Good, Old Park City

 

Park City evolved in waves over the past 50 years, from a hip little ski town to the international destination-resort it is today.  We weren’t Mork and Mindy, Rocky Mountain High glitz like Colorado.  We were the sleepy, edgy, underachiever, off the radar, on the fringe - in Utah of all places.  People were afraid of the Utonian natives and thought you could not buy a coffee or have drink here. But we knew better. We loved it.  We called it home.

Our early town moto could be found on the back of icon Ira Sac’s business card, – ‘Be More, Appear Less’.  We grew better when we grew slowly.  That lasted only so long in spite of the admirable development protests of CARG and other dedicated citizens chained to bulldozers.  Some of us remember the water wars; days of dry tanks, rationing, water moratoriums and massive lawsuits.  So, we threw a lot of money at that and solved the problem by coordinating, regionalizing and pumping our water from the Weber River.  Water flows uphill, towards money.

We also remember the two-lane highways that flowed gently into town, with no traffic or traffic lights in Summit or Wasatch Counties.  Then one day we woke up and 224 was as wide as an airport runway with ten traffic lights and a roundabout between I-80 and Deer Valley.  Then there was a traffic calming flower box planted in the middle of 248 that alternatively proclaimed our resistance to building big roads that would increase our traffic.  If you build it, they will come.  Traffic flows towards money.

We built parking lots in Old Town and paved Guardsman Road to plough more cars into our residential, historical districts.  We contracted paid parking on Main Street while developing two bus systems and building unobtainable satellite park-and-ride lots.  Powder days and weekends saw gridlock along with Sundance, Arts Fest, and summer weekends with multiple events.  ‘You can’t get there from here’ became the new refrain.  You can’t buy your way out of a traffic jam.

But Park City still doesn’t suck.  We now have 500 miles of trails, 3 interconnected ski resort bases, endless (but inaccessible) backcountry, a free bus system, relatively low taxes and excellent services.  We host THE major international film festival and A highly respected arts festival.  There is always; music, theatre, culture, coordinated philanthropy and social justice.  And let’s not mention that we still have a sense of humor, a sense of place and a sense of who we are.  

So, where do we go from here.  How can we save the Golden Goose or is growth like a shark that dies if it stops.  Do we want to become another Aspenized ghost town of second homes?  How do we save ourselves from industrial-corporate skiing, big development or our government’s own entanglements and ambitions?   Can we solve the Chambers popularity progression or endless development de-evolution, to save the soul and spirit that made this town?  Or do we do what humans have always done; move on to the next great place and ruin that? 

I, for one, still have faith in our evolution away from those original, opportunistic interlopers who took the money and ran, moving rather towards the stickers and stayers of today, the people who value our collective standard of living and local quality of life more than the almighty dollar.  But money changes everything.  Now that we are all home-equity millionaires, it depends on our own avarice and greed, resolve and resolution, voice and action, leadership and public participation.   Don’t follow the money this year, follow the community, the committed, the local values and the love of this place we call home. 

Our Town

Iris DeMent

And you know the sun's setting fast

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts

Go on now and kiss it goodbye

But hold on to your lover 'cause your heart's bound to die

Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town

Can't you see the sun's setting down on our town, on our town

Goodnight

Up the street, beside that red neon light

That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night

He was the 'tender and I ordered the beer

It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here

Here I had my babies and I had my first kiss

I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist

Over there is where I bought my first car

It turned over once but then it never went far

I buried my mama and I buried my pa

They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall

I bring 'em flowers about every day

But I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning bugs fly

But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes

I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go

I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul

But I can see the sun's setting fast

And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts

Well. go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye

But I'll hold on to my lover 'cause my heart's 'bout to die

Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town

I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town

Goodnight

Goodnight

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