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Originally Posted by delts145
I agree with your optimism Marvland. At the same time I'm sure you would also agree that there are certain challenges, as with any fast growing metro, that must also be addressed. That said, it has been the primary goal by Wasatch Metro leaders to first and foremost provide quality training and jobs for it's burgeoning internal youth market, those exiting high school/college and entering the job market. While I agree with the basic premise that the Wasatch must value the growth of incoming migration, it has always been the focus first to serve the job demands of it's internal growth. There has and will continue to be a premium placed on providing increased options for the yearly emergence of thousands of native youth, many of which would like to settle along the Wasatch.
The comparative quality of this native youthful supply of new graduates that the Wasatch keeps pumping out is after all the major factor in what has been attracting the national attention. That attention has resulted in the relocations and regional expansions of many quality firms. No longer is it a given that a high tech or any firms native birth is guaranteed to subsequently sell and relocate to another region. The hyper expansion of many a locally created firm now attracts massive outside investment, and usually not only remains in place locally, but is expanding at a very impressive rate. The Wasatch is now at the top of many prestigious lists as a top consideration for future relocation and or at least major expansion.
It's kind of ironic in a sense. As conservative as the Wasatch Front is thought to be, I often think that in many respects it's among the most socialist/group think metros in the nation. The quasi socialist way of often accomplishing challenges I think will carry the Wasatch brilliantly forward throughout this coming century. I know this train of thought about the Wasatch Metro has often been pointed out to me by secular, progressive intellectuals here in Los Angeles.
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I completely agree with you on the internal growth engin being a very possitive factor. I really struggle to see negatives to Utah's internal, native growth. The only drawbacks are temporary until they graduate college and enter the workforce. You hit the nail right on the head that it is exactly this dynamic that caused so many firms to expand/relocate here. Fidelity has 10+ stories of office space in Utah and Goldman has more than double that. Those are the two largest brokerage firms in the world that together preside over $3 trillion in assets under management. Having worked for Fidelity, I have heard first-hand from the local pioneers to the execs from HQ in Boston why they chose to make such a large presence in Utah. It was the large, young, educated tallent pool. And they came to town over 30 years ago! They even expanded to a satelite office in Utah County to tap the BYU/UVU tallent pool that they struggled to get to commute to SLC. I atteneded a conference at Goldman where the guy said Utah is most unique in that you don't have to teach people how to work. In most places, it's not enough to train someone how to do their job, you have to train them to put forth some effort and work. At Goldman, where putting in long hours of productive work is very highly valued, that was a big plus. E*Trade's 6-story Sandy location is one of just three worldwide sites that services its clients. They like it in Utah because people will always come to work - even during the worst weather or the Super Bowl. I attribute this to the young workforce that is still in that college mindset. Then there is the storng pressence that JP Morgan, Wells Fargo Advisors, TD, NY Life, Morgan Stanley, etc, etc have here. Utah has become a little slice of Wall St. in the rockies. That's just in my field - then you look at high-tech and health care and you'll see Utah has become a hotbed for many industries. Having a young population creates this dynamic.
I would much rather have a young population than an old one and internal growth than external. Babbies don't stay that way forever. Mormons have been cranking out the kids for more than a century, and I really don't see that changing in the foreseeable future. It would certainly be nice to rev up our net in-migration flows, but it's not the end of the world if we are internally driven. The reason other rust-belt states have died demographically is because they didn't have an internal growth engine. Once unemployment went up and industries left town, so did the population growth. For us, we have a lifeline of internal growth in meager times. Then we can stack on top of that inmigration when it comes.
And you are certainly correct in your assesment of the Utah brand of conservatism. While Utah is more uniformly conservative than most other states, the general pollitical atmosphere is far less radicallized than in the Tea Party-ravaged south and midwest. While I do not always agree with American conservatism, I feel like Utah honestly tries to make things work and not just push a special interest-driven agenda like so many other states. My mom lived in CO Springs where they had to fight the conservatives hand and fist just to keep the lights on at night and resurface the streets during the years after the recession since they refused to raise taxes. Sure they have low taxes, but it comes at the cost of crappy roads and virtually no viable mass transit options. The metro is 50% larger than the Prorem metro, which is light years ahead of the Springs in its 12-lane, well-paved freeway, intricate bus system, and rail transit link to SLC. I love how ambitious Utah is in smart development and expanding all transportation options even if it means raising taxes. It truley pained my soul to see all the squandered development potential in the Springs. Even in Utah's "sprawl", you can access public transport and drive on good roads. If you want to see true sprawl with 100% car centricity and horrendously delapidated transportation infrastructure, go to the Springs. It will make your heart stop.
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