Hooper's population is estimated to be almost 6,000, according to the Wasatch Front Regional Council. That's up from an estimated 4,700 when Hooper incorporated seven years ago.

Estimates from the regional council have Hooper growing to 13,000 residents by 2030, or just over double what it is now.

And if people come, they will want a grocer closer than the stores in Roy.

A large tract of land in the center of town, near Hooper Elementary School and a block from the Hooper Park, which is renowned for President Ronald Reagan's visit there in 1982, is now zoned commercial and is expected to attract a major grocery store, signaling a start to a cluster of retail development there.

Today, the city has one gas station/convenience store, a dance studio and some auto body/repair and construction businesses, among others.

Wayne L. Widdison grew up in Hooper and then moved away for a time. He now serves on the Hooper Planning Commission.

"I've enjoyed returning to Hooper — even with the obvious changes from when I was young. ... The sounds of tractors and farm machinery are still as likely to be heard as those of sedans and pickup trucks," he said.

"At night, the stars still shine as bright and the mosquitoes still bite as hard as they always have."

Widdison said there's nothing that can be done to halt Hooper's growth.

"Our hope is that somehow this growth can be managed in such a way as to not overwhelm the capabilities of the city to keep up and, more importantly, to maintain some of that rural feel that draws folks here in the first place," he said.

He believes that the vision drafted into new city ordinances can set Hooper apart from the surrounding communities — and always keep a slice of the small-town feel and flavor.

Widdison's wife, Andrea, grew up in rural central Massachusetts and has lived in Southern California, Hawaii and Boise. She appreciates Hooper's agricultural feel and the availability of horse property, which is disappearing along the Wasatch Front.

"Although commercial development is certainly welcomed as a boost to Hooper's tax base," she said, "the city is proceeding with caution."

Hooper has two elementary schools in its boundaries and Hooper Elementary, re-built in the early 1970s, is currently being extensively expanded/remodeled. Hooper teens go to Fremont High in Plain City.

About one-fourth of Hooper is actually in Davis County and that section remains unincorporated, though addresses there still say Hooper and mail is delivered by the Hooper post office.