Introduction

Great neighborhoods define a great city, and a great city is a gathering place for its residents and for people from throughout the region and the world. Salt Lake City should be a city that matches its scenery. Long known as the Crossroads of the West for our enviable air, rail and highway connections, Salt Lake City cemented its status as an international city by hosting the world’s Winter Olympics in 2002.

Our historic neighborhoods—from Poplar Grove to Sugar House, from St. Mary’s to Rose Park, from downtown to Glendale, from Capitol Hill to the Avenues—retain the character of Salt Lake’s colorful history. At the same time, these areas are constantly evolving along with their residents and local businesses. Effectively blending the positive aspects of preservation while adapting to social and economic change requires a comprehensive, highly planned approach; it also requires a far-sighted vision of how we want our city to function, feel, and look.

Becoming a Great American City means protecting our neighborhoods, engaging our residents and business owners in decisions, and establishing a clear plan for the future we desire. We want a community with “a shared agenda of living well in a well-loved place.” (Daniel Kemmis)

This is my vision for a Great American City that is defined by its neighborhoods:

Viable Neighborhood Commercial Centers

Neighborhoods are defined by streets and homes that foster interaction by residents, and by neighborhood centers where people gather. Such centers might include schools, parks, coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, bicycle and vehicle repair shops, medical clinics, post offices, hardware and food stores, florist and antiques shops, pet grooming shops and clinics, bookstores, dry cleaning establishments, and hair salons. I will develop vibrant neighborhood commercial centers throughout Salt Lake City. The city government will be an active partner in engaging the community in this process by facilitating the places to define and develop neighborhood centers. Some of Salt Lake City’s community master plans, for example, haven’t been updated in 15 or 20 years, and without a clear plan we’ll get incompatible development that does not adequately serve either the short- or the long-range needs of our residents and local businesses.

I embrace an approach that stimulates the development of locally owned businesses and generates the energy that can be felt in places like East Broadway or 9th and 9th. Salt Lake City should focus its attention on our local businesses as the creators of wealth and unique character, providing a sense of place.

Strong neighborhood commercial centers are also critical components of a green city. (See my Blueprint for a Green City.) They reduce the need for automobile travel because the destinations for that travel are close to each other. They become natural hubs for public transportation, and neighborhoods are strengthened by their interconnectedness, as well. I will link neighborhoods with each other through pedestrian spaces, urban trails, bikeways, public transit, and greenways. Linking neighborhoods is also about creating a sense of a greater community, so that the residents and businesses of one neighborhood feel connected to others.

Specific Initiatives:

Fix in Six: I will update each neighborhood plan within six years. Each plan will focus on the proper development of commercial centers, their connections to residential areas and open spaces, and an appropriate mix of housing that is compatible with the area. Salt Lake City plans will be the basic guide for city land-use decisions.

Build to Sustain: I will revise our building and zoning codes to integrate sustainable design standards for all neighborhood plans, including that of downtown. Building design and construction practices are major sources of pollution and waste. Under my leadership, Salt Lake City will continue Mayor Anderson’s legacy of pushing the envelope for environmental and energy best practices.

Preserve and Conserve: I will introduce incentives for the “recycling” of existing buildings through rehabilitation and adaptive reuse so that we meet the dual goals of neighborhood preservation and energy conservation. This can be done with low-interest renovation loans, tax breaks on LEED-certified refurbishments, and density bonuses where appropriate.

Salt Lake Bikeways: I will develop a network of dedicated non-motorized trails and paths—separated from auto traffic—that connect neighborhoods to each other and to open spaces throughout the city. (See my Blueprint for a Green City for details.)

Safe Neighborhoods

Without a feeling of security in our homes, streets, neighborhoods and nation, our efforts to move forward to become a Great American City are severely undermined. Public safety is a foundation for all other city services.

