Salt Lake:Official development news thread - Part 2

[urbanboy]

'Grand Boulevard' could put squeeze on businesses
Tax district » 'New strategy' would collect cash for lights, landscaping, sidewalks and snow removal along an upgraded North Temple.
By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune



In a first-of-its-kind move, Salt Lake City is poised to create a new taxing district along North Temple between downtown and the airport that, for decades, would tap property owners to help fashion a "Grand Boulevard."
If adopted, owners from about 400 West to 2400 West would pay more than $200 per foot for both one-time construction costs and ongoing maintenance, including trash and snow removal.
The street beautification, intended to blend with the planned airport TRAX line, would include...

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14406005


In other city news:

» City Council members are expected tonight to approve a "betterment agreement" with Utah Transit Authority authorizing the agency to demolish and build a new North Temple viaduct.
» Mayor Ralph Becker is expected to sign an interlocal agreement with Salt Lake County to have an ownership interest in Hogle Zoo capital improvements funded by 2008's voter-approved $33 million bond.
» Red Iguana restaurant is requesting the city close and abandon a portion of right of way adjacent to properties at 866 West and 858 W. South Temple to make way for outdoor dining at a new Red Iguana location.

[urbanboy]

Shopping mall group seeks more restaurant liquor licenses
Hospitality »Lawmaker sponsors bill to lift cap but lacks support of LDS Church.
By Dawn House
The Salt Lake Tribune

Developers, brokers and retailers meeting in Salt Lake City on Thursday discussed ways to persuade Utah lawmakers into lifting caps on the number of restaurant liquor licenses.
Attendees at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) were urged to lobby state legislators into freeing up more liquor licenses, which are based on the state's population.
Utah ran out of restaurant liquor licenses in January, and by last fall bar licenses also ran dry. Now, entrepreneurs who want a permit to serve wine, spirits or heavy beer must wait for the state's population to increase -- or existing establishments to go out of business.
"It's frustrating to tell our clients that we're at our quota in the state of Utah," said attorney Jay 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵, whose firm represents national hotel and restaurant chains. "When our clients learned we are out of liquor licenses, they were startled."
Steve Bogden, a commercial real estate broker, said representatives from the ICSC's Mountain States Idea Exchange met with key lawmakers earlier this week to explain how quotas harm economic development. But so far legislators have not made a response.
Restaurant veteran David Harries, co-owner of Vinto, questioned whether lawmakers understand how critical an eatery is to the success of a mall or development. "Restaurants bring people in," he said.
Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, is sponsoring a bill that would lift caps for restaurant liquor licenses. But he has acknowledged the measure lacks support, including that of the LDS Church, a key policy shaper of the state's liquor monopoly.
[email protected]

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_14385160

[urbanboy]

2012 Convention
GOP would be welcome here

Tribune Editorial

We can't think of a place more welcoming to Republicans than Utah. This state would be honored if the party chose Salt Lake City as the site of its National Convention in 2012.
We've got the facilities. The Salt Palace Convention Center was rebuilt for the 2002 Winter Olympics and has been expanded again since. The crown jewel of a redeveloping downtown, the new City Creek Center, will be finished and open for business. The GOP couldn't pick a better time to see our capital city at its best.
But beyond the buildings, the inspiring story of the Latter-day Saints and Temple Square, the magnificent Wasatch Range and five national parks, it's the political spirit of the place that Republicans would find most congenial.
With good reason, Utah considers itself the reddest state in the Union. It hasn't given a Democrat a single electoral vote for the presidency since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. In 1992, Bill Clinton came in third in Utah, behind George H.W. Bush (who was first) and Ross Perot.
Utah hasn't elected a Democratic U.S. senator since Frank Moss in 1970, or a Democratic governor since Scott Matheson in 1980. Republicans now control the governor's office and a veto-proof majority in both houses of the Legislature, where the Democrats have been irrelevant for decades.
True, there currently is a token Democratic congressman in the 2nd District, but even he didn't vote for President Obama's two most important domestic initiatives in the current Congress, the climate change and health care reform bills. What does that make Jim Matheson? A Republicrat? A Democan?
Salt Lake City's dominant and most powerful radio station, KSL, blasts Sean Hannity over the local airwaves, and Hannity makes regular appearances at the state's pre-eminent Fourth of July celebration.
Many Latter-day Saints identify their religion with the Republican Party, though the LDS Church tries periodically to disabuse them of that notion and assert its political neutrality. Given the perennial makeup of the Legislature, that Mormon/Republican identity is strong and intact.
That helps to explain the state's fascination with Mitt Romney, who could be a candidate for the party's presidential nomination again in 2012. A Salt Lake City convention would not give Romney any political advantage, however, because the nomination will almost certainly be locked up during the primaries that would precede the convention.
In short, Republicans should bring their convention here. They would feel right at home.

