West Side Studio - North Temple Grand Boulevard

Salt Lake City Planning

2009-04-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

At the North Temple Community Advisory Committee meeting this morning, representatives from Salt Lake City planning spoke. They are gearing up to begin the public involvement process for the Grand Boulevard, tentatively to begin in May and last until September or later with a product to present to the Planning Commission by January of 2010.

It's exciting to see the official public process begin, and good to see that they don't intend to rush it through in a couple months but take some adequate time to involve the public.

Also, the Planning representatives spoke of building upon the research of this class, which is fabulous. It was our fear that we would have some great research that may never get its full use due to politics-as-usual, and knowing that SLC plans to use it as we intended is refreshing.

We'll keep you posted!

2009-04-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the graphics / maps from the workshops. I love how we had a map dedicated to "concerns" but in practice post-it notes with comments and concerns ended up on all the maps. The participants had a lot to share which is great!

Concern map:

Live / Work map:

Future Land Use Map:

Best Practices graphic from the second workshop:

Workshop #2

2009-04-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

The second workshop was held March 26, 2008 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, and was another success. over 20 people participated, and we received some fabulous comments. We're still working on compiling the data from both workshops, so thanks for your patience!

All in all, we had over 70 participants, plus our partners!

Workshop success #1

2009-03-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Our first workshop was held Wednesday at Mestizo Coffee House...and it was a great success! Many thanks to all the attendees that made it possible, and thanks to our partners for sending representatives to answer questions.

In short, we had over 50 people who live or work in the area participate. Food ran out quickly, (so we will be better prepared with MORE food for the next workshop) and we want to thank Mestizo for the delicious food and great service.

REMINDER:
For those that were not able to attend the Wednesday workshop, we will be holding another workshop next Thursday (March 26, 2008) from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, at NeighborWorks Salt Lake.

NeighborWorks info:
622 West 500 North Salt Lake City, UT 84116 801-539-1590

The activities will be the same as those at the Wednesday workshop. We will have a kids corner so you can come on by and share your concerns worry-free!

NEWS STORY:
The local radio station, KCPW, attended the Wednesday event, and did a news story on the event. I'm posting the text of the story below for the future, when the link is old and outdated:

West Side Residents Share Hopes for "Grand Boulevard" Vision
Mar 19, 2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) University of Utah graduate students taking part in aresearch project, dubbed the West Side Studio, are gathering inputfrom West side residents about how to turn North Temple into thecity's vision of a "Grand Boulevard." Assistant Professor of City andMetropolitan Planning Caitlin Cahill instructs the class, which heldits first community workshop yesterday.

"So we really wanted to hear from the community, but we're also awarethat for many they might not be thinking about some of the issues thatthe planners know are issues, and so how to really create aninteractive process, that's on the one hand informative, but reallytreats the community members here as they experts they really are intheir every day lives," Cahill said.

Students involved in the project will compile the information gatheredat the two community workshops to give city planning officials as theybegin the three year, $10 million project. Participants were asked toshare their priorities and concerns. Beautifying the street with treesand flower beds was one big priority. And west side resident JulieGuarino ranked safety as her top priority.

"Just walking over here I got propositioned, so as a woman living inthis side of town, it doesn't always feel safe. There's a lot of drugdeals and stuff like that going on," Guarino said. "While I was inthere, a lot of people, like me, were concerned with the parks and thepaths and things to beautify the community and maybe bring it back toa more natural feel, not so much concrete and asphalt."

The redesign will likely cause problems of its own, said Bill Knowleswith the North Temple Community Advisory Committee. Knowles noted thatsmall businesses in the area will need to endure three years ofconstruction. He said the community should be aware that thesebusinesses will need customers throughout the process to maintain theunique and vibrant business community along North Temple.

Workshop locations and flyer:

2009-03-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

This flyer was emailed out today to our partners, those that asked for information on the surveys, and many others. The locations are set, the general format is set, and we are ready to go!

We hope to see you there!

100 Surveys!!!

2009-02-27T13:00:00.001-08:00

Need we say more?

Workshops coming soon

2009-02-19T13:38:00.001-08:00

We are planning two workshops for the month of March, at which members of the community can help us determine the design guidelines and goals for the North Temple Grand Boulevard to share with Salt Lake City and with UTA. While the final alignment of the TRAX line is already determined, public input is still needed on the many other details of the two projects!

Potential topics include street and sidewalk lighting, landscaping and trees, public art, TRAX station art, budgets, and much more. Come share your thoughts!

Those working in the area, living in the area, or those who otherwise have an interest are invited to attend.

Mark your calendars for the two dates below:

Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 11am - 1pm
Light Lunch will be served

Thursday, March 26, 2009, 6pm - 8pm
Refreshments will be provided

The locations are still being arranged, and we will make an announcement with that information shortly.

We hope to see you there!

Survey Update

2009-02-19T13:35:00.000-08:00

We began our survey work yesterday by walking the length of North Temple from 600 West to Redwood Road. In only an hour's time, we had collected 35 surveys!

The group has also set in motion plans to survey the high, middle, and elementary schools in the area, the various employers such as Rocky Mountain Power and the Department of Natural Resources, and quite a few community based groups.

Online survey is up!

2009-02-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

The goal of our student project is to get the community involved in the creation of some design concepts and guidelines for both the North Temple TRAX extension and the Salt Lake City Grand Boulevard concept for North Temple.

As part of the community involvement, we have placed our survey online. Please click the link below and take the survey, to share with us your thoughts about both projects:

North Temple / Grand Boulevard Survey