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Originally Posted by Wasatch_One
I mean exactly what urbanboy just explained... there is no downtown road grid... no road system. It formed as a suburb and will always have suburb characteristics. There was no foresight and contrary to what SLCProjects said, it has only gotten worse during the past 10-15 years in my opinion. There are some TOD options for Sandy and I hope leaders there evaluate these carefully but it is just a pass through for mass transit like Midvale, or Murray or S. Salt Lake... it is not an ending destination where multiple lines end up like SLC.
Just look at a satellite map of Sandy on Google maps and you will see what I mean. Originally Sandy did have a small grid in it's old downtown area from 90th south to 85th South and from State St over to about 300 E...
If they would have continued that early grid and built up their city gov't presence and everything around that it would be a whole different story today, but it's not. It's too late. It's a suburb and will always remain just that.
SLC isn't even the best example of a walkable downtown because of the aforementioned wide streets but there is still a functional grid. Look at cities here in the west known for being walkable like Portland OR or San Francisco, or Seattle... what do they all have in common?
Even smaller cities like Logan have more vibrant downtown potential than Sandy in my opinion.
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Let me say it again. Present limitations never impede a city from reaching its potential. California is the perfect example. You have a bunch of cities that were eratically bult in the suburban/auto boom era - shopping malls, houses with big yards, massive freeways that were jamed no matter how wide they got, no form of efficient mass transit, no limits or plan for the future, etc. Now you are seeing an urban revolution all across the state. Cities that were orchards and fields in the 50's, massively sprawling suburbs by the 80's, then dense urban centers by the turn of the century are blossoming in this new urban era. My home town of Walnut Creek did just this - now it has a vibrant down town, parking garages tucked away behind the shops and apartments along the street, and an ellite mass-transit system. Even the local Target has its parking hidden away below the store.
I don't see why Utah cities can't do the same thing. You guys look at Sandy today and say "It's just a suburb and that is all it will ever be." I would be most devistated if I went back in time and heard people talking like this about Walnut Creek back in the 80's. I'm glad they didn't. I'm glad they saw what Walnut Creek could look like and agressively fought to develop it into that. Urban boy brings up a very important concern. Sandy lacks the necessary road network to support such a down town. Walnut Creek had a similar problem. It was merely a forgotten drive-by suburb off the 680 interstate with one or two exits going through town without any collector streets. Despite this fact, the far-sighted planners of the 80's sub-divided blocks and brought in more collector streets to accomidate this problem along with taking hundreds of cars off the road with mass-transit. Though it still has the same number of through streets, they are wider, have collector streets branching off to bring traffic into the blocks, and much more mass-transit.
Sandy will have both a light rail and commuter rail along with a bus system. Down Town Sandy has 2 major E./W. through streets - 94th South and 106th South. Down Town Walnut Creek does have more collector streets than Sandy does, but it too only has two major through streets - Mt Diablo Blvd and Ygnacio Valley Rd. Sandy has two major N./S. through streets - State and 7th East. Walnut Creek also has 2 major ones too - Civic Drive and Main St. Walnut Creek is 1.75 miles North to South and just under a mile East to West. Sandy is also 2 miles North to South and just under a mile East to West. Sandy has the region-wide Frontrunner for commuter access. Walnut Creek has BART. Sandy has light rail - something Walnut Creek doesn't have. Sandy has 10-lane I-15 access. Walnut Creek has 10-lane freeway access to the 680. Granted, the tallest building in Walnut Creek is about 15 stories, but there is no need to build more. I'm sure the roads could accomidate more traffic if there was a market in town for taller buildings. Another important note, Sandy can bring in 1 more major N./S. route by widening the Frontage Road along 1-15 to accomidate commuter traffic for the commercial structures built up along the freeway. Like TRAX, this is another advantage Sandy has over Walnut Creek. I think that if California cities like Walnut Creek could do it, so can Utah cities like Sandy.
40 stories would be out of the question for Sandy, but I think 25 is very plausable. If there are a lot of 24/7 residents living in down town servicing the development, they won't be plugging the roads. Increased traffic will also encourage more mass-transit usage. Sandy has issues, that is most certainly clear. But it can work through them - that's all I'm saying.
Great article, Urban boy! I'm glad they decided to preserve those lands for future generations to enjoy
"For the past several days, America has been swept up by a wave of hope and possibility. It was fitting, therefore, that a federal court acted last weekend to protect more than 110,000 acres of stunning Utah wilderness...
These pristine lands sit on the boundaries of some of our nation's most spectacular parks: Arches, Canyonlands, and Dinosaur National Monument. They are redrock icons of American ruggedness...."
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