"That's what keeps Ogden from being too cool," Lowe said.
Despite the lingering rough-town image, development continues. The mayor is seeking to build a gondola that would connect downtown to a proposed ski and resort community that would occupy nearly 730 hectares and include Malan's Basin, 580 hectares of mountainside land owned by a Salt Lake developer, Chris Peterson, who is championing the idea.
Beyond the added US$10 million in tax revenues the mayor expects from the private investment, the mayor says he is intrigued with the "urban to mountain experience" the gondola would create.
But some residents are skeptical. "Nothing about this makes sense from a common sense perspective," said Dan Schroeder, a physics professor at Weber State University and board member of the local Sierra Club, referring to the logistics of relocating existing power lines and water reservoirs.
While the reduction of pollution and traffic appeals to many of the town's environmentally conscious residents, it is the development of public and private land - including a 46-hectare public golf course and over 80 hectares of undeveloped land currently used for mountain biking and hiking - into a private residential community of empty nesters and second-home owners that rankles some.
"Ogden is known because of its outdoor recreation," Haaser said. "What we have here is wonderful. Let's just keep in that way."
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