MillCreek is the Worst Name ... EVER!

Currently there is an effort to create a new city in the Salt Lake Valley called "MillCreek."

Yes, the proponents of the plan are using the irregular punctuation for the town MillCreek. The county site uses the regular punctuation.

Mill Creek is an uninspired name for a pretty canyon in the Salt Lake Valley. Historians say that there were some mills on the creek for a very short period of time. The mills failed, were boarded up then torn down as eyesores a century ago.

Mill Creek is not an imaginative name. There are thousands of creeks called Mill Creek in the US and abroad. Wikipedia lists a dozen towns named Mill Creek. None of them are doing that well. None of them are remarkable. Look on any map, and you will find a multitude of creeks named Mill Creek.

My favorite Mill Creek Canyon is a the slit canyon south of Moab.

Unfortunately, one needs to pay a toll to access the canyon.

There is no public access to the creek through MillCreek. You can see the creek behind a chainlink fence in Evergreen Park and you can cross culverts containing the creek. But the creek does not play a prominent role in the town.

For that matter, only about a tenth of the people in the proposed town of MillCreek live near Mill Creek.

This new city will include the land running from South Salt Lake to the base of Mount Olympus. Just about every house in town has a spectacular view of Mount Olympus. For that matter, my parents live in this area. Like many of the houses in MillCreek, my parent's house was built with windows framing Mount Olympus.

Mount Olympus is the most prominent landmark in the Salt Lake Valley. While it is not the tallest peak in the Wasatch Mountains, the mountain has a rather large and imposing face directed at Salt Lake City.

When marketers select pictures to show Salt Lake City, they invariably choose pictures with Mount Olympus in the background.

Lets face it, Mount Olympus is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the United States.

As for beauty and scale, Mount Olympus knocks the socks off the Flat Irons near Boulder. The Flat Irons serve as the name sake of many areas in Boulder and Broomfield County.

If I were given a chance to name a city that sits on the slopes of Mount Olympus, I would be inclined to name the town after the spectacular landmark.

The last thing I would do is name the town for mills that failed and were boarded up a century ago.

Mount Olympus is a great name. The mountain played an important role in Greek Mythology as the home of the Gods. Naming a town after the mythological home of the gods creates wonderful naming opportunities for small businesses in the town.

Naming the city for Mount Olympus would make the new city the premium address for corporations seeking to move to the Wasatch Front.

NOTE, the town of Olympia, Wa became a cultural center of Washington and eventually the state capital simply because the founders of the town gave it a cool name.

The ancient name of Olympus is so reputable that the name was used for the International Olympic Games held once every Olympiad.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Salt Lake City was host of the 2002 Winter Games and many Utahans hope the Olympics will return the area.

Naming the new city after the landmark Mount Olympus would associate the town with youth, vitality and recreation. Retailers and businesses associated with sports and recreation would benefit by an address named after Mount Olympus.

Naming the town for mills that failed simply associates the town with failure. Who wants to live in a town named for its failures?

If you were locating a business in Utah, would you want to locate it in a town named for failed businesses, or would you want to locate it in a town named after Mount Olympus?

The mills on Mill Creek all failed. Mill Creek has no public access in town. Less than a tenth of the people in the proposed town of MillCreek live near the creek.

MillCreek is the stupidest name. EVER!

Just about every corner of the proposed city has a great view of Mount Olympus. The mountain is the definitive landmark in Salt Lake City. The name is associated with youth and vitality.

One can come up with a hundred derivations of the name Olympus such as Olympia (home of the first Olympics and capital of Washington), Olympo, Delphi, etc..

It is sad to live in such an unimaginative place that would choose the name MillCreek over a derivation of Mt Olympus.