PROVO — Mayor Lewis Billings pulled out his crystal ball last week, this time forecasting the future for business owners in Utah County's two largest cities.
"In 2025, the Provo (Municipal) Airport will be one of the premier airports in the west, where you will be able to go anywhere in the world," Billings boldly told a crowd of hundreds at the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce's annual installation of officers and board members at the Marriott Hotel in Provo.
"I think there will be modes of mass transit . . . that will be demanded by the people. Because if we don't, there will be gridlock."
Billings said current population projections show Provo will have about 200,000 residents by 2025 — most of it internal growth from city residents, not out-of-state people looking to settle in the metropolitan area.
Perhaps giving a subtle cue to neighboring Orem, Billings predicted that by 2025, Utah Valley State College will have about 30,000 students.
While a significant number of UVSC's students are renters in Provo, Billings said he hopes the university will "provide housing that is so important to all those who come."
Newly elected Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn didn't talk about housing issue but did touch on the splendid benefits of his new job.
"I've been mayor of Orem 10 days now," he said. "Somehow, I've been sworn in, sworn at, sworn in effigies. . . . "
Mark Robinson, a partner with the law firm Robinson, Seiler & Glazier in Provo, is chairman of the chamber's executive committee for 2000.