And those hedonistic pleasures do exist in SLC, the escort services were complaining that business during the Olympics was way below what they were expecting. They actually hired extra limos and bussed in women from Las Vegas, expecting a big response from visitors. Didn't materialize...

[andysandmikesmom]

Ah, we intend to...Utah is close to us, so it is definitely in our plans...I like a state which has a great diversity of terrain...here in Washington we have mountains, forests, a rain forest, the ocean, prairie, and desert...sounds like Utah is much the same...mountains, The Great Salt Lake, the desert, and spectacular rock formations...look forward to spending more time there...

[Dog Gone]

I think some visitors to that city might be surprised by the people they see. At the bus stop two blocks from Temple Square, you can see all kinds of kids with purple spiked hair and body piercings. You can buy illegal drugs there and hire a hooker. It's all there.

While it may not have the nightlife of Manhattan or Miami, it's not all mormon missionaries on bicycles, by a long shot.

Anyway, I think the city did a fine job hosting the Olympics, and I hope it doesn't really change the city at all, at least not the way this reporter would hope.

[mathurine]

I could tell the Olympics in Utah had ended because a couple of missionaries came to my door this morning, but left after I offered them some of my morning coffee laced with a jigger of "Jack." Wish those Islamists would go away that easily.

[Grig]

What an arrogant jerk.

[Grig]

The New York Times was hoping the Olympic Games and the influx of all those visitors would make Utahans more... (gasp) LIBERAL!!!

Which of course stems from the assumption that you have live an ignorant sheltered life to be a Republican. I would not be surprised if the games actually caused a few people to become more conservative instead.

[Grig]

Why would a two-week event change any city or state? ... Nothing is going to change.

I wouldn't say that. It's long been known in the church that 'Utah Mormons' were not quite the same as the rest of us who live very much in the minority in our communities. I bet more than a few Utah Mormons got a taste of what it's like for the rest of us, and I expect they came away from these games with a deeper gratitude for Utah's uniqiness and a greater commitment to their faith.

[Wright is right!]

"The Mayan in Jordan Commons."

Thanks! I knew you'd know it in an instant. We'll be in SLC one entire night (!) late June, and thought we'd swing by.

Michael

[Utah Girl]

The Mayan is great fun, even with kids because there is so much going on.

[lady lawyer]

As a Mormon living in Utah, this article just reminds me that liberals, in their own way, are even more parochial than they accuse us of being. They just assume everyone should be like them. There is no other valid point of view.

[Wright is right!]

"The Mayan is great fun, even with kids because there is so much going on."

I doubt they'd let OUR children in. One is a Golden Retriever, one a Siberian Husky, and the third a Chow-Chow. Wouldn't be much food left for the rest of the patrons. The Golden would also insist on busing all the tables, the Husky would howl at the divers, and the Chow would make sure NO ONE "walked" their checks.

Is the Mayan all non-smoke, or do they have room for a generous Freeper smoker? Either way is cool - just like to know in advance.

Michael

[Utah Girl]

Utah has a Indoor Clean Air Act (something like that), so no smoking in restaurants, unless they are private clubs, so no smoking at the Mayan.

[Logophile]

. . . a state known widely for its staggering conservatism and homogeneity, owing to the influence of the church.

One might suspect the author of harboring a bias against conservatism.

[Utah Girl]

Yes, the New York Times stays true to form. The only truly negative articles I have read about the Olympics and Utah have come from the NY Times, the LA Times, and the Washington Post. And the one article from Woody Paige of the Denver Post.

[marajade]

And John McCain has been complaining about Utah getting light rail and a reconstructed highway.

That's because AZ taxpayers pay more in federal transportation dollars then it gets back. He's got a legitimate beef.

[Utah Girl]

Utah got light rail a few years early because of the Olympics, it would have been here anyway, and I wonder if we bumped Arizona down the list when that happened. The reconstruction of I-15 was already a done deal by the time we got the Olympics bid.

That said, I'd urge anyone in a community in the US who wants to bid for the Olympics not to. I think Rogge, head of the IOC, wants to start bringing the Olympics down within a reasonable size and cost. It is always "Let's make it bigger and better than the Olympics before." With the cost of security for terrorism, very few places will be able to afford the Olympics in their countries. Mitt Romney, head of SLOC, has submitted a report for his recommendations on future Olympics to the IOC.

[marajade]

I don't AZ could ever bid for the Olympics. The summers are just too hot and our winters don't provide enough snow. We're getting light rail but we're paying for it ourselves. Sen McCain does have a legitimate beef.

[Utah Girl]

I agree, McCain proably does have a legitimate gripe about the federal government paying for light rail early for Utah, OTOH, early TRAX for Utah was granted, realizing it was for the Olympics, and the Olympics weren't just for Utahns, that they were for all Americans. McCain should have spoken out back then at allocation time, and he didn't, only after the fact a couple of years ago.