Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Utah's growing cities continue to rack up national accolades
Urban Living
Posted By Babs De Lay on September 6, 2023, 4:00 AM
Utah continues to get accolades from around the country. U.S. News and World Report found it to be the best state in the nation overall for 2023—for things like fiscal stability, tourism, education and health care, our natural environment, infrastructure and low crime. Washington State took second place, whereas Hawaii was first for health care and natural environment, New Hampshire first for opportunity and crime and corrections, Minnesota first for infrastructure and Florida (believe it or not) first for education.
Utah has also been ranked No. 1 for business several times during the past decade according to Forbes, and recently BusinessWire reported that Amazon found Utah to be the most entrepreneurial in the country.
In July, checkr (a background check company) found that Provo is the biggest boomtown, the fastest-growing city in the U.S. Their metrics describe a city experiencing rapid economic growth and development in a short period of time. Factors include not just population growth, but unemployment rate—Utah's rate is roughly 3%—housing growth, high-earning residents making more than $100,000 and the poverty rate. Of the 10 fastest-growing cities, Utah had four of them—Provo, St. George, Logan and Ogden. Our neighbors in Boise City and Couer d'Alene Idaho, took No. 2 and No. 3. Bend, Oregon, was No. 4 and Reno, Nevada, took the 10th spot.
No matter how you feel about living in Utah, we're doing really well for a majority of our citizens. We actually have a surplus in our state coffers, which very few states can claim. On the flip side of the good news, no town in Utah made the "Slowest Growing Cities" list. The closest slow growth town near Utah is Casper, Wyoming, which made No. 22 on the bad list.
With growth comes challenges for our population and our politicians. Poor air quality, high energy consumption, traffic congestion, increased levels of inequality and homelessness—all of which can be exacerbated by uncontrolled growth. As we speed up growth and urbanization, we need to ensure that we have adequate planning for our futures in the state.
Having served as a volunteer Planning and Zoning Commissioner for 8 years in Salt Lake City, and now as a member of the Historic Landmarks Commission, I can highly recommend serving to help your city. It's not only fascinating to learn about what folks want to build, develop, tear down or improve, but also fulfilling to be part of the process of urban planning.
Each city has a way to be involved, by submitting a resume to serve on various commissions and committees. Often, they look for people who live in and represent certain areas of a city, and you don't have to be a politician, have a college degree or be an architect or contractor to listen and eventually help make good decisions for all of us to build better cities and towns.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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