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_14342623

[John Martin]

Originally Posted by urbanboy

It's not an odd location at all when you take the future plans for a TRAX line down 400 West and over on 700 South into consideration.

I've been looking for information on this but I can't find any. What exactly is this expansion for, and could you please post a link to a map if you know of one?

[urbanboy]

http://www.downtownrising.com/vision/transportation.php

[John Martin]

Thanks.

[TonyAnderson]

And a more updated version I've seen includes that line being a possible street car:


SLC Rolls out plans or Street cars

[urbanboy]

Wouldn't it be great if they implemented both the number one street car option, and the TRAX loop?!

[cololi]

The 400 S extension is technically in the original plans for the University line. The bypass (700 S to 400 W) will be needed when all of the lines are up and running or people will have to transfer. This is because the Main St. section will go into failure with all of the lines on it. UTA is studying the best way to deal with all of the lines. The problem, there is no funding for any of it.

Technically, the street car and LRT could use the same track if they are built to LRt standards. THey could also run on the same street, with LRT in the middle and street car in the vehicle travel lanes. Personally I think the LRT should run down 700 South to 600 W and then north to Central Station. This avoids having to cross any UDOT roads (which 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 to deal with) because the line could pass under the I-15 off ramps. A street car would then run down 400 W to 900 South, then go both east and west between 900 West and 900 East, with the possibility to expand in other directions from each location.

[WASDEN]

What was the final decision with the North Temple viaduct? Are they gonna rebuild it with TRAX down the middle? or is TRAX gonna have its own parallel overpass off to the side?

[Future Mayor]

Tracks will run down the center of the street, just like Main and 400 S, and the tracks will be in embedded stamped and colored concrete.

I like the idea of running Trax directly west from the 700 S turn, and creating a Trax loop and running street car up 400 W, both as you suggested, making another loop along 900 S, 400 W, 200 S, to 900 E down to 900 S. It connects downtown to 9th & 9th, and Liberty Park.

I also like the original plan to have the 400 S line extend to 600 West and up to

[SLC Projects]

I think I might like the original plan a bit more. However I can't see UTA running a Streetcar line on South Temple now starting from Main with the new parking ramp for City Creek Center. ( As shown on the first plan map. )

[delts145]

Waverly Station: Residents of new South Salt Lake development see it as wave of the future

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700010035/South-SL-attracts-professionals.html


Jordan and Brandt Page, with their 2-week-old son, Bransen, have lived nearly three years at the Waverly Station development in South Salt Lake. T.j. Kirkpatrick, Deseret News

SOUTH SALT LAKE — An aging corner of this blue-collar city has become a thriving community of young professionals and upstart businesses, all without the help of taxpayer dollars.

Waverly Station, located near 3700 South on West Temple, stands in cheery contrast to the aging office buildings and acres of cracked concrete that surround it...

Waverly Station by Hamlet Homes

.

[delts145]

The University of Utah now nation's best for launching businesses



New companies » School supports faculty in developing new ideas

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_14412785

A few years ago, nurses Michael Howlett and James Mercer began patenting concepts for catheters that would block the transmission of pathogens into patients' bloodstream -- the cause of infections that cause up to 100,000 preventable deaths a year...


Vicki Farrar, co-founder and CEO of Catheter Connections poses for a portrait at her home/office Wednesday July 23, 2008. **** Catheter Connections is a new company that is attempting to commercialize a technology donated to the University of Utah. The technology would virtually eliminate serious illnesses and deaths caused by bacteria that enter humans thru catheters. Photo by Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune frame #_1CD8232 (Chris Detrick)


Josh Eckman, president of Wasatch Mocrofluidics holds a microfluidic print head, part of a technology developed while he was at the University of Utah. Tuesday, December 1,2009 photoaul Fraughton/ The Salt Lake Tribune

[delts145]

Forbes: Salt Lake City is the best commute in the nation.


ksl.com

By Marc Giauque

SALT LAKE CITY -- Drivers may agree or disagree, but Forbes magazine thinks Salt Lake City has the best commute in the country.

Forbes.com gave Salt Lake City high marks when it came to traffic delays, travel time and road congestion. It also said 2 in 10 commuters share their ride, in one form or another, with at least one more person.

Other high-ranking cities include Buffalo, New York and Rochester.

Forbes says Tampa, Fla.; Detroit, Mich.; and Atlanta, Ga., have the worst commutes.

Utah Department of Transportation executive director John Njord says, in part, it's recognition of UDOT's efforts to stay ahead of the growth curve, to work quickly and efficiently and to stay out of people's hair.

"We've recognized, as a department, that our projects impact people's lives," Njord says.

