Salt Lake:Official development news thread

[UTPlanner]

You know I try to be a nice guy most of the time, but I have to say Urbanboy. You must be a really lonely man because from my limited encounters with you I could not imagine that you have a lot of friends or other close relationships in your life.

That's too bad.

[urbanboy]

Do you think you might be making an assumption here? I'm not as overbearing in person. Sorry if I come across to you as an unfriendly guy, I just feel passionate about the subject and hope we can all be more idealistic. You know, aim high.

[Justnslcsugarhood.]

That courthouse really, really needs to be relocated in my opinion. We have way too many parking lots downtown that we could get rid of and I'm sure it's cheaper to start with a parking lot rather then tearing down a building and rebuilding another one.

[WASDEN]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

I've always thought the courthouse on State was a waste of space! The architect was surely more interested in designing a prominent building (which looks fake-ish) rather than designing an efficient buiding that respects space. Also the city council was very uninspired not to see the potential for a view corridor and easy access to TRAX.

Sadly, current required setbacks for government buildings makes it impossible to maintain Main Street's slot canyon nature, and would ruin the potential urban feel of that intersection. Therefore I refuse to locate a new government building anywhere on Main Street until the setback requirements have been abolished.

I quite like the Courthouse on State. Its orientation to the City County building is very tasteful, as if paying homage to what I consider Salt Lake's most elegant building (this coming from a guys who supports walkability and preserving midblock corridors). However, I do hope that the block North of the City County gains a midblock corridor. Its set up nicely for a pedestrian path between 3rd and 4th South just West of the Chamber of Commerce and the Metro condos. Plus it already boasts an unobstructed view of the City/County.

What kind of courthouse would you prefer- Borg Cube or Matheson? At least you know that the Matheson is a courthouse, where the Borg Cube could be confused with anything from a meat packing plant to warehouse for radioactive waste. The Borg Cube is hardly as respectful to its surrounding architecture. Oddfellows Hall and the Shubrick can be exhibits A and B. I'd say for a modern governmental facility the Matheson is first rate.

[urbanboy]

Yeah, I agree, my sight plan could still work if the courthouse has a back door, however, the view won't be half as nice.

I don't know, twin borg cubes on that block could be pretty interesting.

[Justnslcsugarhood.]

What do you guys think is going to happen to the Parking lots east of the LDS business college. I think we could actually have an L shaped Skyline district that wouldn't look too bad. What do you guys think, am I thinking crazy?
If you look at those apartments on west capital hill, The really tall ones that aren't really in Marmalade, and took the style of those buildings and used similar buildings to fill up the parking lots and a more Marmaladesque red brick building to fill in the hole where the school district's building used to be just a little north of those I think you could make that whole area pretty cool, especially with Marmalade and that other condo project.

just to stay on topic, when the court house gets finished I think it might be a catalyst for other development, such as high end condos that I could see future lawers occupying.

[Future Mayor]

The lot to the east or the medals plaza block is proposed to be a new campus for the BYU Salt Lake Center. While I like the idea of having a campus of sorts downtown, I didn't really like the original layout which was very inward facing. I'm sure it had doors facing the street but it wasn't pushed up to the sidewalk which is what the area needs in order to connect S. Temple from W. Temple to the Gateway. The LDS church owns that entire block.

I wouldn't mind seeing another tall building there, I don't think a super tall, maybe something just shorter or taller than Tower 1 or Wells Fargo would be nice. Maybe COB II will go on that block, although it doesn't make a ton or sense to put it two entire blocks away from COB I.

[TANGELD_SLC]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

While I was attempting to find rendering of the original Triad Plan I came across this interesting article from 1989 in the Des News.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: UTAHNS GOOD AT PLANTING VISIONS, BUT HARVESTING HAS BEEN ANOTHER STORY

http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/7...T-HARVESTING-HAS-BEEN-ANOTHER-STORY.html

The interesting part is actually at the bottom of the article the Honorable Mentions to see how many of those have actually happened in the nearly 20 years since the article was written.

I think it would be in the best interests of Utah to revive the Lake Wasatch and Supertunnel projects. They basically rock socks. The idea of Lake Wasatch(or something similiar) has always been something of a no-brainer for me. I think we could do it, too and still keep the GSL mostly intact for migrating birds.

Maybe we could get federal funding for the Supertunnel if Obama's energy and transportation plans go ahead as he hopes. Clean hydroelectric power. An electric hyper-speed train. BUILD IT for Pete's sake!

[Urban_logic]

Originally Posted by shakman

I believe Sarajevo in 1984 was the largest to city to host the Winter Olympics.

This was already put to rest on this thread... so please leave it and talk about development only.

But the metro population for Sarajevo is 400,000 - a fraction of the Wasatch Fornt's 2 million. Yes the city's 300,000 is bigger than Salt Lake Proper's 180,000, but I am talking about the urban area pop, not the city pop (the total built-out urban and suburban development sorounding and connected to the central city as a continuous urban area).

