Waiting for the Gondola

A Saturday evening bike ride through Ogden while it’s still real.

By Bob Sawatzki
SL City Weekly - 9/28/06

Utah Highway 89 runs like a river through the heart of Ogden, where its name changes to Washington Boulevard and “crusing the ’Vard” is entertainment in itself. As the parade of vehicles flow past, we sit on mountain bikes in front of a vacant storefront, waiting for the gondola. According to the map, it will pass right over our heads—hard to imagine, considering what the area looks like now. Since the fall of the Ogden Mall, most of the stores on this section of the ’Vard are closed. There’s graffiti, litter and dubious characters (like me) lurking in the shadows.

All this will change when the 21-acre brown field where the Mall used to be is reborn as The Junction, a mixed-use development of residences, retail, entertainment and office buildings. And when the gondola comes, it will be possible to catch a lift with our bikes to the top of the mountain and roll downhill all the way.

Until that day, we’ll have to pedal uphill on our own power, as we always have. So we geared down and started biking up 23rd Street, following the proposed route of the gondola. It will continue in a straight line up this quiet, residential street to Harrison Boulevard.

But it made for a dull, steep bike ride, so when the terrain leveled off at Jefferson Avenue, we did too, heading toward Lester Park and the historic center of Ogden. This part of Ogden will not be seen by gondola riders, almost as if planners were trying to keep tourists from seeing what the real Ogden looks like.

Read the Rest of Mr. Sawatzki's thoughtful piece.

This City Weekly article was linked last night by Bob Sawatzki in one of our lower comments sections. We're always fascinated by the viewpoints of "outsiders" who aren't wholly immersed in the sheer wierdness of the MattGodfreyWorld/Land of Oz experience, so we're promoting it to the main page for today's discussion, for the benefit of those readers who don't bother to read the what's often the best part of this blog -- the comments sections.

We think Mr. Sawatzki for the most part "nails it" with this. But then we hear that $500 million investment "thingy" again. Amazing how that deceptive little meme continues to pervade the public consciousness, innit? We thank Mr. Sawatzki for the submission.