It's a dream that hinges on light rail. With light rail, they hope a new style of development emerges around TRAX stations that combines businesses and homes - all in an effort to make people less dependent on the automobile.

"Our hope is we have a stop by 2008 or 2009," says Joseph Moore, the city's director of economic development.

Actually, leaders of Utah's second-largest city are planning for three light-rail stations. The train, they hope, will bring new residents, new visitors and their tax dollars to this west-side community.

Cities across the Wasatch Front are pining for the same thing. Just about every community with an existing light-rail stop, a proposed extension or a future commuter-rail station, is laying plans for high-density housing to attract "affluent" residents.

They also envision retail, offices, restaurants, entertainment attractions, such as movie theaters or, in Murray's case, a 22,000-seat soccer stadium.

The concept is known as "transit-oriented development," or TOD.

The TODs represent a natural progression that the Utah Transit Authority hoped for when Utah's first light-rail line opened five years ago, connecting Salt Lake City and Sandy with 16 strategically placed stops in between. While ridership has been better than expected and UTA has added a spur to the University of Utah - at least four more extensions are proposed - the TODs have yet to materialize.

Transit officials say that soon will change.

"I really view 2005 as a year where you see one of these things taking off," says Jeffery Harris, UTA's deputy chief of business development. Farmington, in south Davis County - a major stop on a proposed commuter-rail line between Salt Lake City and Ogden - likely will be the first to begin.

Reason No. 1 for Harris' optimism: Utah's improving economy.

Five years ago, light rail proved it was a viable option for office commuters, suburban shoppers and those heading for a night out in Salt Lake City. But Utah's business climate was in decline; most development stalled. Today, some officials believe the economy is gaining new energy and now is primed for a new development that is different from the growth decades ago of automobile-centric strip malls and neighborhoods located far away from basic services.

This new approach involves mixing retail and commercial with new housing. The concept involves people living within walking distance of TRAX and bus service, and residents from other areas using transit to get to shops, restaurants and entertainment centers that spring up around stations.

This new demand is fueling perceptions that there's a segment of Salt Lake County residents tired of traditional suburban life with its yardwork and congested freeways.

"There's demand for transit-oriented developments," says Ted Knowlton, the planning director for Envision Utah.

The dwindling availability of land is another factor fueling TOD dreams.

Communities like South Salt Lake, Murray and Midvale are nearly built out. Open land, or land that is in need of redevelopment, surround almost all of the eight stations the three communities have.

"When you're 98 percent built out as a city, whatever development or redevelopment you do [had] better serve the city in the best way," says Murray Mayor Dan Snarr, a TOD supporter.

"40 years of inertia": TODs have been slow to emerge because Utah developers and financial backers can't point to a true example of one as a success within the state's borders.

The closest example of a TOD within Utah is The Gateway on the western edge of Salt Lake City's downtown. While the development is a success, with housing units nearly full and busy retailers, the community isn't considered a classic TOD.

Residents still must leave to obtain services - for example, going to a grocery store or a beauty salon. While the area is located at the end of the main light-rail line, many visitors and residents still rely on cars for those types of services.

Another barrier for TODs is that development in modern times has seldom mixed retail and business offices with housing or entertainment.

"[TODs] are completely different to [traditional] development," UTA's Harris says. "It's never easy to change 40 years of inertia."

But Rich Haws is trying. He is planning to break ground on the Farmington TOD in just a few months - site of a commuter-rail station that could open in late 2007 when the high-speed, intercity service is scheduled to launch.

"There is not anything like this in Utah," Haws says.

He is managing partner of Stonehenge Development Partners, which has plans for a $250-million project that will bring together all of the elements of a TOD: single-family and condo-style housing near retail and commercial developments that offer the convenience of a community within walking distance of mass transit.

But even with the plans and support from Farmington officials, Haws' company found little support within the financial community.

"We've had to invest a lot of our own company's [money] and investment capital [from others]," Haws says. "[Lenders are] not there yet."

Visions of development: In the meantime, communities are lined up, like suitors courting developers.

"I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't say when it will happen," says Chris Butte, the economic-development specialist for Midvale, which has two main-line TRAX stations and expects another when its portion of the proposed mid-Jordan extension is built.

"Obviously, we want something to happen sooner than later."

While the communities all have TOD plans, each also has its own vision.

In Sandy, space constraints at the 10000 South light-rail station forced city leaders to leave out retail and commercial uses around the station. To the north, Murray has plans for the area surrounding its light-rail stop at 5200 South.

Not only do its officials dream of a TOD, the mayor says the 100 acres of land, which was just deemed "blighted," could also be home to a soccer stadium for Real Salt Lake. The Major League Soccer expansion team will open its inaugural season in April at the University of Utah, but plans a soccer stadium in either Salt Lake City or Murray. A decision on the location could be made in days.

Most officials believe TODs will add financial stability.

"It provides another piece of the pie," says Nick Duerksen, Sandy's assistant community-development director.

Meanwhile, West Valley City and West Jordan may be viewed as underdogs in the sweepstakes to attract developers because both are waiting for approval of - and funding for - their light-rail lines. But neither feel much like waiting.

West Jordan has plans for at least two TODs along its portion of the mid-Jordan line, and that extension has strong financial support - including a $1.5 million donation by land developer Kennecott, which is developing the 13,000-home Daybreak community in South Jordan.

West Valley City isn't spending much time worrying about whether mid-Jordan has the edge. The city has already shared plans with 18 developers. And they see three TODs eventually coming to the community.

"We're into this thing," Moore says. "We'll be buying property."

jsantini@sltrib.com