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Ed Yeates Reporting Salt Lake's move towards a new look is not unlike what other comparable cities are doing. In fact, architects say our old fashioned view of what a city should be is no more.
Remember the transformation of downtown Salt Lake during the 2002 Olympics? Streets were packed. The cultural experience was unique, to say the least. But once in a lifetime Olympic crowds are hardly a permanent fixture.
Still, in redefining what a city should be, architects are trying to restore at least the flavor of that living, breathing environment that attracts and holds people.
Brenda Scheer, Dean, College of Architecture and Planning: "When people think of a dead downtown now, they're thinking that way because they're looking for the shopping to be revitalized, when really what's happening is a whole shift in the downtowns and what they're for."
A new generation of architects, like some students at the University of Utah, are redefining cities. Though beams and designs may become futuristic, they're merely ingredients in a recipe. New downtowns are centers for culture, sporting and theatre events, and festivals; hubs around effective mass transit systems; and above all, comfortable places to live.
Brenda Scheer: "Those housing units are going to be full of people who want to live in an urban environment and who will help create and activate restaurants and clubs and that will mean we will have more people on the streets."
Baltimore Harbor, Ft. Worth, Washington D.C., Norfolk Virginia, Portland - the list goes on. They're cities redefined and restructured within their own personalities, but a comfort zone that invites people to come and STAY!
Brenda Scheer: "You'll have a building from 1850 standing next to a building from 1960, standing next to a new building from 2005. And architects like that layering effect. You know you're sort of getting a little piece of everything as you walk down the street."
Dean Brenda Scheer predicts Salt Lake City's transformation, with other developers soon to jump on board now, won't take that long.
