Life as Utahns know it changed in the first decade of the 21st century. Two cataclysmic events that may prove to define the century, not just its first 10 years, made certain of that.
Terrorists hijacked four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, and used them to shatter our nation's Kevlar coating. Nine years and two wars later, we face a new decade still afraid. Still fragmented. Still uncertain we may ever be able to piece that shield back together.
A mere five months after that seminal event, America's best athletes on Feb. 8, 2002, solemnly carried the World Trade Center's tattered flag into Salt Lake City's Rice-Eccles Stadium in a ceremonial start to the 2002 Winter Olympics.
With dignity, determination and a newfound sophistication, Utah welcomed the world, defying all its problems.
What would become apparent in the decade to come was just how much the world was already here.
If anything defines the 21st century's first decade for Utahns, it is this: The state no longer is isolated. These two events and the worst recession in 70 years have taught us just how much we are part of the global economy.
We are becoming a microcosm of the world in other ways as well. Utah, as 2010 begins, is not the racially, culturally and politically homogenous place others for so many years have defined it to be.
Pivotal events of the decade made their mark on our world view -- and the world's view of us. But a significant transformation already was under way in Utah that has us entering a new decade both stronger and more exposed.
Several irreversible demographic trends dramatically reshaped Utah in the past 10 years and will continue to fundamentally alter the state, says Pam Perlich, senior research economist with the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
"In Utah, the stereotypic image of being forever young, white and culturally homogenous is becoming obsolete," Perlich writes in the 2009 BEBR report "Utah's Demographic Transformation: A View Into the Future."
That does not mean Utah will cease to be unique compared with the nation. We marry younger, have more children and claim the United States' lowest median age. But demographic shifts that transformed the rest of America about two generations ago now are changing Utah as well.
Like our nationwide peers, we're marrying older and having fewer children. That's true of native Utahns, but the trend also reflects the influence of those who have moved here. Perlich notes that, since 1990, more people have moved to Utah than have left, even when jobs have been scarce. New arrivals bring with them characteristics more typical of the nation at large.
Immigrants who made up nearly 60 percent of the state's new arrivals from 2000 to 2008 also have a profound effect. These new Utahns typically are young adults who -- in the case, at least, of Latinos and Pacific Islanders -- have a higher fertility rate than those born in Utah, Perlich says.
Visit a public school classroom in Salt Lake City and you'll see their impact.
Racial or ethnic minorities made up more than a third of preschoolers in Salt Lake County in 2008 and that percentage is only expected to grow, according to Perlich. From 2000 to 2008, minorities accounted for nearly 65 percent of school enrollment growth in the state.
The trend is significant because it's occurring just as the proportion of seniors also is increasing. Perlich expects Salt Lake County's 60-and-older population to exceed its school-age population by about 2030.
What does all this mean?
Quite simply, it means Utah, lagging behind but still mirroring a nationwide trend, is evolving into a place where minorities will be the majority. By 2050, Perlich predicts, minorities will make up 30 percent of the state's population -- 41 percent in Salt Lake County.
By that same year, each 100 working-age adults in the state will have to provide for 53 Utahns younger than 18 and 33.8 Utahns older than 65, in an environment of ever-increasing ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.
"The challenges are many," Perlich says, "but so, too, are the opportunities."
The past 10 years provide ample evidence of how changing demographics are transforming Utah.
Perlich sees President Barack Obama's win in Salt Lake County -- albeit by fewer than 300 votes -- as a watershed moment, signaling the profound influence young, more diverse Utahns may have on partisan politics.
A moderating trend in traditionally conservative Utah also became evident in former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s stance on the environment, civil unions and other issues, Brigham Young University political science professor Kelly Patterson says. Gov. Gary Herbert seems, in some ways, to be following suit.
"The state," Patterson says, "while still conservative, is less conservative."
Change can be seen in the Legislature's passage of a historic liquor law that eliminated private clubs, and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' support for Salt Lake City ordinances shielding gays from job and housing discrimination.
Cedar City writer Todd Robert Petersen explores Utah's changing landscape in his newly published novel Rift , the story of interconnectedness, conflict and isolation in a small Sanpete County town.
He is not surprised Utahns, such as those he portrays in his novel, are upset by changes occurring around them.
"You can't blame people for being scared," Petersen says.
But slowly, with enough time to think about it, "they come to realize maybe all this change isn't as dangerous as we think it is."
He sees the promise of a more diverse Utah in the young people he teaches at Southern Utah University.
"Their attitude, whether they're what I'd call 'high faith' or already on their way out [of the LDS Church] is 'bring it on,' " he says. "Utah is amazing. I'm so interested in what's next."
Salt Lake City painter Ruby Chacon shares his view.
An advocate for community-building across cultures, she and artist husband, Terry Hurst, see opportunity in endeavors such as Bridges Over Barriers, a public art project aimed at uniting Salt Lake City's Guadalupe and Jackson neighborhoods through the creation of a giant mural beneath an Interstate 15 overpass.
The project fostered civic engagement across cultures -- something U. of U. economist Perlich believes will be critical if Utah hopes to harness the opportunity demographic transformation portends.
"Creative ideas come out of multiculturalism. It can be a real asset," she says. "It provides us with a new capacity to see and create new ideas."
But before we can hope to benefit, we must act to ensure the diverse youths who will determine the state's future are fully engaged civically, well-educated and well-informed, she and Chacon say.
"Don't underestimate the peril we're in if we don't act," Perlich says. "The investments we make today will be the bridge between generations. ... There are plenty of resources for us to deal with the challenges."
Now is our opportunity to re-imagine what our community can become, Chacon adds.
"Like never before, we all have a chance to participate," she says. "Let's embrace change. "
Adds Hurst: "This new decade is our chance to be mature, wise, future-oriented and compassionate."
