Three, actually.
For some background on Salt Lake City urban form (with comparisons to Vancouver: our survey and our library), first check out this edition of Price Tags.
Then for an update, this surprising explanation from DC Streetsblog on How a Remote Red-State City Became a Transit Leader:
It’s number one in the nation in per-capita transit spending. The only city in the country building light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars and commuter rail at the same time. And that city — Salt Lake City — is a town of just over 180,000 in a remote setting in a red state.
It’s a remarkable story that began in the 1990s, when an organization called Envision Utah facilitated a regional visioning process and created a plan that has been recognized as one of the most promising smart growth models in the nation.
And then for a more acerbic perspective, here’s a photographic view from Restless Urbanist on Civic Irony:
While walking in Salt Lake City this week, I came across some things that I thought were really ironic. These images are pictures of what I would call Civic Irony. Civic Irony is where two incompatible ides in the city cross.
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Really, this road is characteristic of a slow speed roadway? It is a very lonely place for a 25 mile per hour street sign, when the characteristics of the street are that of a high speed roadway. No matter how many signs, pedestrian crossings, and addition of on-street parking, you are still rewarding the long trip. This translates to speed, because drivers can just move to another lane at will. Poor sign, I hope the City looks at a road diet for this street.
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Donald Shoup’s book, the High Cost of Free Parking outlines how expensive parking really is for a community. I thought it was funny that the LDS Business School shadows over this sea of asphalt. There are many ways that this parking could be converted into a better business model, so I hope the LDS students come to this conclusion as well.
In Salt Lake City: THE TEMPLE! Nothing else matters . . .
We don’t have to go to Salt Lake City to see a useless speed limit on a wide street: our very own Hastings claimed yet another life this week, thanks to the uselessness of city engineers. Painting 30kmh on an arterial does not a safe street make.
Thanks to Mormon settlers and the need for their wagon trains to make U turns, Salt Lake City is blessed or cursed (my point of view) with the widest street rights of way in the US – typically 100′, or the same as Central Broadway.
Having been in the city a few years ago after decades of not visiting it, I was impressed with what appears to be a vibrant arts, music and night club scene. Another one of those huh? moments, along with the public transit investment noted in the article.