For some odd reason certain misinformed people of Utah try to type-cast Ogden as a haven for miscreants, evildoers and criminals. Most Ogden locals know that's simply not true. I think Ogden City is a whole hell of a lot more like Mayberry, USA than Detroit -- or even Salt Lake City -- if you're honest about it.I caught this great piece in Sunday's Provo Herald, and thought I ought to throw it up for discussion.
In the interest of saving front-page bandwidth, you can read this most excellent and entire Tim Sullivan article here.
Now C'mon people. Now that you've read this article... Is Ogden really as bad as some people say?
I say Ogden is still Mayberry, USA.
What say our gentle WCF readers about this?
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Sidebar note to Don Porter: Rumor has it that last Sunday's Provo Herald was printed up on the Std-Ex's high-tech "presses," and then delivered to Provo by truck. Is there any truth to this rumor Don? ;-)
11 comments:
If memory serves correct, the picture is George Maharis, president of the Sharks, a New York street gang, most likely dancing to the song, "America, in the Broadway Musical (motion picture here) entitled West Side Story. A great film.
Ogden has some high powered connections in the show business community and some light connections there as well. Besides "Everwood," there was "3:00 O'clock High, filmed at OHS, and a movie entitled "This Boy's Life with some big time stars like Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DeCaprio and Robert DeNiro.
But getting closer to home is Ogden native Doug Coleman, Hollywoods premier 2nd Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator. His credits run from the old original Dukes of Hazard to today's in production of "The Posiedon Adventure," filming at Warner Brothers Studios. Coleman has shot such features as "Predator," "Castaway," "Casino," "Independence Day," "The Perfect Storm," "Air Force One," just to mention a few. His credits are truely world class. Also of note is Ogden native Jeff Chumas, now residing in L.A. and working very steady in stunt work and a candidate for Ogden City Council, Bill Glasmann. Glasmann did some stunt driving, acting and high fall rigging in "Dream Machine," shot in SLC, rigged Nicole Kidman for her broom rides in "Bewitched," and teamed with Chumas in the soon to be released "Elizabethtown." Chumas, meanwhile, and Frankie Bayer, both skiers extraordinare, are all over the L.A. scene. Former Airman Bob Morrocco of HAFB has a ton of credits, and called Ogden home for several years.
The Utah Film Commission has done a remarkable job luring big time movies to the state, and it seems that Ogden has caught the eye of many high profile production companies. With the local connections, you can be sure that more feature films will be shot in the area, as the Wasatch Mountains, Ogden High School and 25th Street are unparalleled when it come to background.
ALERT-----TYPO
The actor is George Chakaris, not Maharis.
I would not really look at Ogden as Mayberry. I look at Ogden as the brother in the state of Utah that has a bit of attitude. Like me, for instance, I share beliefs with those in the UC, but that does not believe that we believe the same. I would not want to be caught in Provo. Too many Dockers, plad shirts, and Doc Martins. I like to say that Ogden is in-the-Utah, but not of-the-Utah. I personally love what our town is.
WTF is the "UC"?
I'm not exactly sure what Movie Buff's article has to do with the linked story of violence, death and Rock and Roll in Park City, but I like MB's story a heck of alot better.
Maybe a movie tie-in, similar to the ski business tie-in, would be another option for these business clusters that I've heard about. Already Everwood is being filmed here, yet I've never heard nor read word one about anything to do with movies and music.
the UC= Utah County
Ironic you should mention Detroit, Rudi- I happened to have lived there for a while. While Ogden is not exactly the Motor City, there are some aspects that are similar. As I drive through some of the "inner city" neighborhoods of Ogden, I could swear that there were identical streets in Detroit. But I do see your point- Ogden is no Detroit. I tend to agree with UTmorMAN's take- kind of a little brother with attitude.
And we've always been that way. A quick note through the history books will show that our siblings to the south have looked on O-Town as the "left wing capital of Utah" (right behind Park City- but some might argue that Park City isn't even part of Utah).
Regardless, I think this is a wonderful place. But it makes one wonder.. What is it that perpetuates the "negative" perception about our city?
What perpetuates the negative perception of our city? Probably its leadership. At one time in our past, Ogden had strong, leaders, colorful men who were fearless reformers, men who knew how to govern, and men who got things done through their vision and by enlisting support and ideas from the people.
Gone are those men, buried like antiquities of the past, replaced with little Godfrey-like fauntleroys. One only has to look at the accomplishments of our various leaders and see wherein came the change.
Today's attitude of seperatism towards the lower class/minorities speaks loudly. Think of the Landlord Program, the pirating of the beer licenses of the two 25th St. stores, the 90 day stay limit in the motels, the attempted "theft" of property, business, and homes below Wall near 22nd Street and along the Ogden River. The attempted removal of habitat, this acquisition of property, is not done so much for progress, but rather to eliminate those who live and work there. It's akin to the one-way bus tickets, issued to members of certain persuasions and color, South of the Mason-Dixon Line, in the 50s & 60s.
