Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[delts145]

Originally Posted by SLC Rocks

This is all I was trying to say except comrade did it in a none combative way, I love it!!!! I even got a private email with a personal threat. Sandy will do whatever and however to hinder growth in Downtown, and there is the reality it could happen over there next 10 years...

I agree, there are definately power brokers in Sandy who are as passionate about building the area between 90th and 106th south as there are those who are passionate about downtown Salt Lake. Some of you need to take an honest look at yourselves and understand that you have twins of a like mind, only for Sandy not Salt Lake. The same is also true for Sandy with Lehi, or Lehi and Pleasant Grove and Provo. We can also throw Ogden and a dozen other towns into the mix. All of the hand wringing in the world is not going to change our capitalist/competitive system. I don't think their are many of you who want to institute the United Order, with all progress in the metro directed toward Salt Lake.

IMO, Salt Lake City is now in a position to compete strongly. It's pretty obvious that this whole situation between the dualing cities has become somewhat of a bloodsport of sorts. It is as if we are engaged in a major league, competitive sports franchise. If and when the Downtown has weaknesses, we need to address them and move forward. This is why Becker, is an outstanding man for this time in the Downtown area's history. He has both a keen sense of politics, planning, and at the same time a charming and loveable demeanor. He is a man who will work constructively with powerful leaders in the community, whether their last name is Tanner or Burton.

I believe it's is very important that we keep track of Sandy's progress in the same way we keep track of our favorite NBA team's progress, and the progress of their opponent. There are games that downtown is going to lose, such as the soccer arena, and there are games that downtown will win. The important thing to me is that downtown has leadership who is ready to fight and be competitive. Obviously, we are no longer competing with just Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento or Portland for jobs and conventions, etc. The game is now on right here in our own metro. This is true all over the nation. Every Mayor and City Council worth reelection is going to fight for their share of the pie. Salt Lake City must either compete or give up and fall behind.

I know for a fact that the opinions of this forum are heard and taken into consideration. Whether it is for the saving of the Deseret Tower, or the design of the skybridge and CCC in general. Whatever worthy ideas we might have for the Becker administration on how to better compete, then let's be sure to let him know.

I do not believe for a minute that we are experiencing a short term bubble that is going to burst, and leave us with a gaping hole in the ground. I firmly believe that the current course of Salt Lake City is sustainable and will continue to progress, as Future Mayor and many other forumers have pointed out in as non combative a way as possible.

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[urbanboy]

Delts, When it comes down to it, the State Legislators are the ones who control the funding. I don't know if you realize how corrupt our Legislators are! Ironically, the majority of our Legislators are Mormon, and in Mormon culture it is believed that Salt Lake City will eventually become a very "wicked" city, not in the cool way. I remember hearing this multiple times from sunday school, seminary, and institute teachers. I think this cultural doctrine has a lot to do with the resentment that Salt Lake City, the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is more Gentile than Jew (Mormon), and in a political sense, more Democrat than Republican. Of course there is no Mormon doctrine that says what party you ought to be, however the culture does. In many of these legislator's minds, Democrat = wicked, therefore a prophesy is being fulfilled. They know they won't be able to save Salt Lake City from it's "wickedness," so they are trying to build up a Republican (righteous) Center to rival Salt Lake City. Interestingly, neighborhoods and cities that are more walkable, tend to be Democrat country. The reason I say this is: walkable communities are designed to maximize on human interactions. The more people interact with one another, the less prejudice and fear based judgment they have for one another. The more understanding and tolerance they have, the more likely they are to value social equality and human rights, and because republicans aren't interested in this, but more interested in discrimination based on religious views, the people in these walkable communities tend to chose an alternative political persuasion. Salt Lake City is a walkable city, therefore, it makes sense that it is Democrat country. However, Sandy (where stake centers and ward houses are the only community centers) does not have the infrastructure and is not designed to be walkable, therefore, human interactions are limited (except in church, but there are no conflicting views in that setting, and if there are, it is looked down upon), resulting mostly in judgmental people who discriminate based on fear. These people tend to be Republican. If you look at the political demographics of our Country, these observations hold true. Those cities that are more walkable (Boston, New York, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, etc...) tend to vote Democrat. So Sandy, with it's lack of walkability, has the potential of becoming a Republican center, which seems to be the goal of the Legislators. This could be accomplished at the expense of Salt Lake City.

