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YouTubeUrban In-Fill wroteLook What Happened
May 15, 2008 by Jeff Johnson
It would have been impossible to imagine this twenty-three years ago when first moved to Salt Lake City. At the time most of the city was boarded up and the streets were void of pedestrians. Two downtown shopping malls, one across the street from the other, struggled for business.
I lived downtown, two blocks from the abandoned Union Station in a rented condo. When I moved from the condo in 1997 it was on the market for $16,000.
For nearly a decade the city struggled with the idea of light-rail. Meeting after meeting, public outcry against the project claimed that people in the “west†would never give up their cars. By the end of 1999, the two-year construction project was complete.
Less than three years later, a second line was built that traveled between downtown and the University of Utah. The former Union Station became the downtown terminus, and by 2002, it was the center of a new downtown development known as the Gateway. With 105 shops, a new planetarium, apartments and condos, it anchored a new downtown but led to the further demise of the existing shopping malls just three blocks away.
It was decided to raze what was left of the two shopping malls, as well as a 12-story office tower and recreate a 20 acre mixed-use development spanning three city blocks. The central feature of the new downtown center named City Creek Center, is in fact, a re-exposed City Creek which for decades had been routed under the city. The project will be complete by 2012 and will comprise retail, office and residential space anchored by Nordstrom, Macy’s and as a grocery store.
The light-rail lines which were said to be a waste of money now carry over 43,000 passengers weekly. To further reduce congestion, a heavy-rail line line running 38 miles through the northern suburbs and connecting Ogden opened this year.
The 600 square foot condo I rented, equidistant to both of these projects and two blocks from the rail line is now valued at $91,400.
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Salt Lake City Rail News
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Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Posted 4 years ago # -
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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What, more evidence and anecdotes showing us that rail based transit can spur redevelopment of a struggling city core?
Who would have thought.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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lifeontwowheels wrote What, more evidence and anecdotes showing us that rail based transit can spur redevelopment of a struggling city core?
Who would have thought.
I'm afraid you've completely misinterpreted this post.
This is simply to, once again, display the pure luck and coincidence that seems to accompany rail transportation with yet another inconclusive and subjective report of this so called "development" that accompanies streetcars.
I mean...this could have happened with a good bus route...it was purely happenstance that his property values increased and things got built around the line...there is no causality...right?
Posted 4 years ago # -
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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I see we both speak the same language of sarcasm. :D
Posted 4 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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sltrib.com wrote Council votes 5-0 to run streetcar along 2300 South
The Salt Lake Tribune
07/24/2008
In a 5-0 vote, the City Council adopted a joint resolution with Mayor Ralph Becker to forge ahead with a low-speed Sugar House streetcar to be funded by the capital, Utah Transit Authority and South Salt Lake.
After an environmental study, the plan calls for a streetcar to run along a two-mile stretch of 2300 South between UTA's Central Pointe station on 200 West and Highland Drive's Granite Block development. The public trolley will stop every two blocks. The city plans to preserve enough space alongside the street car for a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
Posted 3 years ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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standard.net wrote Ogden's mayor to take European streetcar junket
Saturday, November 22, 2008 | 8 Comments [ View ]
By SCOTT SCHWEBKE
Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- Mayor Matthew Godfrey will visit five European cities next month to inspect streetcar systems as part of a junket funded by corporate sponsors and others.
The trip, from Dec. 9 to 16, will include stops in Vienna, Austria; Munich, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland; and the French cities of Nice and Bordeaux.
Godfrey said he will take his wife, Monica, and will pay her way.
Thirteen people have been invited to participate in the trip that will cost $3,500 to $4,000 per person, said Natalie Gochnor, chief operating officer for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The trip will be paid for by corporate sponsors, the state and federal government, and Utah Transit Authority, she said.
In addition to Godfrey, others invited to participate include Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce President Lane Beattie and several UTA board members.
The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce is coordinating the trip because it's interested in exploring viable mass-transit options for a corridor extending from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Gochnor said.
"We are all about finding transit solutions," she said.
During the trip, participants will inspect technologies not readily available in the United States, such as wireless streetcar systems, that could ultimately be valuable in addressing Ogden's mass-transit needs, Godfrey said.
"It will be very helpful to see it on the ground, as well as talking with companies that manufacture it," he said.
City Councilwoman Dorrene Jeske said the trip should be helpful to Ogden.
"Europe has really made the most of using streetcars as mass transit, and there is a lot of valuable information that can be gained," she said.
"It will give participants a great chance to network and see what may work for our area."
The city council and city administration are currently participating in a $750,000 study that may lead to the establishment of a streetcar system along the busy downtown to Weber State University/McKay-Dee Hospital Center corridor.
The city's share of the study that will include a transit-alternatives analysis and environmental impact review will be $290,000.
Funding would come from $231,250 in Utah Transit Authority federal money pledged for local transportation studies and $58,750 set aside in the city's fiscal 2009 budget.
In addition, Weber State University will contribute $140,000, and Intermountain Health Care, the parent company of McKay-Dee Hospital Center, will contribute $30,000.
The remaining $290,000 needed for the study would be provided by UTA.
The aim of the study is to meet requirements for pursuing Federal Transit Administration funding for the streetcar project that could take three years to five years to obtain.
Efforts are under way by UTA to hire a consultant to undertake the study, said Bill Cook, executive director of the city council.
