Provo MSA Development Thread - Page 32

wrendog · #**621** Posted **Jun 8, 2007, 10:43 PM**

Stick around shrubber, this forum is very active... I have been to your site quite a few times actually... If you have any insight on the terrace, let us know!

poodledoodledude · #**622** Posted **Jun 8, 2007, 11:46 PM**

SLC Projects:

the development south of the mormon tabernacle is still in the 'planning' stages. the folks that own that land are the same ones that helped develop the wells fargo building...and i was told they are the same owners as well (i guess a partnership with wells fargo?)

anyway, yes, there is a sign there now saying it is arrowstar, and wasatch one is right...they are planning a mixed use development there....as we ALL know, they would be STUPID to put in a one or two story condominium with a laundry mat on the bottom floor....

so, through the grapevine, i have heard they are planning a nice big office/condo project there, but it is still in land use. also, it sounds as if they are negotiating land acquistion with other property owners, and may be the reason for the delay.

if you remember before the wells fargo building was built, the vacant storefronts were there for YEARS before anything was done because of a suit shop that was there didn't want to sell their building.

when wells fargo developers offered enough incentive and money and jazz tickets, and WHO KNOWS what else, they agreed and the wells fargo center went through.

as you know, arrowstar is an awesome construction company, and will put in a NICE building there. i also think they are waiting until the time is right to announce what they want to do there. it's a GREAT piece of property and it would be foolish to do anything OTHER than a LARGE scale development there.

so, the talk in MY vinyard (with some folks i know that know other folks) is a nice highrise (10-15 stories) with shops underneath, office space, and condos on top...

so, that is my scoop. i heard they were in negotiations with the restaraunt next door and possibly travelodge, but NOT SURE ON THAT...the property they have is big enough for what they want to do...

that is my two pence...
keep the change.

poodledoodledude

Wasatch_One · #**623** Posted **Jun 8, 2007, 11:57 PM**

Poodledude, where do you get all your info... you seem to be pretty well informed/connected.

Are your sources inline with what you do for work?

poodledoodledude · #**624** Posted **Jun 9, 2007, 5:53 PM**

wasatch one--

hey brother-- i guess you could say i like to follow the city planning and council meetings. i also know one of the council members personally, and i used to date their daughter in high school YEARS ago....i get a lot of my info by asking around.

i have lived here in provo for over 30 years, and in that time, you get to know a lot of other business owners....for example, the suit shop that was unwilling to sell to wells fargo, is my brothers BEST friend. so, he gave us a TON of information about the wells fargo development. some good information.

i also talk to other business owners downtown. my best friends mom runs the arts program for provo....she'll be the one in the provo arts center. she knows a lot too...

my line of work is NOT working for the city, but i LOVE (as a hobby) to ask questions to city council members, mayor, business owners, and friends of friends of friends to get to the scoop of it.

also, i just moved to a new neighborhood in south east provo. the guy in my new neighborhood is on the city council!!!

so, yes, he'll get to know me REAL well in a few months... LOL

what is your scoop? you seem to know a TON of stuff too my friend....it would be fun to hang out and go check out all the new develpments one day and take some photos and download them to the site....lemme know if you would like to do that...thanks!

poodledoodledude

Wasatch_One · #**625** Posted **Jun 11, 2007, 10:51 PM**

Im down for whenever. Im actually getting kind of excited about downtown Provo...

Maybe we can even get I-215 to join in as well. I think thats all of us here in Provo (Wrendog could make the long trek down from Lehi)...

i-215 · #**626** Posted **Jun 12, 2007, 3:16 AM**

I'd be down as long as there's a cheap place to get a good lunch involved.

As for me and the city council ... I don't get along too well. I went to one meeting and I feel there's a few members too friendly with Arrowstar and other developers.... i.e Joaquin Village.

I think 2 people spoke out in favor of the provisional zoning that let them get away with 65% parking instead of 95% like anybody else would have to. There were dozens of comments against ... but in the end Arrowstar got away with murder (zoning murder, that is).

Uuughh,..... so don't get me started on the Provo City Council.

DevdogAZ · #**627** Posted **Jun 13, 2007, 2:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by i-215

I'd be down as long as there's a cheap place to get a good lunch involved.

