Dennis Hincamp says Logan, Utah, where he lives, has an identity crisis when it comes to development, swinging wildly between pro-growth to NIMBY. He sees this as indicative of the relative youth of many cities in the American West.
"Most cities east of the Rockies have had several hundred years to mature into their current personality," argues Hincamp. "None of these places are anywhere near Logan, Utah."
Hincamp equates the chaotic development policies of Logan to a tempermental teenager:
"Policy moods swing wildly between pro-development mayors and ones who want to go back to family-friendly neighborhoods. We want to restore the downtown, but we keep building more big-box stores on cheap land near the city boundaries. We put in parking meters, then rip them out, like kids throwing tantrums. We're like teenagers who change their hair color to fit their mood. We just don't know who or what we are yet."
Read the full story: The adolescent West
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