It is well known that Salt Lake City has some of the biggest blocks and widest streets in the United States. This is typically a challenge if you’re trying to create a walkable urban environment; however, it can also be an opportunity, because it means you have a lot of public space that you can do other things with.
It is for these reasons that SLC is working on something called the Green Loop:
And the idea is to turn a ring of downtown streets into a new linear park that looks something like this:
More specifically, the Green Loop wants to do the following five things (copied verbatim):
- Develop a robust downtown urban forest
- Serve as an active transportation corridor for walking and biking
- Improve water quality through stormwater management
- Create inviting social spaces that provide a variety of amenities and attractions
- Create public front yards and gardens within the downtown that support the needs of all users
In my mind, albeit as a non-Salt Laker, this has the potential to be truly transformational for the city and as impactful as the High Line was for New York. So if you are a local, I would encourage you to complete this short project survey. It’s open until Nov 30.