As for me and the city council ... I don't get along too well. I went to one meeting and I feel there's a few members too friendly with Arrowstar and other developers.... i.e Joaquin Village.

I think 2 people spoke out in favor of the provisional zoning that let them get away with 65% parking instead of 95% like anybody else would have to. There were dozens of comments against ... but in the end Arrowstar got away with murder (zoning murder, that is).

Uuughh,..... so don't get me started on the Provo City Council.

The city council isn't supposed to base their decisions on the numbers of people speaking for or against an issue at their meetings. They were elected and are trying to do what's best for the city based on far more information than the typical resident has.

I wouldn't judge this (or any other) city council based solely on the fact that they didn't do what you wanted them to do in the one instance where you had experience with them.

i-215 · #**628** Posted **Jun 13, 2007, 4:23 AM**

The other half of the story why we are protesting was because they had this plan called SCAMP that was going to make south campus walkable. The city scrapped the plan, in essence saying they aren't going to make the neighborhood walkable, while at the same time they are letting the developer get away with insufficent parking and then putting meters on the streets to make money off the students who will be forced to park there because they have to have a car just to go buy food.

It's part of an ongoing anti-student bias in Provo, and I don't like it.

poodledoodledude · #**629** Posted **Jun 13, 2007, 8:59 PM**

can i just say ONE thing in this regard....

ok, i'll be honest with you...when i was living in salt lake, i was asked ALL THE TIME: Oh, you are from provo? do you go to school down there?
OR: EEWWW, im SOOO sorry you are from PROVO....how do you live down there?!?!

these types of comments DROVE ME CRAZY!!!

k, lets get this straight: provo is MORE than about "just students" right now. in the past, students were the life down here, and byu and uvsc (byu especially before the 80's) were THE DRAW for money, students, and our economy....but now that provo and orem have grown a little bit, it's not just STUDENTS that bring people to the area. i know a TON of people that came to provo for work...and when they get asked if they came here for "school" they give the person asking a funny look....almost like: have you been to provo lately??

so, that is what i start telling people that ask me if i go to school here. i say, yeah, like ten years ago, but now i work here in the CITY.

now, this is NOT to say that the two universities have no influx of new people coming to town, but its an indication of utah valley growing up a little bit...which i think is AWESOME! i'm glad the "students" hang out here in our CITY after school is over, and contribute to the economy, but hey, not everyone is a student anymore, and some come here from other parts to work.

also, i LOVE living here. i've lived all over the world, and it's like my mom used to say coming back from the BIG (im from kansas city, and SLC is a TOWN to me but anyway....) salt lake up north and would say, peering over the valley on southbound I-15: AAWW, here we are in God's little acre.

i used to roll my eyes, and in some respects i still do, but hey, provo is a GREAT place for it's predictability, low crime, and excellent way of life. there are good and bad to about everywhere you live, and i REALLY like it "down here."

when i want to 'party harty' i head up north, and sometimes, i just want a small drink, so i head over to a bar downtown, and hang out. no big deal.

i think it will be neat to have some taller buildings downtown to have a more downtown feel, so going up north won't be as necessary as it used to be.

there...ive said it, and i don't regret it...

poodledoodledude

wrendog · #**630** Posted **Jun 13, 2007, 9:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by poodledoodledude

(im from kansas city, and SLC is a TOWN to me but anyway....)
poodledoodledude

Kansas City isn't much bigger than SLC..

poodledoodledude · #**631** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 3:06 PM**

are you kidding me? KC has a TON of stuff....slc still has a "town" feel to it....hate to break it to you wren dog, but man....slc is big, sure, but not a 'city' feel...it's a small city.

wrendog · #**632** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 3:24 PM**

lol.. huh? a TON of stuff? what does that mean?

KC is in the same category as SLC population wise.

SLC-Ogden = 1.5 mill (add provo-orem and it's 2 mill)
KC = 1.9 mill

Kansas City definitely has a denser downtown, but you make it sound like KC is New York and SLC is Goshen. They are very similar sized metros. Sorry.

Northernlad · #**633** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 3:50 PM**

They may be in the same category considering metro population, but the city populations are a lot different. Kansas City is a lot larger city than Salt Lake. I know because I served a mission there.
After searching the web, I found the population of Kansas City proper is over 460,000, Salt Lake proper is barely around 200,000. Downtown KC is probably 3 times larger and dense then SLC. It is just the way it is, and I didn't take poodledoodledude's comments as negative towards SLC.

