"Lift Ogden" States its Case

Gondolas are back in the news today, thanks, at least in part, to the John Wright article in this morning's Standard-Examiner. Descente North America's Bob Geiger and Ogden lawyer Bernie Allen have collaborated with Ogden's Pinnacle Marketing, and whipped up a slick 16-page sales brochure, touting the benefits the two-legged gondola plan which their "group," Lift Ogden, has been strongly promoting recently.

Brimming with vivid color photos and impassioned testimonials, the brochure is included as an insert in this morning's paper. Except for the appearance of the John Wright article, I probably would have overlooked the brochure myself, as it was embedded in a stack of advertising material such as I normally put straight into the trash.

I think it's a good thing that "Lift Ogden" is keeping the discussion going regarding this fascinating transit proposal. There are forces within the community who are already trying to nip the gondola idea in the bud; and I do believe the concept is worthy of robust public discussion.

In the event you're one of the poor souls who don't get your very own daily Std-Ex delivered to your very own front porch as I do, you can view a PDF version of the brochure online at Descente's web-site here.

I've pored over the entire brochure several times this morning, and my own impression is there's way too much "hype" in this pamphlet to suit my analytical mind. The tone of the first ten pages is "inspirational," and downright "dreamy" enough to make an analytical type's eyes bleed.

Starting around page-11 however, there are a couple of pages that actually address at least some of the "objections" (the pamphlet authors labeled these "myths",) that have been raised as to this project. If you can get through the first ten pages, which I deem to be marketing "fluff," there is some actual actual factual information, including a short "outline style" section, entitled "SECOND: Physically unite the key components," which indicates at least some attempt on the authors' part to tie the whole concept together with our greater Wasatch Front urban environment.

We had a pretty vigorous and detailed discussion about the lower "leg" of the gondola project here on Weber County Forum a few days ago, too. If you missed my WCF article and the ensuing 80+ reader comments, you can read it all here.

I hope some of our gentle readers will give the brochure a thorough reading, and post your own impressions here. Perhaps a few of you still have some unanswered questions, which we can direct to Mr. Allen and Mr. Geiger.

Comments?