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Richard Piatt and Marc Giauque reportingAs TRAX and commuter rail lines go in, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is pushing for more developments near the station.
Right now at Salt Lake's Intermodal Hub, you can't find a place to buy a donut, a cup of coffee or a newspaper. A lot of people consider the area around 600 West and 300 South as the fringe of downtown. UTA Transit and Economic Development Manager Ryan McFarland hopes to change that. He says, "As you arrive in the city, this will be your welcome on transit into the city. So it's very critical that we do it right."
Already, there are businesses interested in leasing space at the station itself. But McFarland says it goes beyond convenience stores and kiosks. He says, "We would love people to consider living around the transit station. We would love people to consider living in the downtown, an urban downtown, and we think that we are promoting this as a real good opportunity."
Not just in this area, but everywhere mass transit might go, development is being tailored to a world where gas-guzzling cars are out of the picture. Secretary of International Relations Eduardo Guimaraes said, "You direct the growth of the city, we did that. So it's very crucial that you have the land use and the mass transit system projected together."
Guimaraes is world renowned when it comes to transit-oriented development. Curitiba City, Brazil, has grown up, literally, because of heavy reliance by most people on public transit. Of course, cars won't be displaced in Utah right away.
But there are planners in nearly every city in the state looking at "what's next." And in an age of $4-a -gallon gas, they feel they need to be ready.
John Inglish, general manager of UTA, said "I think we're going to need this. I think we're going to be dependent on it, and that's why it's important that we, as rapidly as possible, develop a system that works."
So in a lot of cities, areas of town that weren't much before may become a destination in the near future.
E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
