Quote:
Originally Posted by ajiuO
Sounds like Utah wants to perpose the Draper Prizon site for Amazon hedquarters... bummer. I think they will say no.
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They were going to say no to any site Utah put up. But I think it gives us a glimpse into how the legislature operates and the continued, and overwhelming, suburban way of thinking that dominates the local mindset here.
Salt Lake was never realistically considered. Unfortunately, Salt Lake City just doesn't have the pull that you'd expect from the core city in the state's largest urban area. It's been like this for decades. We saw it with the Maverik Center in the 90s, which was originally supposed to be built adjacent to the Viv downtown before leaders pushed for the WVC site. We saw it with RSL and the political maneuvering to squash the downtown site by revoking RDA funding for sports complexes, which made it financially impossible for a stadium in the CBD. Of course, when RSL ran into financial issues in Sandy, and needed money, the legislature bent over backwards to appropriate the same RDA funding to build the stadium out there. Hell, we even saw it with the homeless shelters. The original intent was to spread the shelters throughout the valley - but everyone scoffed. What do you know? Again, Salt Lake (and I'll consider So. Salt Lake part of the city for this argument since it's often interchangeable) got a bulk of the shelters.
Well I shouldn't say Salt Lake gets overlooked for everything. The state was kind enough to start developing the prison site in our lovely city. But of course, that was because they wanted to open that area in Draper, which is valuable, no doubt, to further construction and that'll be their nice investment once the new prison opens. I'm so glad the Millers committed to renovating the Viv, even though I've been critical of the cheapness of it, because it means they've committed to staying downtown for the foreseeable future. Had they forgone renovation, and decided to build a new arena, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to build it out in Draper.
I think most people don't realize that the Wells Fargo Center, back when it was built by the American Stores Company, was originally planned to be built by the Maverik Center in West Valley City. That's where the tower was originally going to go. It only later was built downtown after West Valley leaders rejected the idea due to its height.
Could've lost that, as well.
Oh well. It worked out. And we've gotten some breaks, too, with the construction of the Delta Center and the broadway theater. But we've also lost out on the hockey arena, the aquarium and, biggest, the soccer stadium - all three of which were planned to be built downtown before being relocated to the south-end of the valley.
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