As a former law enforcement officer, EMT and firefighter, I particularly appreciate the commitment of our emergency services personnel. Their work in Salt Lake City leads our state and should be bolstered. As I’ve walked door-to-door throughout Salt Lake City, residents in every neighborhood have told me of woes they face: break-ins, car prowls, drug houses, uncontrolled speeding, slow police response, and a lack of support for community policing efforts. Our law enforcement community is stretched beyond its capacity, and some of our most successful efforts to bring law enforcement, housing, health and other agencies together (CAT and Fusion) to assist citizens and neighborhoods have not received adequate support from the city administration.

Specific Initiatives

I will work with the City Council to provide the city resources to strengthen this foundation of our community. The effort begins with an administration that focuses attention on strengthening our police presence in neighborhoods and supports efforts like Mobile Watch that give citizens an appropriate role to lend eyes and ears in our neighborhoods. Night Out Against Crime is a great rallying cry for citizen participation in crime prevention.

Panhandling: I will address the chilling effect of panhandling in our downtown by mounting an education campaign for our city residents and visitors while providing expanded services for the homeless and destitute. Further law enforcement efforts will be evaluated while taking into account the root causes of homelessness and effect on our criminal justice system.

Drug Free Parks: I will demand a zero-tolerance for crime—particularly drug use—in our city parks.

Graffiti Gone in 36: I will make sure that tagging and defacing crimes are aggressively pursued, and that every incidence of tagging is cleaned up within 36 hours of reporting.

Downtown SLC as a Neighborhood and Regional Gathering Place

Nearly 10 percent of Salt Lake’s population calls downtown home. It is like any other neighborhood in that it offers its own “menu” of unique businesses, housing options, and transportation choices. And like other neighborhoods, it has special places to gather.

But more than any other neighborhood, downtown belongs to all of us, regardless of where we live. Inevitably, each of us comes downtown to visit the City Library, to attend concerts, plays and sporting events, or to patronize the wide variety of restaurants and shops. During business hours, downtown’s population swells to more than 60,000 people, many of whom commute from other cities and counties. And downtown is a constant destination for convention guests and visitors from around the world.

Consequently, it is a place of special importance and deserves special attention. A broad coalition of public and private interests recently unveiled “Downtown Rising,” an ambitious plan to redefine much of downtown and build on the elements that make it unique. I support many of the concepts proposed in this plan—such as a year-round farmers’ market, green loops, a performing arts center, a global exchange place, stronger ties to the University of Utah, and distinguishing smaller districts within the downtown community—and as mayor I will actively participate in their planning and implementation.

I will also work aggressively to encourage the preservation of downtown’s remaining historic buildings and will actively support current and future downtown businesses—particularly during this period of intensive construction.

The Draft Downtown Transportation Plan is the most thoughtful, comprehensive approach to successful downtown mobility Salt Lake City has seen. With this plan, we would take advantage of our new Central Station ( an intermodal hub) and expand commuter rail (with the FrontRunner) and light rail (connecting lines to and from the Salt Lake Valley, the University of Utah and the airport). The plan also calls for the completion of a light-rail loop through the southwest quadrant of downtown, expanded bus service (along a primary east-west corridor on Second South), bikeways, circulator shuttles (for visitors and other downtown users on rail or busses), dedicated bikeways, and a public parking authority that would have clear, identifiable, easily accessible parking areas on the perimeter of downtown. With my leadership in the mayor’s office, we will work quickly to implement this plan and make downtown an accessible, transit-friendly core of our region, where cars, once their drivers reach their destination, can be left behind while visitors and residents are downtown.

Specific Initiatives

Downtown Living: I will make sure that residential housing offerings are expanded downtown and that there will be housing options for the full range of incomes. At its most fundamental level, it is the presence of people that makes downtown a gathering place. Like our other neighborhoods, the presence of an around-the-clock population is the lifeblood that enlivens the bricks and mortar. Already, 10 percent of the city’s population lives in the greater downtown area, and we’re currently seeing a boom in residential construction. Almost a dozen condominium projects are now under construction in the downtown vicinity, and almost all of the units are pre-sold. The City Creek Center will include 750 residential units, and more residential development is in the planning and design phases.

