Salt Lake City’s hosting of this weekend’s NBA All-Star game for the first time in three decades is giving Utah another opportunity to try to change long-held notions that the state is odd or peculiar
Salt Lake City has long been more liberal and religiously diverse than the rest of Utah, a blue island in a sea of red.
“Anybody who visits — especially for the first time — is going to be immediately struck by the Salt Lake Temple and the church’s holdings right downtown very close to the arena. This is, as a lot of people say, 'Mormonism's Vatican,'"he said. “That really gets reflected in the younger generation of entrepreneurs and politicians,” Mason added. “People like Cox and Smith are Latter-day Saints who are committed to their faith but also are savvy people who grow up with the internet, plugged in to a global culture.”
“This is just a chance to really have a moment together. People definitely know that there’s something here,” Smith said."It’s absolutely unique in all the positive ways. I think the one thing that is beautiful about Utah, that the people keep telling me from a wellness standpoint, ‘Utah is like where I’m at my best.’ ”
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