"There's no real hub" in Sandy, said resident Bruce Bryner. "If you're in downtown Salt Lake, you know you're downtown. [Sandy has] the opportunity to be the second downtown."

Bryner is one of about 40 residents and business leaders who make up Mayor Tom Dolan's recently formed Economic Development Council. Since March, the group has been brainstorming to create a "21st-century vision" for "downtown Sandy."

The product - or at least its first draft - was unveiled Thursday.

Prepared by Envision Utah, the poster will be a starting point for communitywide discussions and public hearings before any final changes are made to Sandy's master plan, Dolan said.

The vision map imagines eight distinct districts meant to unify the area from 9000 South to 10600 South and between the proposed FrontRunner line - west of Interstate 15 - and TRAX into a recognizable downtown.

"Ciudad Real" encircles Real Salt Lake's soon-to-be-completed 20,000-seat soccer stadium at 9256 S. State St. The district features entertainment, condos and a "people-centered" makeover of Monroe Street that could include large trees, banners and street furniture.

In the "City Center," Centennial Parkway would become a grand promenade, "the South Valley's living room," bookended by City Hall and another to-be-developed icon that would tower above the South Towne Mall. The Proscenium, a proposed 2-million-square-foot arts, office, retail and housing project at 10100 South and I-15 would be a "keystone" of the area, said The Planning Center's Ted Knowlton, who helped prepare the poster.

"It establishes a very different direction for the City Center," giving Sandy a skyline with three, 30-story towers, he told Dolan's economic council. "This will become the signature of downtown Sandy."

The group, which includes Proscenium-developer Scott McQuarrie, RSL executive Dean Howes and Sandy Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Workman, offered some revisions to the draft but largely embraced the concepts.

The vision also includes a streetcar and "circulator," which likely would be a shuttle bus," to connect the districts. Plans also call for a trail system along two canals and an "urban forest" that would link Dimple Dell Nature Park to the Jordan River Parkway. Members of the council encouraged varied, interesting architecture and sustainable design.

Sandy has mapped out its future many times before - and touted its status as "the other downtown." But Knowlton said the group's insights revealed a shift in attitudes about what Sandy could be. Dolan pointed out that earlier master plans showed mostly office parks and a maximum of two-story structures in the area.

Now, Sandy seems ready to say, "So long, suburb."

rwinters@sltrib.com