If one were to sum up 2006 in Utah with a word, "growth" would do.
Then again, perhaps that's too tame. "Boom" may say it best.
As the year ends, Utah's unemployment rate hovers around 2.5 percent, which really isn't much of an unemployment rate at all. State lawmakers are getting set to meet next month with about $1.6 billion in new revenue staring at them. Some cities in the state literally can't spend everything they are collecting. State law caps the amount they can set aside in surplus funds, and they simply don't have anywhere to put the rest.
Elsewhere, the nation experienced a bit of a slowdown during the year, particularly in real estate sales. Prices dropped in what had been an overheated market. But not in Utah. In the third quarter of 2006, the most recent figures available, home prices rose 17.4 percent in Utah, which was second only to Idaho.
And the growth isn't just along the Wasatch Front. The St. George area is outpacing every part of the state. Experts predict St. George eventually will surpass Salt Lake City as the state's largest city.
Sure, there were other stories that captured the state's attention in 2006. People prayed and watched hopefully as doctors worked to separate Maliyah and Kendra Herrin, 4-year-old conjoined twins. They reacted in horror to the cold-blooded murder of 5-year-old Destiny Norton, who was snatched while playing in her own back yard. These were dramatic incidents that demonstrated again the empathy and concern that characterizes Utah communities. People rallied. They prayed. They searched and they showed concern.
Utahns also got a visit from President Bush and other top administration officials this year because a convention of veterans came to Salt Lake City. They also watched Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson put on a show of his own as he led anti-Bush protesters with a hyperbole-laden speech.
But growth, and its attendant issues, towered above all else.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (owners of this newspaper) announced this year a plan to raze much of Salt Lake City's core and rebuild it with a modern and eclectic mix of shopping, commercial offices and residential units. In the future, few people are likely to remember the year this announcement was made, but the results of this makeover will change the way Utahns perceive their capital city for years to come.
Residents of Salt Lake and Utah counties voted overwhelmingly in favor of using taxes to build more mass transit — a recognition that growth will require better ways to move people and commerce efficiently. The issue of illegal immigration — also a factor in the state's growth — again was high on the list of local concerns. Before he left office, Mexican President Vicente Fox came to the Wasatch Front and made several speeches.
And the matter of a professional soccer stadium (pro sports franchises always seem to follow growth), led to lengthy public debates about the proper use of taxpayer funds. It's a debate that appears to have only begun.
As Gertrude Stein once said, "I've been rich and I've been poor. It's better to be rich." So it is with growth. There is nothing romantic about a state that can't attract jobs and can't keep folks from leaving. As Utahns are learning, boom times come with a set of problems all their own, but there are a lot more pros than cons.
Good times won't last forever, of course. But then again, it's safe to say they never have been quite this good. The year 2006 should be remembered as the year the state gave "boom" a whole new meaning.