Axios Salt Lake City

November 14, 2022
Good Monday morning. We're back from the three-day Veterans Day weekend.
- ⛅ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy, with a high of 38°.
Situational awareness: The Utah State Flag Task Force selected a new design to send to the Utah Legislature.
- State lawmakers will vote on whether to adopt it next year.
Today's newsletter is 647 words — a 2.5-minute read.
1 big thing: Our fast growing city
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Salt Lake City ranks as the seventh fastest-growing city in the U.S., according to a report released last month by a nonpartisan think tank affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Driving the news: The American Growth Project by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise found that the top 10 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. are moving the "center of gravity" for economic activity away from the East Coast, executive director Gregory Brown tells Axios' Madalyn Mendoza.
- Researchers built the list by weighing factors that included county-level employment rates and economic output for each city.
- Other fast-growing cities include: San Francisco; Austin, Texas; Seattle; Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina; Dallas; Denver; Charlotte, North Carolina; New Orleans and Orlando, Florida.
Why it matters: These are America's next boomtowns — if local leaders find ways to capitalize on burgeoning industries, Brown says.
- These cities will need to invest in infrastructure, such as housing, education and job training to fuel their growth potential.
Details: The report found Salt Lake City's scientific and technical services sector reported a 60% growth in the last decade.
- Health care, retail trade, manufacturing and educational services sectors also grew during the same time period.
The big picture: Utah's population is expected to grow by 2.2 million residents by 2060, according to projections from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
- The institute found an estimated 1.3 million more jobs would help drive Utah's population growth.
Yes, but: "[Salt Lake City] is not immune to problems affecting similar high-growth areas, such as sharp rises in rent and expenses that have led to many businesses being priced out," researchers wrote in the report.
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2. 🥕 Stock up at the winter farmers market
Logan-based Crumb Brothers bakery stand at the Downtown Winter Farmers Market on Nov. 12. Photo: Kim Bojórquez/Axios
The Downtown Winter Farmers Market is open for business at The Gateway.
- It will run every Saturday from 10am–2pm until April 15.
Details: With nearly 70 vendors, the indoor winter market offers gourmet mushrooms, meats and produce, freshly baked sourdough bread and holiday decorations.
Between the lines: This is the market's 10th year in operation, according to its executive director Alison Einerson.
- "The vendors here represent more than half of the counties in the state of Utah. They come from all over, and they grow from all over," she said.
What they're saying: "For every dollar you spend right here with a locally owned business, 55 cents of that dollar stays here with our local economy," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said at the market's opening Saturday, carrying jerky and an apple she bought from local vendors.
- "Right now, we want to invite people during this upcoming holiday season to get down here at the farmers market."
By the numbers: Dee Brewer, executive director of the Downtown Alliance, told Axios the winter market attracts about 2,000 shoppers every weekend.
- While smaller than the farmers market that runs during the summer, the winter market provides seasonal produce like carrots and squash.
Kim's thought bubble: You can get nearly all of your Thanksgiving dinner essentials here.
3. Fry Sauce: Savor the news
Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
🏈 The Utes rose to No. 10 in the AP's college football rankings after defeating Stanford on Saturday in a 42-7 blowout. (Associated Press)
- The USU Aggies beat Hawaii 41-34, while BYU had a bye week.
Sen. Mitt Romney's prospects on the national political stage look better after many Trump-backed candidates lost in Tuesday's election, Utah politics experts say. (Deseret News)
- But he is likely to struggle in a Republican primary, with an approval rating of less than 50% in his own party.
⛷ The ski season's first weekend brought huge crowds into the Cottonwood Canyons, with parking lots filling up less than an hour after resorts opened and long lines in traffic and at lifts. (FOX 13)
4. Pic du jour: Salt Lake, illuminated
A bird appears in drone lights above the Salt Lake City and County Building on Nov. 11 at the Illuminate festival. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios
The skies were aglow this weekend above the annual Utah Arts Alliance Illuminate festival at Library Square.
- Choreographed drones flew in formation above the Salt Lake City and County Building, depicting objects in nature while projections appeared on the building itself.
🫢 Erin is catching up with the latest professional cornhole cheating scandal.
☕ Kim is sipping on some Abuelita hot chocolate.
This newsletter was edited by Ross Terrell and copyedited by Natasha Smith.
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