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Show GDrem's ew Mil TP U he saga of the City of Orem in the 21st Century will continue to be written by the remarkable people who live here: the people whose ancestors put down their roots 130 years ago, to channel the mountain spring waters to the brink of their greatest need; the people who came at the turn of the last Century to rear their children in the shadows of magnificent Mount Timpanogos; the people who brought their hopes and families to this agricultural Garden of Eden and planted them both in Orem's rocky soil; the people who answered the nation's call to come build and operate a steel plant here to forge the victory over the geo-politics of War; the people who have come from many lands to bring both dedication and diversity to the churches, mails and computer networks of Orem. Blessed with a nation-wide reputation for being one of America's best places to live and work, the City of Orem is now experiencing an annual population increase of nearly 2,000 people a year in the Year 2000. Children thrive here. Visitors come to stay a night in a modern, new hotel, or visit with friends or relatives, and soon find themselves looking for a lot, or a house, or a condo to buy and become a part of the community. The same town, where it was impossible to purchase a suit of men's clothing, a lady's dress, or an automobile back in the 1940's, has, seemingly over-night, transformed itself into one of Utah's still-expanding regional shopping centers, where nearly every national retail chain is represented, and where many locally-owned businesses thrive and employ thousands. The Year 2000 finds Federal Census-takers already at work, counting the households of Orem to enumerate the people who live here. That number is expected to reach the 100,000 mark very early in this new millennium. Rivaling California's Silicone Valley, Orem continues to be a world leader in the high-tech industry, where innovation is the watch-word and high employment is the norm. More new businesses, more open spaces and parks, increased recreation facilities; new developments and capital facilities continue the pattern that was fashioned many years ago by far-sighted far-sighted Orem mayors and city councils. nnial Challenge How far-sighted, how fortuitous, how magnificent was the policy framed a half a century ago, for the City of Orem to build community parks right next to elementary schools, as they are built! Today, those parks now exist and bless the lives of all the citizens of this community How prescient! How far-sighted! How essential to Orem's growth was the decision made by the Orem City Council and Orem Metropolitan Water Board early on to buy up the irrigation water shares from the land used for residential construction! Those shares of water have been placed in Orem's reservoir of life-giving aqua pura, to assure life and growth Under Timpanogos Green. Since the Great Depression in the 1930's, there has been probably not a single meeting of the Orem City Council, which has not, in some fashion, addressed some aspect of Orem's growth. In some instances that growth has seemed counter-productive to the realization of "Good Living in Fine Homes," which once was the motto of the City of Orem. For example, this town which, less than 20 years ago, had no hospitals, now has two hospitals. Those hospitals, while providing needed and excellent medical care, each occupy dozens of acres of ground on which vast quantities of fruit trees were once grown and harvested. Five years ago, not a single hotel room graced Orem's landscape. Today, several hotels dot the landscape-again removing acres of productive land from Orem's inventory of open spaces. A college campus now blesses the soil of Orem, which once grew fruit and other crops. But since Orem's best crop has always been its children, those orchards, strawberry and raspberry fields have had to give way to the infrastructures, churches, schools, hospitals, hotels, commercial and light industrial developments on which Orem families depend to help the children thrive and provide employment for their parents. Over the years, the role of agriculture has diminished in Orem, even as industrial, high-tech and retail development has transformed this community into an entity well-equipped to tackle the challenges of the new millennium. There are many municipal problems, yet to be solved, but the prospects for the City of Orem in the Year 2000 are bright and encouraging. Clyde E. Weeks, Jr. Page 94 |