Michael's ME-anderings, 2012: POST # 14 -- Ya gotta love Logan

the Old Court House on Main Street

I'd never been to Logan before this visit. Didn't know much about the town other than it being the home of Utah State University. I'd been told it was a very pretty place. And cooler than Palm Desert in the summertime. I'd imagined that it would be small, provincial and sleepy... especially in July when all the students are gone.

Well I've been here for nearly 3 weeks now, and I'm Lovin' Logan. It's a wonderfully impressive community, and the natural beauty of the surrounding region is more than pretty. It's spectacular.

• Logan was settled by pioneers in 1859 and named after an early trapper, Ephraim Logan.

• The town is home to 48,174 people. 48,106 of them are Mormons.

• It holds an insurance industry ranking as the #4 most secure place in the country.
(Those Mormons are as good as the local locksmiths are poor...)

• The 4,778ft elevation keeps the warm summer temperatures from becoming scorching desert-hot, with the average summer highs clocking in at a decidedly delightful 85F.

• Founded by Mormon pioneers in the mid-19th Century, the town has a rich and largely intact architectural heritage and a plentiful supply of modest but immaculately-maintained homes.

• The very earliest homes had dirt floors and a dirt roof. But by the 1860s, hand-hewn native stone and rock were being used to build the homes of the most prominent citizens, like businessman J.W. Thatcher. Later homes were built of wood frame and brick in the Victorian style.

a mom-&-pop local favorite

The whole 'Logan package' is so all-American, down-home comfortable, attractive and wholesome that it makes Disney's Main Street look like a study in urban depravity. Logan has lots of pretty parks; it has no potholes; it has no litter... and everything works, right down to the last drinking fountain. I'm sure that the ubiquitous influence of the LDS Church/community has a lot to do with all that.

Logan has been ranked in the Top Five college towns in the West. Makes me wonder how the other 4 could possibly offer anything better. And yes, there are Big Box stores on the periphery of town, but at the heart of things are plenty of mom-and-pop businesses that are thriving. (Although it's easy to take cheap, snarky shots at those Mormons -- see Post #8 -- the undeniable truth of the matter is that this spectacularly family-centric, faith-centric society is very, very benign and worthy of great admiration.)