This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There is one brief period every year in which I actually cheer on the inversion — when we have well over 100,000 out-of-state visitors, here for Sundance, the Outdoor Retailers show and several other gatherings.

Lay it on thick, brother! I love it when all those cool people see what our lust for "growth" has done to our much-vaunted "quality of life."

I hope the powers that be squirmed with embarrassment when we showcased the nation's worst air. Although as far as I can tell, they were willfully blind to it.

Our political and civic leaders are constantly yearning for more "development," which means more people, cars, subdivisions, highways and industry. It means more use of oil and gas, more fireplaces, more coal-fired electricity.

At Gov. Gary Herbert's recent inauguration, children sang about our state getting "bigger and better." They've been brainwashed already. It's sickening.

The media seem to love growth uncritically, reporting every new poll or study that finds the state is experiencing ever-bigger hugeness. Why do we long so pathetically to do something that will "put us on the map"?

Small is beautiful, but unfortunately, it doesn't inflate any egos.

Sylvia Kronstadt

Salt Lake City