This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Recall the good ol' days? Nobody wanted to move to Utah. Franchises and out-of-state corporations stayed where they belonged. One could fish, camp and ski cheaply. One language was spoken. Small businesses flourished.
Politicians and greedy developers were discouraged by weird liquor laws. Brown bagging, where you brought your own liquor in a bag to a private club to consume, discouraged growth and visitors.
After the 1970s, we became Californicated, then Olympicated. Overpriced land resulted from investors and corporations moving here, courted by tax incentives and advertising. Grow, grow, grow! Money, money, money!
Our mountains are scarred, overcrowded and filled with trash. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Taco Bell or 7-Eleven. Profits go East to moneygrubbers.
Exponential growth is our state motto. Look at the ugly foothills in Holladay and Draper — a sea of rooftops, congested streets, unemployment, welfare, no health insurance and low wages. Has all the growth done us any good?
Bring back the brown bag.
Ralph E. Henry
Salt Lake City