Utah will keep on growing — quickly — and that’s a good thing, Gov. Cox says
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox rejected the notion that rapid population growth will inevitably decrease Utahn’s quality of life. The opposite has always been true, he said, in the Beehive state.
During a pre-legislative session interview with the Deseret News, Cox said Utah’s status as one of the fastest growing, economically viable and family friendly states in the nation will continue to draw people in — which is a good thing.
“The only way to not grow is to suck at being a state,” Cox said. “And I’m not interested in that. I want Utah to be the best place to live in the nation. I want Utah to be the best place to start a business. I want Utah to be the best place to have a family. And if that attracts people, well, we live in a free country and a free market.”
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Utah was the fastest growing state in the nation between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and its population growth remained in the top five from 2020 to 2022, Axios reported. Most of the influx, Cox noted, was from people who previously lived in Utah returning to the state at double the rate of anywhere else.
This record growth was accompanied by the nation’s top economic outlook 16 years and running. As well as recent reports listing Utah as No. 1 on metrics of social capital and upward mobility, marriage among all adults and Gen Z, and happiness. All these factors, and more, are part of what make Utah the best state in the country, Cox said, and are why the state will continue to grow.
But with growth comes the need to innovate and plan for the future, he said. In many ways, the state already excels at this, according to Cox, who pointed to Utah’s air quality being cleaner today than it was 50 years ago despite the population more than tripling.
In other areas, serious work is needed, Cox said, particularly in the realms of housing and infrastructure.
“And so I’m not interested in whether we’re growing too fast,” Cox said. “What I am interested in is with the growth that is coming, how do we maintain the quality of life?”
Cox has made affordable housing the core of his Fiscal Year 2025 budget recomendations, with the goal of incentivizing the construction of 35,000 starter homes in the next five years. House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, has listed investments in transportation infrastructure and deregulating in housing as priorities for the 2024 legislative session which begins on Tuesday.
While he doesn’t shy away from the serious challenges facing the state, like water management and elevated mortgage rates, Cox said “too many people think in a zero sum mindset,” believing that environmental or quality life of concerns can only be put to rest at the expense of growth, or vice versa.
“I just reject that holistically,” he said. “I think we can do both.”
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