, Columnist
How Utah Keeps the American Dream Alive
Economic mobility to rival Denmark’s, but without big government. Can the rest of the U.S. emulate Utah's success?
The face of Utah’s war on poverty.
Photographer: Michael Friberg for BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
There’s no getting around it: For a girl raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Salt Lake City is a very weird place.
I went to Utah precisely because it’s weird. More specifically, because economic data suggest that modest Salt Lake City, population 192,672, does something that the rest of us seem to be struggling with: It helps people move upward from poverty. I went to Utah in search of the American Dream.