Regrets, I’ve had a few, like not taking better care of my body, but then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exception. I could have been a better father, friend, brother, son and husband, but I did it my way.
What is a man, what has he got, if he didn’t look back and think how he could do it better? It is human nature, and the engineer’s shoulda-woulda-coulda curse, to optimize, to be efficient and to make the best with what we have.
So, looking back, what would we change about our little town?
I would, for example, not let the Coalition Building accidentally, suspiciously and conveniently burn to the ground in one dramatic night in 1981. This building was an icon, our icon, the symbol of the resort and the town.
It was a 10-story master of architecture and art in form and function, with huge timbers of great mass and girth. It was a supremely functional anchor of the tram that took ore off the mountain and deposited it in two train tracks in its belly by gravity alone.
Sure, the town lift and ski bridge are nice, connecting the mountain with Main Street, but we lost our monument, our symbol, our Eiffel Tower.
Would we, in fact, drain all the water under our town out to Jordanelle, Salt Lake and toward Ogden in over 500 miles of drain mine tunnels? Park City used to be lush, with surface streams flowing everywhere. Now we must pump our ancient water from way down deep or from Smith-Morehouse, Rockport and the Weber River. That is like pumping the Great Salt Lake into the west desert in the ’80s to evaporate, then complain today when the lake dries up. Where was the foresight for sustainability?
Next, I would not build a road the size of an airport runway into town. If you build it, they will come. If you don’t, will they stay away?
The road serves as a fire hose that shrinks to a lawn sprinkler in town. It can’t handle the flow and pressure of our large, attractive demand and the endless supply volume of people who want to get here. There is a disparity between the desired level of service on the highway and the comfortable carrying capacity of our local roads, resorts, runs and restaurants.
If the road was smaller, would fewer people brave the traffic, or would they park at the junction and take the bus? We can build a tunnel and a flyway, but where would they go?
We continue to expand that fire hose road into town and complain that the outcome never changes. Repeating the same mistake and expecting different results, that’s insanity.
I would have started by preserving open space before we started building developments, when it was cheaper and the choices were better. I would bury the concrete water tank on Masonic Hill. Or at least paint it sage and juniper green. Ridgetop development is unsightly and forbidden in most places, especially for public works structures.
I would respect the existing wetlands in Park Meadows, Snyderville, Snow Park (Frog Valley) and Silver Lake (Lake Flat). These wetlands were the lush mountain “parks” this city was named for and were developed before proper Clean Water Act enforcement or George Bush’s declaration of “no net loss” of wetlands.
I would not let the nice conifer trees in front of the defunct Holiday Village cinema be cut down so we could see the sign that says “visit our website.”
I would not chase the Kimball Art Center off Main Street because of architectural differences to an art district that we still don’t know what it looks like or how we can afford it.
I would not create two separate bus systems when all our planning should be regional and foster support and cooperation. I would run free buses to Heber, Kamas and Salt Lake City, and encourage workers to use park-and-ride lots by paying them from the time they parked.
I would require that every second home over 5,000 square feet have a caretaker’s quarters for someone to live and take care of the grounds while working other service jobs. This would solve our housing crisis in a town where 60% of the homes sit empty most of the time. I would not encourage people to flip houses so quickly, turning our homes into tax-free commodities and driving up the prices.
But all in all, we have done well with what we have. Mistakes were made that we cannot take back, but it is still a pretty great place. We did some great things with open space at Swaner and Osguthorpes, Round Valley and Bonanza, 500 miles of trails and great recreation centers, affordable housing and free buses, art and balloon festivals and Silly Market, historic preservation and the National Ability Center.
Development worked better when it went slowly and thoughtfully, allowing public input of different opinions and ideas, minimizing individual greed and fear.
Government worked better when we elected and hired the best and the brightest, and we listened to them.
We should continue to plan each chartered course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, we do it our way. Apologies to Frank.
Matthew Lindon is a Snyderville resident.