Having been a candidate for City Council in Taylorsville-Bennion and having walked from one end of the city to the other, I realize this is an issue about which many residents have strong opinions. I also realize the only way the city will gain some sense of community will be to have a new name everyone can call their own.
The problem is residents in Taylorsville claim to have lived there all their life and do not want to change the name; people in Bennion feel the same way. Each side has good reason for wanting to keep the name. The reasons given range from history to size to property values. People on the west side of the city who did not know they were part of the new city have written Kearns on their address. The same can be said for the south side who might have thought they were in West Jordan, or the east side who claimed Murray as home. Then there are people throughout the community who avoid the confusion by writing Salt Lake City on their address. These people say the mail always gets through - why mess with it?Some folks have said they will boycott the new name because it is too long. Others will throw a fit if it is not Taylorsville, others Bennion and others Taylorsville-Bennion. We all may be afraid to say so, but inwardly we know the name is too long. Computer software programs and mailing list do not provide space for a name this long. Newspapers will not print the name in the headline because it takes too much space. Let alone the writing cramp I get whenever I try to write the name long hand. Shortening the name to either Taylorsville or Bennion would cause a revolt by the other side.
We need a new name. It will, no doubt, take a while for everyone to become used to it. However, this is the only way we will begin to feel like one city. The City Council should take the lead role on this issue. Be creative, have an open mind.
Craig Garrett
Taylorsville-Bennion, Bennion, Taylorsville, Tay-Benn, Tayben, etc.