Utah's growing problem

With a growing population, comes more problems, but I didn't expect this to happen so fast. And the worst part is this last sentence of the article I quote.

There had been five killings involving more than one victim over the previous four years, according to records kept by The Salt Lake Tribune.
In all, The Tribune recorded 65 Utah homicides in 2007 - the most since 2001. One-third were victims of child abuse or domestic violence.

What is going on?

"Q.S." was one of 12 Utah children who died of abuse. Seven women and three men died in domestic violence.
Salt Lake City took the largest brunt of the homicide spike. The city recorded 16 homicides last year after having eight in 2006.

The article doesn't give any guesses as to why this is happening. More gangs? More drug use?

A more radical suggestion would be that since the number of abortions in Utah has remained flat while the population has boomed, the increased number of unwanted children has lead to an increase in crime. It is a very controversial thesis, and one that rests on a number of assumptions. The biggest problem with this thesis is that there is no real way to prove or disprove it.

But murder isn't the only negative impact of more people in Utah. We also get high rents and mortgages, more traffic, more air pollution, less open space, and more.

Don't mistake me for a grumpy old nostalgist though. I loved Salt Lake during the Olympics with all the crowds and interesting people. The city felt alive like never before. Our goal should be to recapture that magical two weeks with the coming growth. If we don't we have worse years than 2007 to look forward to.