For decades, Utah’s “American Dream” was simple: a home with a yard, a good school nearby and a short drive to work in downtown Salt Lake City. Today, that dream is drifting farther up and down the Wasatch Front. From the capital to places like Tooele, Eagle Mountain and Ogden, young families are chasing affordability that keeps slipping out of reach.
The result? Utah’s workforce is spreading faster than its infrastructure can keep up. In Salt Lake County, the median single-family home price now hovers near $600,000, forcing many first-time buyers to look 30, 40, or even 60 miles away. The mortgage may be manageable, but the trade-off comes in hours lost on I-15.
Those commutes add up. Not just in gas and car wear, but in stress, missed soccer games, and fewer shared dinners. Every mile moved away from Salt Lake is a trade: time with family for time behind the wheel. For many parents, the irony is that the search for a better life often leaves them with less time to enjoy it.
This shift reshapes more than household routines — it’s changing the geography of Utah’s workforce. Employers are beginning to see higher turnover and scheduling challenges as commute fatigue sets in. Industries like hospitality, healthcare and logistics are especially feeling the pinch as talent pools move farther from the urban core.
Local leaders now face a critical question: How do we sustain growth without sacrificing quality of life? The answer starts with rethinking where and how we build. That means investing in housing density where demand is strongest, expanding transit options beyond Salt Lake’s borders, and encouraging flexible or hybrid work arrangements when possible. Express routes (buses or trains with fewer stops) could also move people more efficiently between where they live and where they work. We’ve seen these systems succeed in other major cities, and Utah can do the same.
Businesses must also adapt. As companies compete for talent, they need to go where the talent is. I recently joined a firm with an office in Draper, and it’s been a game-changer. In my field, that office would traditionally be downtown. Larger employers hoping to attract and retain great people should consider distributed offices or suburban business hubs rather than relying solely on city-center towers.
Outlying communities, meanwhile, need thoughtful planning to ensure affordability doesn’t come at the expense of local jobs or long-term infrastructure strain. A two-hour daily commute may feel tolerable today, but it erodes productivity and family life over time. Plus, in five years, those two hours could easily become three.
Utah has always prided itself on being family-oriented. But if the next generation spends more time in traffic than at the dinner table, something fundamental is out of balance. Restoring that balance will take collaboration between policymakers, developers and employers, as well as a willingness to think beyond city limits.
The American Dream hasn’t died. It’s just moved farther down the road. Whether we follow it wisely or lose sight of it altogether depends on how we respond now.