Salt Lake City has a lot going for it: a beautiful mountain setting, a relatively healthy economy, some nice parks and trails. But Mayor Ralph Becker believes the city can do better in what he calls "livability," and he’s got a plan.
The mayor explained in his State of the City speech that he will initiate an urban renaissance "that embraces accessibility, sustainability and sophistication." Now that’s a mouthful. But we like Becker’s goals, and his approach to getting there.
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His vision includes energy-efficiency and conservation measures that would eventually result in "net zero" energy use by city government buildings. Also under the sustainability label are evolving ordinances to encourage residents to grow their own food and provide more living spaces in individual homes to make the city more compact. He says his transportation options, including more bike-friendly streets and streetcars, will help clean up the air.
Becker’s six-pronged plan focuses specifically on improving the city’s economy by helping develop neighborhood business districts, giving residents more options for getting around and partnering with the Salt Lake City School District in early-childhood and after-school programs. He also wants to protect and enhance the environment, outlaw discrimination with a hate-crimes law and gay-rights protections, and enhance cultural life in the city with a new theater and art space in storefronts.
The mayor is already moving toward many of his goals. Taking priority now is an effort to bring together federal agencies with local governments on both sides of the Wasatch Mountains, ski resort owners and environmental groups to talk about the appropriate way to develop and/or protect the canyons that provide water for Salt Lake City residents.
Plans by Talisker, Inc., which owns the Canyons resort in Summit County, to build a tram linking Canyons with Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon has circumvented the process put in place years ago for considering such proposals. Congressional legislation sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop and Sen. Orrin Hatch would ram the plan through, despite objections from local jurisdictions and citizen groups.
Becker is proposing to negotiate a new master plan with input from all those stakeholders. It’s a sensible approach, and we hope it works.
At the beginning of his second term, the mayor has outlined an ambitious plan for the city’s future. It’s a plan we can support.
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