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Originally Posted by Utah_Dave
I can’t help but think the city should partner/incentivize some nice public amenities down town. I might be in the minority on this but downtown needs more of a draw downtown with some sort of attraction like a regional recreation center. Maybe one that incorporates indoor and outdoor activities. The blocks west of the temple could be a good spot. Maybe a large water feature or lake. Add in some fishing maybe too? I don’t know. I just feel like SLC is a little bit handicapped since it doesn’t have an ocean, lake or river front that is a natural magnet for people hang out and enjoy the area and create a community buzz and feel. There has got to be some good examples out there that other cities have been involved with. Help me out with this thought. I can’t put my finger on it.
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There was a plan a few years back to create a recreation center/park on the 4th South & Main Street parking lot block, but I don't know what the status of that is.
I think one of the best ways the city can help make itself more of a draw (strictly from an urban design standpoint) is to continue to create some great mid-block passageways, and to take back some of those awful wide streets, and make them more pleasant. They've already done that on 3rd South and 5th West. They are doing the mid-block passages with City Creek Center to Gallivan Plaza through Regent Street. The new Hines tower proposal would be even better if they created a mid-block passage through their mid-block park.
Problems present great solutions, and I think this is the biggest negative thing holding back SLC from an urban design standpoint. West Temple and State Street are awful and need some road diet urban design beautification.
Also, the gigantic gateway off-ramp from I-15 to downtown is a huge eyesore. There's blight, terrible sidewalks, and landscaping. That road needs to take a road diet too, and much more large trees or something lining both sides of the road. It's a terrible first impression of downtown.
Besides urban design, SLC needs charismatic people to sell the vision of downtown and its adjacent surroundings. They need to sell the vision of better urbanism to all those tech giants, and conservative developers in Utah to break away from the typical stand-alone office surrounded by parking with little to no pedestrian connectivity. I know one ion particular that has actually presented to Silicon Slopes, but we need more. We just need one major tech company to set up shop in the Granary District, to be the catalyst for more to come. They don't understand that a vibrant metro center is critical to the whole region, and they are currently diluting that.