San Francisco is perpetually young, at least compared to Park City. The median age of residents in the California tech town today is 40.5 years old, according to Census Reporter, a site that interprets U.S. Census data. That’s slightly older than the U.S. median 39.2. Park City’s median a ge of full-time residents is 48.5, about 25% older than the U.S. median. It’s probably worth noting that 70% of the residential properties in Park City are second homes, compared to 2% of the properties in San Francisco. Various sources put the typical second-home owner across the nation at 58-60 years old. Most telling to me is that Census data shows the three largest age cohorts in San Francisco are 20-29 with 14% of the total population, 30-39 with 20%, and 40-49 with 14%. The total of the big three from 20 to 49 amounts to 48% of San Francisco’s population. Count the children and 63% of the city’s residents are 49 or younger. In Park City, the big three glop comes to 40-49 at 14% of the total population, 50-59 at 17%, and 60-69 at 17%. That’s 48% of Park City’s full-time population. You could add the 11% who are 70-79 years old if you wish, along with the 4% over 80. That leaves 49% of Park City’s residents 50 or older. Throw in the average age of second-home owners who live here part time and you’ll recognize why most of the hair you see falls in some shade of gray. Old Town isn’t just a historic district, in other words. I compare here to there because of a viral news photograph of the NIMBY crowd in San Francisco’s Marina District that decried plans for an affordable apartment tower to replace a supermarket. Both expensive cities share a common challenge, each with an overall median price for a residence around $1.7 million, according to real estate sites. The photo snapped by a San Francisco Chronicle reporter stood out for the uniformity of age in the audience: nearly everyone in their 70s and older. This in a city with so many younger adults, half the population. The housing affordability issue is well understood in the city where the YIMBY movement started. Yes, YIMBY, as in the opposite of NIMBY. The YIMBYs and young techie residents in and out of San Francisco found great symbolism in that photograph, which inspired lots of social media retorts and some more or less thoughtful punditry, much like I’m doing here. They made much ado of what’s basically a prosaic image of the people who attend civic meetings of any kind everywhere. Those who go tend to skew older. This is a fact from young Provo to aged Punta Gorda. The too-cool younger set in San Francisco also didn’t bother to go to that meeting, where they might have made a difference. I mention all this because I’m sure I’m not the only one inspired to compare audiences at similar events, and we happen to have a corker now with the city’s 5 acres at the corner of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive. The Park City government bought the land in 2017 for $19.5 million with the idea of making it a mixed-use development featuring Sundance’s Utah headquarters and the Kimball Art Center as the anchors. But city cost estimates cresting $100 million, COVID and other issues sapping Sundance’s finances, and citizen and council pushback on that plan led to more rounds of public input, open houses, surveys, those infamous colored stickers on favorite ideas. The public direction that emerged for the 5 acres then settled not on an arts district but a mixed-use development heavier on affordable housing than the arts. And the Kimball Art Center, weary of a long wait growing ever longer, accepted a better offer from Dakota Pacific. This is Park City, of course, so whatever everyone wanted then is what everyone is against now, and vice versa. Could be an arts district, a thirsty green park, affordable housing, a mix of all. Plenty of fickle everyones for each to keep that busy corner dusty. I made sure last Wednesday to snap a picture of the crowd during the Planning Commission’s public hearing on the 5 acres to compare with the infamous San Francisco photo. I’d put up The Chronicle photo, too, but their licensing agent wanted $2,500 for the kind of news shot I’d share freely. You’ll just have to search viral San Francisco NIMBY photo for yourself; it’s everywhere. Funny thing, though. You’d think ol’ Park City NIMBYs would mirror San Francisco’s, if not show up even older and grayer, given the demographic dominance here. This wasn’t the case at all, though. The audience and people lining up to speak their minds, some favoring the plan, included thirtysomethings, teenagers, moms and dads, and yes, of course, seniors too. My photo didn’t much match the San Francisco one. Not like I expected. Park City’s NIMBYs and YIMBYs span the generations. I noticed this anew while taking the photo. I remembered in these chambers the Clark Ranch turnout during election season. I remembered the practical fist fight over the redo of the election format. Plenty of older people, sure. But a lot of middle-aged folks, and at least a sprinkling of younger at each dustup. No, high schoolers don’t regularly go to City Council meetings. Neither do old people. No one goes. The bulk of what councils and commissions and boards do is necessary, important and dull as, well, you know. I took some pride in Park City from our photo compared to the San Francisco snapshot in that broader engagement way. Give citizens a good reason and they’ll fill the hall across the seasons in life, at least the adult ones. Need a new police dog to bring in the kids. So the question here isn’t so much how to get people under 70 to take an interest in regular city council or school board meetings. It’s how to get anyone at all to come.   Don Rogers is the editor and publisher of The Park Record. He can be reached at [email protected] or (970) 376-0745. 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