[DENrising]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

Delts, When it comes down to it, the State Legislators are the ones who control the funding. I don't know if you realize how corrupt our Legislators are! Ironically, the majority of our Legislators are Mormon, and in Mormon culture it is believed that Salt Lake City will eventually become a very "wicked" city, not in the cool way. I remember hearing this multiple times from sunday school, seminary, and institute teachers. I think this cultural doctrine has a lot to do with the resentment that Salt Lake City, the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is more Gentile than Jew (Mormon), and in a political sense, more Democrat than Republican. In many of these legislator's minds, Democrat = wicked, therefore a prophesy is being fulfilled. They know they won't be able to save Salt Lake City from it's "wickedness," so they are trying to build up a Republican (righteous) Center to rival Salt Lake City. Interestingly, neighborhoods and cities that are more walkable, tend to be Democrat country. The reason I say this is: walkable communities are designed to maximize on human interactions. The more people interact with one another, the less prejudice and fear based judgment they have for one another. The more understanding and tolerance they have, the more likely they are to value social equality and human rights, and because republicans aren't interested in this, but more interested in discrimination based on religious views, the people in these walkable communities tend to chose an alternative political persuasion. Salt Lake City is a walkable city, therefore, it makes sense that it is Democrat country. However, Sandy (where stake centers and ward houses are the only community centers) does not have the infrastructure and is not designed to be walkable, therefore, human interactions are limited (except in church, but there are no conflicting views in that setting, and if there are, it is looked down upon), resulting in judgmental people who discriminate based on fear. These people tend to be Republican. If you look at the political demographics of our Country, these observations hold true. Those cities that are more walkable (Boston, New York, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, etc...) tend to vote Democrat. So Sandy, with it's lack of walkability, has the potential of becoming a Republican center, which seems to be the goal of the Legislators. This could be accomplished at the expense of Salt Lake City.

Interesting Urbanboy, look at the Primary results this year, most large cities vote Democratic, while suburban and rural areas are almost all Repub. But I still think the Sandy thing is correct, there are limited sidewalks and public transportation, forcing everyone to drive between destinations, and therefore limiting public interaction. But this is not unique to Sandy!

[DENrising]

Hey if I'm on City Council or Mayor when ESA needs to be replaced I will do everything in my power to keep the Jazz in SLC.

Future Mayor, this should be your Campaign motto.

[T-Mac]

Urbanboy, be careful in your generalizations of people. I am a republican, but I also have an open mind. My dad was about as Democrat as you can get. He went to BYU, had a beard and was president of the Young Democrats club back in the 60's. A very small group down there. He gave the administration fits as you can imagine. I know that you are not saying that all Republicans are this way, but my generalizing you can't help but lump everyone in this way. I do agree with your overall points for the most part, but I find it interesting that when you talk about how Salt Lake City is supposed to become one of the most wicked places and how that has been taught over and over, I think that depends on who the teacher is. What I mean, is that I have heard this as well, but it wasn's pushed constantly. I have always heard it in casual conversation. On that note, I find it interesting that we see the church being the one pumping $1.5 billion dollars into the core of downtown. Not only that but making it a walkable development and bringing people back into the urban core. Not all Republicans dislike walkable communities and urbanization. You can see this from my photographs. I guess what I want to say after all this rambling is that don't always judge a group of people like that because there will always be those who are not part of that whole and I don't think that helps in your arguments. Enough rambling on my part.

[Future Mayor]

So if the above scenario is the case all of the time, why then does Sandy hope to create a more walkable urban environment. If the city becomes an Urban Center it will become more walkable, and thus will attract only democrats, according to the above reasoning. Yes high rises can be built in a suburban environment but I don't see that this is what Sandy is going for. With three 30+ story towers, with commercial residential and retail, along with entertainment venues this becomes a more walkable area.

I really think the biggest issue with the legislature and its seeming bias against SLC is that Rocky simply rubbed nearly everyone the wrong way, mormons and non mormons. I think Mayor Becker will make great strides to heal the wounds that Rocky created.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by SLCrising

Hey if I'm on City Council or Mayor when ESA needs to be replaced I will do everything in my power to keep the Jazz in SLC.

Future Mayor, this should be your Campaign motto.

Thanks Rising, I like that, I'll keep it in mind.

[wrendog]

Urbanboy, I respect your opinion, but boy, that was a little much.

[RC14]

I have been kind of lazy these past few weeks and haven't been reading the SLC development thred. So I don't know if this has been talked about or not, but last time I was on this thred there was some discussion about the Metro Building (Jetson's building as Urban boy called it).
As I pointed out on another thred I recently started doing custodial work at Temple Square. They have been having me work in the COB but I just found out this week that I will be working in the Metro building now. Apparently the L.D.S. church bought the building to use for Church offices. I have only worked there once so far sence the building isn't actualy open yet. The building is actualy kind of interesting on the inside. The only thing I liked about it on the outside was the facade. The inside however is pritty cool, I'll try to get some pictures soon. One thing I found kind of odd about the building is that there are no windows on the outside walls except on Main St. and on the 6th floor(top floor, nice views from up there by the way) however the inside is very well lit up due to a sky light and the window facing Main St.

The building isn't anything to write home about, however after being inside I belive even more stongly that the building needs to be preserved, it's definently got a unique architectural style.

Sorry for the long post, I just thought you might be interested.