He says some of the things UDOT is doing, that planners think is helping, is looking at ways to do work on the roadways so they're not part of the mathematics involved in traffic delays.


Daily Grind
Best And Worst Cities For Commuters
Francesca Levy, 02.16.10, 06:00 AM EST
In these areas, urban sprawl and solo drivers are the difference between a hassle-free and a harrowing trek to work.


Commuter Rank Metropolitan Statistical Area
Travel Delay Rank- Green Commuter Ranking- Travel Time Rank
1 Salt Lake City, UT 26- 13- 11
2 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY 2 36 1
3 Rochester, NY 1 40 2
4 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 14 33 5
5 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 8 32 10
5 Fresno, CA 14 23 16
7 Tulsa, OK 8 48 4
8 Pittsburgh, PA 5 14 40
8 Tucson, AZ 31 18 23
10 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH 4 41 14
11 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 38 8 31
12 Oklahoma City, OK 11 52 3
13 Albuquerque 22 28 22
14 Dayton, OH 5 54 6
14 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 31 29 18
16 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 42 22 20
17 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT 11 46 12
18 Honolulu, HI 31 3 46
19 Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN 27 43 9
20 Kansas City, MO-KS 2 58 7
21 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 22 37 19
22 Richmond, VA 5 44 21
23 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 11 49 15
23 San Antonio, TX 29 27 28
25 New Haven-Milford, CT 10 34 32
25 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN 22 47 13
27 Austin-Round Rock, TX 38 17 36
28 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 38 6 48
29 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 36 5 51
30 Columbus, OH 22 57 8
30 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC 34 35 24
32 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 19 24 43
32 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 37 9 49
32 Denver-Aurora, CO 45 21 33
35 Raleigh-Cary, NC 19 45 26
36 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 42 16 44
36 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA 48 15 42
36 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 52 25 30
39 St. Louis, MO-IL 14 51 25
40 Jacksonville, FL 29 42 27
41 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT 34 11 56
41 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 58 2 53
43 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 54 20 39
44 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 19 39 38
44 Baltimore-Towson, MD 45 12 52
46 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA 54 1 60
47 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN 28 59 17
48 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 57 4 59
49 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 17 55 29
50 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI 59 7 57
51 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 60 10 54
52 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 17 56 34
53 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 50 26 50
54 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 52 19 58
55 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL 54 31 47
56 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 48 38 45
57 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL 42 50 37
58 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA 51 30 55
59 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI 38 60 35
60 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 45 53 41

1 Source: Texas Transportation Institute.
2 Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Full Story: Best And Worst Cities For Commuters

To find the cities with the best commutes, we measured travel time, road congestion and travel delays for the 60 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, we calculated what percentage of commuters in each metro area took an hour or more to get to work in each of these cities in 2008, the most recent year for which these data are kept. To find the areas with the fewest cars on the road, we next factored in the percentage of commuters who carpooled or used alternatives to driving like walking, biking or taking public transportation in 2008. We referred to this as the "green commuter" ranking. Finally, we looked at the Travel Time Index, a measure that the Texas Transportation Institute, a transportation research organization, uses to measure delays. The TTI indicates how long a commute takes during rush hour compared to the same trip in ideal conditions. A short commute is good, but a dependably short commute is even better. The most recent TTI data is from 2007, and was released in July 2009. We ranked the metros on each of those measures, and then averaged the rankings for the final score. We gave heavier weight to travel time and congestion measures, since many of the cities have minimal differences in TTI numbers

[cololi]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

Tracks will run down the center of the street, just like Main and 400 S, and the tracks will be in embedded stamped and colored concrete.

The viaduct will be torn down and rebuilt, with the demo starting in mid April, pending some legal issues with ownership of the land under the viaduct. As the train enters the viaduct, it will transfer to the north side of the road, technically on a separate structure than the road. The platform will be on the north side of the road with a vertical transfer to frontrunner slightly to the north. It transfers back to the middle at 600 West. Past 2400 W. it moves to the north side of the airport access road, running between the road and the golf course. West of 2200 West the track will be in ballast, not concrete, until near the airport station.

[Future Mayor]

My bad. I should have read the post more carefully. I read it simply as the North Temple Trax line, not the viaduct. Thus my comments of embedded, colored and stamped.

[SLC4L]

I just wanted to say, I have returned. I used to go by MetroFanatic.

[arkhitektor]

So, it looks like Salt Lake isn't getting TIGER funds for a streetcar:

http://www.dot.gov/documents/finaltigergrantinfo.pdf

Does anybody know where this puts the city's streetcar projects? Are there any alternate funding sources or does a streetcar system go back on a wish-list of long-term plans?

[scottharding]

Ouch. No streetcar in the immediate future. Feds say no.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14419119