Could someone please define "development" for me? I keep seeing people accusing others of "not talking about development". Some posts clearly aren't, but I thought my post was perfectly relavent to the topic and that talking about the 2018 Olympics being considered for SLC as certainly "development related".

PS: Torino's metro population is just under a million, which means it was smaller than SLC. Vancouver will eclipse SLC with it's 2.8 million metro in 2010.

[urbanboy]

This is perfect!!!! the needle can be set on top of a "farmscraper!" The rotating restaurant can serve fresh fruits and vegetables, and could probably also tout being the only restaurant in Salt Lake City that grows the food on sight!!! I love it!!! That would seriously be something to pull those pedestrians down Main Street!





or it could look like a mix between these buildings:

[Urban_logic]

Those are totally cool, Urban Boy!! What cities are they from?

[urbanboy]

I think they are just proposals. Not sure in which cities except I heard that one is being proposed for Las Vegas.

[stayinginformed]

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article on vertical farming where that picture came from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_Farming

according to that, the following cities have expressed serious interest in establishing a vertical farm: Inchon, South Korea; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Dongtan China.

[Boiseguy]

Originally Posted by Urban_logic

But the metro population for Sarajevo is 400,000 - a fraction of the Wasatch Fornt's 2 million. Yes the city's 300,000 is bigger than Salt Lake Proper's 180,000, but I am talking about the urban area pop, not the city pop (the total built-out urban and suburban development sorounding and connected to the central city as a continuous urban area).

Could someone please define "development" for me? I keep seeing people accusing others of "not talking about development". Some posts clearly aren't, but I thought my post was perfectly relavent to the topic and that talking about the 2018 Olympics being considered for SLC as certainly "development related".

PS: Torino's metro population is just under a million, which means it was smaller than SLC. Vancouver will eclipse SLC with it's 2.8 million metro in 2010.

Torino's city proper is 900K, metro is 2.2million...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turin
reason why torino was touted as beating salt lake city in metro size is because in statistical analysis.. the whole wasatch front is not considered the same metro... So for statistical purposes..Salt Lake's metro is 1.2 million with provo having 550K and Ogden having 450k... for whatever reason, that is how it is figured statistically...I realize many would argue against that, but that's what's down on the books for the national census unfortunately...

[Urban_logic]

Originally Posted by Boiseguy

Torino's city proper is 900K, metro is 2.2million...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turin
reason why torino was touted as beating salt lake city in metro size is because in statistical analysis.. the whole wasatch front is not considered the same metro... So for statistical purposes..Salt Lake's metro is 1.2 million with provo having 550K and Ogden having 450k... for whatever reason, that is how it is figured statistically...I realize many would argue against that, but that's what's down on the books for the national census unfortunately...

Oh, so it looks like it's pretty much tied with the Wasatch Front's 2.2 million. Anyways, the point I was trying to make was that the Salt Lake Area is not some middle-of-nowhere hick town where everyone raises their own crops and churns their own butter. I use the Wasatch Front's population because it is all continuously connected. You can drive the 80 mile length and won't leave the city.

[wrendog]

actually no, officially, SLC metro is only 1.2 million. It doesn't matter how much we claim that Ogden metro and Provo metro are included, SLC is still 1.2 million. That may change in '10, but that's what it is now.

[urbanboy]

Originally Posted by Urban_logic

Oh, so it looks like it's pretty much tied with the Wasatch Front's 2.2 million. Anyways, the point I was trying to make was that the Salt Lake Area is not some middle-of-nowhere hick town where everyone raises their own crops and churns their own butter. I use the Wasatch Front's population because it is all continuously connected. You can drive the 80 mile length and won't leave the city.

This will be a petty correction, but fyi, "Anyways" is not plural. It's anyway.

Also, It's not uncool to be sustainable. If we "grew our own food and churned our own butter," than we would be one of the coolest cities out there. I personally think it's unfortunate that you can drive for 80 miles and never leave the city. This is because the smaller cities along the Wasatch Front have sprawled out and have collided with each other. Now, no one knows where Murray ends and Midvale begins or where Sandy ends and Draper begins. These places have gone from city to Suburb (a digression if you ask me). There's no identity. Most people in the valley just say they're from Salt Lake when they technically are not. They have little pride because there is little distinction between each suburb. Had each city placed urban growth boundaries within the borders of the city, each could have maintained a green belt of open space or permaculture around the city, keeping each city distinct from the others. if each city along the Wasatch Front had a green belt around them, our valley wouldn't get as smoggy because the green belts would act as a filter system and clean the air. The more we sprawl out, the more the "great outdoors" become less accessible to those who are centralized.

[NYC Rick]

This is one of the best examples of pointless and meaningless architecture I have ever seen. Kinda of like Ramada Inn meets 1960's scifi.

If you are going to design a observation tower, it has to have at least some aesthetic value.

I do like the south view down State Street with the downtown rising sign very much.

Go Utes!!!

[skyguy414]

I always thought the mountains were better for looking out over the city. Or just driving up to the avenues, Capitol Hill, or U campus.

[urbanboy]

Sure, but this would provide a different and closer perspective from the south.