Each year, we award our Wasatch Faults to public figures, newsmaking events and the dubious achievements that empower our schadenfreude, face palms and outbursts of “WTF?” But amid the jeers, we also offer a few cheers—bright spots of pleasantry and civility that help cut the acid in our stomachs.
Faves
The Lobby Bar at Asher Adams Hotel
Stepping into the soaring-ceilinged lobby of the Asher Adams Hotel harkens back to a time when travel equaled luxury, at least for first-class passengers of the late Gilded Age, and even a short excursion was a grand adventure for most folks. In this glam example of adaptive reuse, the historic Union Pacific Depot’s original details and decorative elements literally shine. Bonus: The cocktails and food are as outstanding as the atmosphere. 2 N. 400 West, SLC asheradamshotel.com
Elevate Utah PAC’s effort to answer the question “What the fresh hell just happened?!” in Utah politics
Feeling overwhelmed by the steaming mess of state politics? Check out the Elevate Utah PAC social media feeds for info and inspo. Armed with a whiteboard, fluffy Lav mic and a Costco haul of Post-it notes, Gabi Finlayson and Jackie Morgan cover day-to-day legislative drama in relatable terms. Their takes are smart, deep, fierce and wickedly funny. And they present immediate, actionable ways for anyone to get involved and work for change. They’re giving this jaded Gen Xer hope, one disgruntled eye roll at a time. elevateutahpac.com
Faults
Vail: “She doesn’t even go here.”
Here’s a good lesson for other ski resorts: If your patrollers go on strike, don’t pass it off as “limited impact” to guests and plug in a puny “patrol support team” during the busy holiday weeks around Christmas and New Year’s. Attempting to keep the resort open amidst failed contract negotiations with the patrollers’ union (who demanded a living wage and benefits), Vail Resorts butchered the holiday ski experience for 13 days with three-hour lift lines, limited terrain and questionable safety conditions (understandably upsetting hundreds of guests and pass holders). One striker, standing at the foot of the mountain, held up a sign which said it best: “If we’re down here, who’s up there?”
Drive baby drive (Senate Bill 195)
This year, the Utah Legislature voted to sharply curtail Salt Lake City’s planning authority over its streets. The reason for this power grab? Hippie ideas like speed bumps, bike lanes, lighted crosswalks and other traffic calming measures, which, in survey after survey, are welcomed by the majority of Salt Lake residents. The capital city of Utah effectively has to run any changes through the Utah Department of Transportation. UDOT already controls two major arteries in SLC: State Street and 700 East, which are designated state highways. But now that oversight extends to all SLC streets.
The decades-long Sugar House overhaul
The price for progress was too great for Sugar House favorites like Pizza Volta and Kimi’s Chop & Oyster House. With multiple construction projects going on at once (Sugar House Crossing development, Sugar House Business District, Sugar Alley development, Sugar House Streetcar S-line, roadway reconstruction, 2100 South Sewer Expansion, 1100 East Improvement Project), the area has been trapped in a construction mire for almost two decades. Small businesses have been boxed in, pushed out and impacted from all sides. (Hardly) to the rescue: a whopping $3,000 per small-business grant from the city meant to mitigate the effects. Most small businesses say it’s not nearly enough.
BAD air + Bad politics
Rollbacks on air pollution regulation by the Trump administration couldn’t have come at a worse time for Provo, which recently ranked among the worst U.S. cities by the American Lung Association for ozone pollution. Applauded by Trump’s EPA, Utah gave polluters and billionaires a big WIN by lowering emissions goalposts. (Because, c’mon, yacht fuel ain’t cheap.) The LOSERS:? Everyone else breathing in the respiratory irritant responsible for giving our lungs a lifelong sunburn.
The increasingly misnamed Ballpark District
This Summer, the Salt Lake Bees, the minor league baseball affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, threw out the first pitch at a new park, located in South Jordan. Meanwhile, the future of the ballpark, the namesake of the “Ballpark District,” is uncertain. There has been a ballpark on this land since 1928. For now, the University of Utah baseball team is playing its season there, but otherwise the stands will be empty, the gates closed and the organ silent. We’re told it will become something else. What that “something else” is, no one can exactly say. Why not a ballpark?
There’s more to love in the Beehive State!
Outdoors
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Weird Utah
Jocularity
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Find all of this year’s Best of the Beehive coverage, and more “Bests” from past issues. And while you’re here, subscribe and get six issues of Salt Lake magazine, your curated guide to the best of life in Utah.
