Construction- Maddy Oritt

It seems like ever since the years leading up to the Olympics, construction has been omnipresent in Salt Lake. Trax comprised a lot of that construction, as well as work on the freeways and now the looming City Creek center. Also, walking around campus, construction always reroutes me. I don't like living with all this construction: part of it is the hassle of walking or driving through areas under construction, but I also don't like the constant newness. It seems as though our knee-jerk reaction is to tear down and build up bigger or better. The result is an ever-expanding city of ever-growing buildings, and a seemingly incongruous jumble of architectural styles. To me, Salt Lake doesn't visually feel harmonious or fluid; every building is very different in appearance, and very few are aesthetically beautiful. Sometimes rebuilding is an important thing, such as when retrofitting for earthquake safety or becoming more environmentally friendly. As far as personal enjoyment of the city goes, though, I don't like the constant reconstruction. A large part of the reason that cities in Europe are so charming is that so many of their buildings are old and beautiful; instead of tearing buildings down, perhaps they reconstruct from the inside, but preserve the historical facade. Also, we Americans love our skyscrapers, which are not often found in old European cities. All in all, I wish I could look at our skyline once in a while and watch the beautiful sunset without having it obstructed by building cranes, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.