Local Insights and Utah Insights updated on the Web

The Fall 2012 issues of Local Insights has been updated on the web.

This edition focuses on the most recent recession and the long-term unemployed.

The statewide edition includes a feature article on Unemployment Insurance Outcomes in Utah.

To see more, click here.









To receive a copy, call 801-526-9785

Tanker trucks on highways

Give state officials an A for being frank. They don’t know what to do about vastly increased tanker truck traffic that will barrel down U.S. 40 when the volume of crude oil heading from the Uintah Basin to Salt Lake Valley refineries doubles next year. We don’t know what to do, either. But like state transportation officials and legislators, we know a problem when we see one.

A study is under way to consider options. The trouble is that those options are unlikely to be available before the truck traffic swells.

If you live in Heber City, where U.S. 40 doubles as Main Street, that’s not good news. That could mean one or two of the heavy trucks passing every minute.

Daniels Canyon above Heber City is steep and can be treacherous during winter weather. The same is true of I-80 through Parleys Canyon before the roadway passes into Salt Lake City. U.S. 40 passes Strawberry Reservoir above Daniels Canyon, and I-80 abuts Mountain Dell Reservoir in Parleys. An oil spill into either of those waters could be an environmental mess.

I-80 is the transportation aorta for Salt Lake City from the east. Adding more heavy truck traffic to that already congested roadway will inevitably add to safety risks.

Those are the negatives. There also are positives. It’s good that Salt Lake City refineries will be processing more crude oil from Utah to produce gasoline and other petroleum products. Energy independence is important to the nation and to Utah’s economy. It’s better to have the oil come from Utah than from somewhere more distant. Salt Lake Tribune

Wildfires shutting down gas fields in Wyomin and Utah

Utah has active fires burning across about 180,000 acres, including the 20,000-acre Seeley Fire on the Manti-La Sal National Forest, about 15 miles from Huntington, southeast of Provo.

The fire threatened summer cabins, year-round homes and a historic ranger station and forced evacuations of several neighborhoods and youth camps. A significant oil and field in the area has also been shut down due to the proximity of the fire. Summit County Voice

2011 County Population Estimates Available

The Census Bureau has recently released county-level population estimates for 2011. Of course, the operative word here is "estimates." Actual counting only occurs once every ten years.

As you can see from the visualization below, tiny Daggett County displayed the largest 2011growth rate (using the July 1 estimates), but added less than 100 individuals. The second fastest growing counties were neighbors--Summit and Wasatch counties. Despite its late entry to the economic recovery, Washington County managed the fourth-fastest population growth rate.

Six counties registered population declines--Emery. Carbon, Garfield, Piute, and Beaver. Interestingly, these counties form a little cluster of contracting population near the center of Utah.

You can access the Census Bureau's 2011 estimates by clicking here. The Utah Population Estimates Committee should also release their 2011 population figures in the near future.

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Utah home sales up in October

Utah home sales rose for the fifth straight month in October — up nearly 25 percent from last year, according to a new report from the Utah Association of Realtors. During the month, Utah Realtors sold 2,819 homes, townhomes and condos compared to 2,261 sales last year. It was the fourth consecutive month of double-digit sales increase. Since the beginning of the year, Utah home sales are up over 7 percent compared to the same 10-month period in 2010.

The month's inventory in Uintah County is 4.6 months and prices are up nearly 14 percent, a release states. Similarly, in Washington County, the month's supply is 6.5 months and the median price has increased about 11 percent from last October. Statewide, the number of homes on the market has come down more than 21 percent over the past year — the fewest amount of homes on the market since mid-2007 and the eighth consecutive month of double-digit declines. In October, the median price of homes sold in Utah was $174,750, down 3.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

In addition to Uintah and Washington counties, several other areas saw increasing prices, including Emery, Grand, Juab, Morgan and San Juan counties. The median price in Weber County stayed nearly the same, coming in at $139,500 compared to $137,990 last October. Deseret News

Feds help pay for Utah’s flood damage

Utah will receive federal aid to pay for this spring’s flood damage. President Barack Obama signed a Utah disaster declaration and ordered federal funds to supplement the recovery effort from flooding between April 18 and July 16.

The funds are available to state, tribal and eligible local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations, on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the counties of Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Millard, Morgan, Piute, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah, Wasatch and Weber, and the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. The state could be eligible for $9.5 million in federal aid. Salt Lake Tribune

National park visits boom amid recession

Despite the recession, or perhaps because of it, 286 million visitors flocked to national parks last year, an increase of 10 million people. Utah's national park units attracted just over 9 million visitors during the year, up by 300,000. In Utah, Zion National Park attracted the most visitors of any park unit in the state: 2.7 million, up by 45,000. That set a new all-time visitation record. Zion also ranked No. 7 in visitation among parks nationwide. Elsewhere in Utah, park visit increases and decreases varied widely. Remote Rainbow Bridge National Monument attracted the biggest increase by percentage — 18.7 percent, or a jump of nearly 18,000 visitors. The biggest decrease was at Cedar Breaks National Monument, where visitation dropped by 8.5 percent or by nearly 46,000 people. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Lake Powell) attracted the second-most visits of any park unit in the state: 1.96 million visitors, up just 13,000 from the previous year. Bryce Canyon National Park attracted 1.2 million, up by a booming 16.6 percent.Arches National Park attracted 996,312 visitors, up 7.3 percent; Capitol Reef National Park attracted 617,208 visitors, up 2 percent; Canyonlands National Park attracted 436,241, nearly unchanged from 2008; and Dinosaur National Monument attracted 203,862, up 1 percent. Also, Timpanogos Cave National Monument attracted 138,571 visitors, up 12 percent; Natural Bridges National Monument attracted 92,023, nearly unchanged from 2008; Golden Spike National Historic Site had 45,334. The Deseret News