Art of the City: I will expand ArtSpace and promote similar models for encouraging artists to work and live downtown. Downtown is Utah’s performing and visual arts capital. Salt Lake City is known throughout the nation for its variety and strength of music, dance, and arts on display. As demonstrated by ArtSpace, artists can energize downtown, and I will intensify our efforts to infuse downtown with their creativity and passion.

If There’s Only One, It Belongs Downtown: I will partner the city closely with Salt Lake County and the state to work for major cultural and government facilities downtown. Downtown is a major regional and, increasingly, international center for commerce, as evidenced by recent efforts led by Governor Huntsman to develop a World Trade Center in Salt Lake City. With Salt Lake City’s hub airport and downtown’s role as a center for visitors from around the world, an international business component is a logical extension. International trade and tourism energize us not only financially but culturally, and we should ensure that they continue to grow. Downtown is also the traditional place in our region where deals are made, whether by business or government. But, faced with the growth of suburban business centers, Salt Lake City’s mayor must work aggressively to ensure that downtown remains the place where major commercial and state government developments take place. A light rail transit link to state offices between downtown and the airport will reinforce this role.

City Nights: While remaining respectful of law enforcement’s needs, I will work with our City Council to revise ordinances restricting the location of restaurants, bars, and similar businesses to better serve residents and visitors. We strive to be a hospitable and welcoming community for residents and visitors alike, and a substantial component of our economy depends on the business of hospitality. Unnecessary restrictions on the siting of nightlife locations hurt the growth of downtown business and unnecessarily limit economic and entertainment opportunities for our community and our guests.

As we bring more people into downtown, we must also seek ways to foster more intimate gathering places—restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries, bookstores, pubs and bars. These places energize downtown by providing places for business and social activity and demonstrate that we respect a multitude of beliefs and lifestyles. Unfortunately, current zoning ordinances limit the types and locations of many of these gathering places, artificially and unnecessarily restricting how downtown can grow and prosper. Under strong leadership from City Hall and in partnership with the state and all downtown stakeholders, I commit to making the changes needed to improve hospitality for both residents and visitors.

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Salt Lake City’s growing convention business, fostered by the expanded Salt Palace and the efforts of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, is a key component in shaping downtown’s future. Our cornerstone conventions, the Outdoor Retailer shows, can help point the way to defining a logical niche for Salt Lake City as one of the nation’s premier outdoor-oriented cities. With the semi-annual Outdoor Retailers Convention, new businesses, like Black Diamond, Marker, and Advanced Composites, Inc., are starting up, maturing, or locating in Salt Lake City, hiring local employees and contributing to local and regional economic development. Salt Lake City should capitalize on its unique and extraordinary, year-round outdoor recreational opportunities to become the capital for this business sector.

Salt Lake City is also situated to become a center for biotechnology companies and many other high-tech businesses, due in part to our well-educated workforce and the generally high quality of life available in our location in the Intermountain West. Building on the world-class research going on at the University of Utah, programs like USTAR can assure that ideas that germinate in Salt Lake City stay in Utah through start-up-business assistance.

With TRAX light rail connecting the airport, downtown (with its soon-to-be greatly expanded residential and retail development) and the University of Utah, as well as the Emigration Visitors’ District (including Hogle Zoo, This Is The Place Heritage Park, the Utah Museum of Natural History, and Red Butte Garden), Salt Lake City is primed to complete the development of a vibrant, cohesive, well-planned city environment that will establish our city as a livable, desirable place for current and future generations to live, work, play, and raise a family..

We all live in neighborhoods; they are the canvasses upon which we paint our livelihoods every day. As mayor, I will work tirelessly to preserve the historic qualities of these special places while also bringing people together to work on sharing their vision, talents, expertise and creativity to make Salt Lake City a Great American City.