[PandaUte]

Why all this speculation about the Jazz relocating?

Energy Solutions Arena is only 16 years old. It may seem like an older facility by comparison, but that's only because there was a rash of new arena construction over the last 10-15 years. This was because many NBA teams were forced to replace 50s and 60s-era arenas like the Great Western Forum, the Spectrum in Philly, the Indiana Fieldhouse, and the old Rose Garden in Portland. Most teams in the NBA (the New York Knicks are a notable exception) are now playing in a modern or newly-renovated venue.

The ESA is no exception.

It's still considered by many to be one of the best basketball facilities in the nation, and sixteen years after it's construction, I can't find one thing about it that looks or feels old.

And the thing that nobody has mentioned here: Energy Solutions Arena is an OLYMPIC monument - and consequently, it is irrevocably woven into the city's proud olympic legacy.

Trust me - ESA is a resource Salt Lake City intends on preserving, and with construction costs being what they are, Larry Miller has NOT ONE REASON to bolt.

The Jazz are here to stay, friends.

[wrendog]

Comrade was only saying that EVENTUALLY, the ESA will be replace. In 10 years or so, there will be talk about replacement. It's going to happen.

[PandaUte]

Fair enough - I just think 10 years is far too short of a timeline. More like 20.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by PandaUte

Why all this speculation about the Jazz relocating?


It's still considered by many to be one of the best basketball facilities in the nation, and sixteen years after it's construction, I can't find one thing about it that looks or feels old.

And the thing that nobody has mentioned here: Energy Solutions Arena is an OLYMPIC monument - and consequently, it is irrevocably woven into the city's proud olympic legacy.

Trust me - ESA is a resource Salt Lake City intends on preserving, and with construction costs being what they are, Larry Miller has NOT ONE REASON to bolt.

The Jazz are here to stay, friends.

I agree with you big time PandaUte, I cannot count how many times I have heard from Sports fans around the country, how much they like the look and style of the ESA. Sure, there will be future talk of some updating and renovation to different technical aspects of the interior, but a complete replacement is not likely in out lifetime.

[urbanboy]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

So if the above scenario is the case all of the time, why then does Sandy hope to create a more walkable urban environment. If the city becomes an Urban Center it will become more walkable, and thus will attract only democrats, according to the above reasoning. Yes high rises can be built in a suburban environment but I don't see that this is what Sandy is going for. With three 30+ story towers, with commercial residential and retail, along with entertainment venues this becomes a more walkable area.

The streets still aren't interconnected enough to create a walkable environment. Like I said, they don't have the infrastructure for a walkable community, and don't have a lot of opportunity for it (they have some, but not a lot) since Sandy is already mostly built out.

[blazefirelight]

Does anyone else agree that the big parking lots downtown need to go? I'm mostly referring to the one on SW Temple and S Main, 400 S and 500 S. They're not very...downtown-y. I think that they need to be built down, and built on top of.

[DENrising]

Originally Posted by blazefirelight

Does anyone else agree that the big parking lots downtown need to go? I'm mostly referring to the one on SW Temple and S Main, 400 S and 500 S. They're not very...downtown-y. I think that they need to be built down, and built on top of.

Agreed, I hate those surface lots, it's like having a missing front tooth.

Wasn't this an original site plan for the RSL Stadium?

That is now prime real estate, right by TRAX, on Main Street, what is the deal? Anybody know if its' owners have development plans? At least a parking lot doesn't have to remain a parking lot, but they did do a lot of landscaping to the grounds, just hope it's not permanent.

[urbanboy]

That block is owned by Earl Holding, who is also the owner of Sinclair oil, Little America, The Grand America, Snow Basin and Sun Valley Ski resorts, and the block south of Little America, which block, was being looked at as a potential site for the Real Stadium. Currently, there are no plans for that block. The city is waiting on Earl to bring forward some masterplan for that block, although I doubt any plans will be presented soon.

[PandaUte]

Aside from the Earl Holding block, the other eyesore that needs to go is the parking lot across from the Triad center. As a matter of fact, there about two dozen sites along the north 300 West corridor that need face lifts. Hopefully, Marmalade starts going vertical soon.

[urbanboy]

That parking lot is called "The Park Place." and is owned by PRI (real estate arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and will eventually serve as expansion space for the BYU Salt Lake Center.

[ski_steve]

I just happened to have my camera with me yesterday thought I would take a few pictures of some things


The University of Utah Medical Center expansion

This is the rendering for it



Here is a pic of construction as of yesterday, from the campus shuttle



The windows of the bus are kinda dirty



The Marriott Library from a distance, the crane is now gone and it will be completed in the Summer


Rendering


Rendering




A new humanities building in the center of campus- Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building




Facing south


Rendering



Here is a new Geology building under construction- Frederick Albert Sutton Geology Building



Here are some pic from the campus shuttle facing downtown