Here is a pic of the KC from online=

Salt Lake=

The difference in size is day and night.

wrendog · #**634** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 4:00 PM**

I didn't take it as a negative either. I'm just saying that metro wise they are in the same category. It's obvious that KC downtown is bigger than SLC, but would you say that KC is bigger than Phoenix because it's downtown is bigger? Either way, this is a utah valley thread.

mobius42 · #**635** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 4:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrendog

I didn't take it as a negative either. I'm just saying that metro wise they are in the same category. It's obvious that KC downtown is bigger than SLC, but would you say that KC is bigger than Phoenix because it's downtown is bigger? Either way, this is a utah valley thread.

Remember Wren, Northernlad was also the one who thought Logan's downtown had more going for it than Provo's. I'd take what he says with a grain of salt. Every comment he has is either to knock Salt Lake (or other Wasatch Front cities)down or prop Boise up. Not that there is anything wrong with propping Boise up. I just wonder why he doesn't move there if he likes it so much and seems to dislike the Wasatch Front.

Northernlad · #**636** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 4:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobius42

Remember Wren, Northernlad was also the one who thought Logan's downtown had more going for it than Provo's. I'd take what he says with a grain of salt. Every comment he has is either to knock Salt Lake (or other Wasatch Front cities)down or prop Boise up. Not that there is anything wrong with propping Boise up. I just wonder why he doesn't move there if he likes it so much and seems to dislike the Wasatch Front.

I am a native of Logan so of course I am going to say good things about that city

Logan has an awesome downtown with great architecture and probably the finest looking temple in the whole state.
Why do Utah people get so bent out of shape if somebody from Utah likes Boise? I will never know, but I think it is hillarious how it riles certain forumers up. And my comment about KC and SLC was not knocking SLC. Do you have tender feelings Mobius? You are wrong fellow buddy forumer, I have never said I dislike the Front. Have you ever been to Logan? Ever been out of Utah? I take your comments with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

poodledoodledude · #**637** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 4:26 PM**

k, guys, thanks for the clarification of what i was trying to say.
yes, slc is big and is in the same category as KC, but KC feels a LOT bigger than slc. i guess because the metro feels bigger, and has taller buildings downtown. it has a LOT more freeways, and infrastructure is more or less there. there are no mountains to the east, and no lake to the west, which makes making the infrastructure easier to build. also, the climate is different there.

anyway, i LOVE salt lake, lived there, and now i live in provo...which i LOVE. i like it because there still feels like there is ownership here in this town. in other words, when i go to the city council meetings, i feel like everyone's opinion matters. when i went to the KC meetings, it was too big to feel like my opinion on an issue mattered.

anyway, i'm here now, and LOVE it. i wouldn't go back to KC for a minute. i love the mountains, the people, etc...i like the fact that we are all thrilled about utah county's new projects.

look at my posts...oh, and by the way, i hope i didn't come across as comparing kc to nyc....in NO way do those compare.

poodledoodledude

SLC Projects · #**638** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 9:28 PM**

I think every city in America has a bigger skyline then Salt Lake City's. { Well all but Boise maybe.} But lets hope Salt Lake can play catch up these next few years with all the new towers we are getting.

SLC Projects · #**639** Posted **Jun 14, 2007, 9:28 PM**

ops I did two posts.

mobius42 · #**640** Posted **Jun 15, 2007, 4:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northernlad

I am a native of Logan so of course I am going to say good things about that city

Logan has an awesome downtown with great architecture and probably the finest looking temple in the whole state.
Why do Utah people get so bent out of shape if somebody from Utah likes Boise? I will never know, but I think it is hillarious how it riles certain forumers up. And my comment about KC and SLC was not knocking SLC. Do you have tender feelings Mobius? You are wrong fellow buddy forumer, I have never said I dislike the Front. Have you ever been to Logan? Ever been out of Utah? I take your comments with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

Like I said I have no problem with liking Boise. My comment is directed to the fact that I have never seen you make a positive comment regarding the Wasatch Front. Only critical comments. That is all. You seem a bit hypersensitive.