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Originally Posted by Wasatch_One
I am pretty well connected to much of the tech scene in both Utah and SL Counties.
To correct a few things I ready earlier in the thread about Adobe & Domo- Adobe does own its own building. I think someone mentioned that they did not. However, most of the companies are leasing office space in the area. And as for Domo having the offices at the Walker Center... that was the case, but I recently heard that this has changed and they will no longer use the space.
I think Stenar has that mentality that causes leaders to fall behind by disregarding the up-and-comers... I think the main reason there is a tech boom at the thanksgiving pt is because it allows all businesses to take advantage of both UT and SL county talent. To say its only because they're BYU grad-started companies or a cheaper home(?) is short-sighted especially given that Alpine is generally regarded as having the highest median home value along the Wasatch Front (with Highland not far behind) and is where many of the top brass live.
It's my opinion that SLC will probably never be the technology hub in Utah (not to say that it won't have a presence, just not the center) I think Lehi has a pretty good head start on much of the wasatch front other than maybe the I-215 East bend (I have a number of friends that work in that area and it continues to grow, although continued growth is limited due to lack of available land/dev. costs.)
I do think that Draper (prison land specifically) is going to blow up with tech companies over the next decade and at least match Lehi in future growth but I still feel Lehi will probably be larger as there is probably 10x the land to potentially develop from the Timpanogos Hwy where Micron/Intel, Oracle and Adobe have a presence down to the 2100 N hwy that goes out to Redwood Rd. This will become the technology loop (I-15, Bangerter, Redwood/Mountain View and 2100 N in Lehi)
Draper, Lehi and possibly even Bluffdale will make up the tech center for the state because of their location between the two main centers of higher education in SLC and Orem/Provo.
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I think that is a very likely prophesy. If history is any great indication though, this will definitely be a double edged sword for Utah Valley. Utah Valley was made by poor college students and graduates who stayed around mostly for religious reasons (most were overeducated and underpaid). Before it became Utah's employment center (which I concede that's what that central area has become) it was Utah's multilevel marketing center which means people wanted to stay there so bad they were willing to shamelessly screw over their neighbors.
Look at what happened in San Jose or even what's happening in Austin (the tech center out in its suburbs), when you start hiring a lot of people at higher wages and cram them into an area, prices go up. Utah Valley used to be cheap. I suspect in 20 years it's going to be the most expensive part of the State barring some faux castles up in Ski Resorts. The ripple effect is going to be fascinating. Northern Utah Valley has also become the education center of Utah, so it's gonna be kind of a bitch if the least expensive state school is located in a disproportionately expensive part of the state. It's also going to be a challenge for the LDS Church which does its best to artificially maintain affordability at BYU.
The effect is already here, look at housing prices in Bountiful vs. something further south like Holladay. I think build wise it's very similar to Bountiful and it's equidistant from downtown and yet post housing crisis there is a clear winner. Bountiful is landlocked and considered nice and yet its location to downtown isn't driving prices. And so it seems fair to say that everything further south of downtown that isn't part of the shitty area has more value because it straddles downtown and the employment center in South Salt Lake Valley and North Utah County.
Here's the thing though, Utah will always have people who want to stay here even if the opportunities are lower than the cost so if this deluge of expensive housing hits the traditional place where people have been building their zion, where is the next one going to be? Are Spanish Fork and Payson the new Orem? Is Santaquin the new Orem? Are those cities going to be up to their balls in cheap student apartments?
Meanwhile, what happens to Everything in North Davis County and Weber County? Does Ogden do what its done for half a Century and just tread water without fully firing back to life (maybe restore some historic buildings along the way)?
If people who need cheaper housing don't move to where the cheaper housing is in the area surrounding Ogden or even the Shitty Area west and south west of Salt Lake City, then get your sprawl jeans on because it's gonna be a sprawl fest!
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