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SALT LAKE CITY -- At the current rate of growth, the population along the Wasatch Front will increase by 65 percent -- or one and a half million people -- in the next thirty years.
This week, plans were announced to move forward with an extraordinary effort at master-planning designed to make sure that growth is managed in a way to guarantee our community remains a desirable place to live.
It's called Wasatch Choice for 2040, a project that began seven years ago with the goal of bringing together government and community leaders, average citizens and multiple commercial interests to forge a common vision of an ideal future community. Great effort was expended to make sure citizen input was solicited, and listened to. More than 60 cities and towns participated, as did more than a thousand citizens who attended 14 community workshops.
The process involved analyzing competing visions of the future -- one based on what would happen with no overall planning, and others based on various planning scenarios. The result: a consensus that urban planning should be regionally coordinated, and emphasize transportation choices, a variety of housing options, preservation of land, and enhanced air quality.
The result would be a four-county urban core with 18 percent less traffic congestion, enhanced air quality. Growth would occur around key neighborhood centers. Roads would not be built to accommodate housing developments; housing developments would be built to accommodate access to efficient transportation options, with an emphasis on public transit. As a result, 23 square miles of open land would be sheltered from additional sprawl.
The next two years will be spent on implementing the vision by providing resources to community leaders, planning departments and developers to flesh-out the step- by-step details.
Utah's original settlers placed a high premium on planning -- it is encouraging to see that legacy reborn in a remarkable example of collaboration and far-sightedness that KSL believes will pay huge dividends to future generations.
E-mail: cpsarras@ksl.com