Ogden is a closer relative to Price and the two cities stand out as going against the mainstream. One depended on mining; the other on the railroad. This also needs to be considered to be a cause of this negative perception, the fact that these two cities swim upstream, against the flow. I don't know about Price, but what I see happening in our city, at the hands of the Mayor and certain members of the City Council, is enough to convince me that it is indeed leadership that has played the most significant roll in our status.
Lancer: "What is it that perpetuates the "negative" perception about our city?"
I think it's a meme that goes back to the arrival of the railroad in 1869. Prior to that time, Ogden was a particularly-remote Mormon outpost, hemmed-in between two substantial rivers and the mountains.
Once Ogden became the western railroad hub, (Brigham Young had run a rail "spur" from SLC to Ogden to hook up to the transcontinental rail-line,) it also became Utah's "melting pot," The feared "gentiles" arrived in droves. There was a lot of paranoia in those times -- much of it quite justifiable. It had only been twenty years, you'll remember, since the earliest Mormon settlers had arrived in the remote Rocky mountains, seeking refuge from persecution that is arguably unparalleled in this nation's history.
The gentiles lived up to their feared reputations too, at least in part. Within ten years of the railroad's arrival here, Ogden, which had previously been a tight Mormon community, with an economy based largely on barter, became quite welthy. Ogden transformed into a rich and decadent town (in the eyes of the faithful down south,) filled with non-Mormons. It evolved in form, into something closer to the ultimate western sin-city San Francisco, than anything else that existed in what eventually became the State of Utah.
I think the "negative perception" is a cultural relic of that. It's cultural folklore that's been repeated by rote through the succeeding generations, particularly in Salt Lake City.
Obvious that Godfrey wants to do away with the non-mormon population....he banned beer at the Street Festival, a vibrant, fun filled afternnon where the good folks partied hard and let their hair down, desinged the Landolord program, aimed at getting the malcontnets and middle class out on the streets with no place to live, targeted the Wall Avenue and Ogden River area, which is filled with good people but of a minority persuasion, for big box stores and shops, then drew up the 90 day get out rule for the motels, and you all know who lives there. A couple of beer licenses and the ultra high priced condos at Union Square and the mansions on Jefferson that the old Eccles family would have trouble floating a loan for, and bingo....no habitat.
What say you?
This question was addressed in the study about how to revitalize East Central Ogden that I have quoted from before. As you recall, the study advocated use of eminent domain and radical measures to move certain groups of "undesirable" people out of areas. But it also said this:
Cities that close their wagons around or see a diversifying population as a threat instead of an asset are doomed to margiinalization in the present high-mobility economy.
The Market that By-Passed Ogden in the 1990s is Constantly Asking: What is Ogden doing to address the perceived marginalization of the Mexican-American community in school matters, community decision-making processes, and economic development?
------Page 8 of 58
Now since an outside group of people came in here, took a look, and mentioned this in a study dated "January, 2004," I think it fair to say that yes, it does indeed go on. And I also think it extends to other groups of people in addition to the Mexican-American one.
The study went on to say that the marginalization of Ogden itself is largely self-inflicted, because of this perception that Ogden is a place that marginalizes certain groups of people, and nobody wants to live or do business in a place like that.
Rudi makes a case for the negative perception of our city as being religiously motivated. Woodward, (whom I really enjoyed reading, by the way), says that it is current leadership. We must then ask--is this attitude present in current leadership "religiously motivated?"
If Salt Lake marginalizes Ogden, (because it did so once because, as Rudi said, Ogden was once "Sin City,") does Ogden then turn around and marginalize its own? Like an abuse cycle?
Is the situation we face in Utah the exact same situation the Middle East has battled for centuries? Whether "religious" attitudes and judgments should intrude into the business of governing a body of people made up of different religions, ethnic backgrounds, locations, habits, etc.?
I do not think that the founding fathers of America intended "freedom of religion" to mean that certain religious groups have the freedom to, for instance, declare jihad against other groups. This is what Britain is battling now--how far to let this go?
I am not stating that marginalization and persecution of groups of people is an accepted tenet of most religions. Rather, I think that certain people use what someone on this board once termed "the cloak of religion" to justify committing offenses against other groups of people.
Because one has to ask---is marginalization or murder a spiritual act? Is the enforcement of the moral code of one's own religion on others not of that religion a spiritual practice?
I think what it would take to change this "negative perception" of Ogden is a fundamental change in Ogden's attitude toward itself. To put it simply, it has to be recognized by everyone that all people living in this community are part of this community, no matter what their ethnicity, background, religion, or what neighborhood they're living in, and that their well-being is a community concern.
If this change in attitude got around, we just might see good economic things start happening here. People who are successful in what they do need the freedom to do what they do, and they will not get that while being marginalized or forced to conform. That just may be why they're not here now.
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