Streets? Check. Wider streets? Yes. Strip malls? Gotcha. Strip clubs? Check. Parking lots? Affirmative. Wal-Marts? Super Wal-Marts? Mega-Super Wal-Marts? Check. Check. And check.

Parks? Grass? Ball diamonds? Tennis courts? Playgrounds?

Hmmmmm. Can we get back to you on that?

In an attempt to dispel the notion that the term "urban planning" is an oxymoron, at least around here, Salt Lake County government has drafted a new development master plan - the first since 1994.

Because the marketplace will take care of any need we might have to pave more of our surroundings, the government's draft plan quite rightly stresses the need to preserve some of these rapidly developing areas for parks and recreation.

The draft calls for community parks, something between 40 and 120 acres, for Draper, Bluffdale, West Jordan and Midvale, as well as skateparks, athletic fields and upgrades to existing recreation centers and swimming pools. The idea is to make a formal statement that these things are necessary for the orderly and humane development of the county so as to reserve the land and, somehow, pay for the improvements and preservations before it is too late.

Of course, for some, too late has already come and gone. Exhibit A for that case is the old gravel pit site at 9000 South and 1300 East in Sandy, where city leaders suffering from sales-tax envy have been pushing for yet another big-box retail behemoth.

All the more reason for the creation, consideration and adoption of the sort of master plan that is now before us. Public comments will be taken in coming months, with the plan to seek formal adoption by the County Council this summer.

One thing this plan does not do, as plans of this sort generally don't, is figure out exactly how to pay for all this.

The draft does attach an estimated price tag of $160 million over 10 to 15 years. That's not an unreasonable number, spread over such a long time. And it's a number that will be much easier to obtain if the money sought from the County Council, city governments, the state, private donors and directly from the voters is designed for a planned-out future rather than for fuzzy hopes and dreams.

If anything, these plans are too little, too late. The county should move forward quickly.

The market will convince people to live here. The government must act to make here livable.