In addition, UTA is involved in a mass-transit options analysis that may include a streetcar or light-rail system beginning in North Salt Lake, extending to Bountiful and Centerville and then ending in Farmington.
http://www.standard.net/live/news/149208/
A mayor taking a trip paid for by corporate sponsors? That can't possibly be unethical, right?
Posted 3 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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A rebirth for South Salt Lake?
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 04/12/2010What does a beleaguered suburb saddled with a pinched tax base and a bum image do? Erect a downtown, of sorts, anchored by a train, a streetcar, an entertainment zone and, hopefully, a new identity.
That's the strategy in South Salt Lake, which has designated a new redevelopment area along 2100 South called the Central Point Project.
New Mayor Cherie Wood and the city's first-ever economic-development director hope the property-tax investment will transform the corridor from Main Street to Interstate 15 into a new hub, complete with shops, restaurants and theaters.
"We have to change what the perception of South Salt Lake is," says Garth Day, hired as the city's economic-development boss in January. "This is our chance for a downtown development that the city doesn't have."
READ MORE: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14869921
Posted 2 years ago # -
NEOBuckeye
Ohio At-Large
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This is ironic on so many levels. Salt Lake City, along with Phoenix and Las Vegas, is in an arid, near waterless region. This is fact that is likely to become the center of a catastrophic, disrupting crisis in the Western US within the next decade, given that their water reserves are already at critical levels of depletion.
Both Salt Lake City and Phoenix, however, either already have or are making major progress towards building light rail systems, which might mitigate some of the worst effects of the imminent peak oil/energy crisis for them. Without water, however, this form of future planning will prove to be irrelevant. They are screwed, Big Time.
Here in Columbus, and in the Midwest in general, lack of water won't be the issue that does us in, because we've got more of it than we really know what to do with. On the other hand, we can't break ground on a light rail system to save our lives. For a city where most people still need a car to travel to and from work, school or to the grocery store, the peak oil/energy crisis may prove to be more disruptive than it really need be. Unfortunately, our lack of foresight and extreme reluctance to take action is going to result in a lot of pain.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Mayor Ralph Becker: Streetcar success reflects state of Salt Lake City
Published: Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011
By Jared Page, Deseret News
Ralph Becker left most of his trophies on the shelf Tuesday night, preferring to showcase the one he says best reflects the state of Salt Lake City.
Departing from the traditional listing of accomplishments, Mayor Becker kept his State of the City address short and focused on the future by highlighting one of his administration's top priorities of 2010: the Sugar House streetcar.
Posted 1 year ago # -
ehill27
Short North
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The 10 Best Cities for Public Transportation
By Danielle Kurtzleben - US News & World Report#2. Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City earns its No. 2 spot in large part because of its heavy investment in serving a large suburban and exurban population... though the city’s population is just over 180,000, the system serves 1.7 million people in the larger area. Those residents take great advantage of the system; despite ranking No. 43 in terms of population, the city was No. 18 in terms of passenger miles traveled in 2008.
http://www.usnews.com/news/slideshows/the-10-best-cities-for-public-transportation/10
PS- 1.7 million is equivalent to the Columbus metro area.
Posted 1 year ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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NEOBuckeye wrote >>
This is ironic on so many levels. Salt Lake City, along with Phoenix and Las Vegas, is in an arid, near waterless region. This is fact that is likely to become the center of a catastrophic, disrupting crisis in the Western US within the next decade, given that their water reserves are already at critical levels of depletion.
Both Salt Lake City and Phoenix, however, either already have or are making major progress towards building light rail systems, which might mitigate some of the worst effects of the imminent peak oil/energy crisis for them. Without water, however, this form of future planning will prove to be irrelevant. They are screwed, Big Time.
Here in Columbus, and in the Midwest in general, lack of water won't be the issue that does us in, because we've got more of it than we really know what to do with. On the other hand, we can't break ground on a light rail system to save our lives. For a city where most people still need a car to travel to and from work, school or to the grocery store, the peak oil/energy crisis may prove to be more disruptive than it really need be. Unfortunately, our lack of foresight and extreme reluctance to take action is going to result in a lot of pain.
World oil demand to hit record high this year: IEAIronically, I think their limited natural resources/water supply may be a big part of what has helped them see that they need planned smart growth (as opposed to the planned dumb growth we do here). Tremendous population growth and an apprecation for beautiful natural areas help too.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Two Light Rail Extensions for Salt Lake, with More on the Way
Yonah Freemark
August 7th, 2011
Much thanks to federal spending, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area practically doubled the size of its TRAX light rail network this weekend, adding two extensions a year early and 20% under budget. Though estimates predict relatively modest ridership on the new lines, the routes provide the city and its suburbs one of the most comprehensive transit systems in the country, with frequent bus and rail corridors spread out in a grid across the immediate urban core.
And with two other light rail extensions, a commuter rail line, a streetcar, and a series of bus rapid transit corridors on the way, the region is far from finished.
Posted 9 months ago # -
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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bryanyost said:
Frontrunner is on point! Commuted all the time on it when I used to live in Ogden. We seriously need this in Ohio.They run a very good schedule for commuter rail; every half-hour during rush hours and every hour the rest of the day. I counted 58 trains per day between Ogden and SLC, and the travel time is not much longer than driving. Frequency is key to generating ridership. If you're going to do commuter rail, this is how you do it. Not easy to do on a line shared with freight though.
Posted 9 months ago #
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