Strengthening the connection of SLC to neighbor “island metros”

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

Utah businesses compete in the global marketplace and one expert says we’ll have to increase our connection to western metropolitan areas to remain competitive.

Michael Gallis is an urban strategist based in Charlotte, N.C. He addressed a group of business leaders at the Salt Lake Chamber Monday morning.

“The west is very unlike the east,” says Gallis. “You have a lot of open space (in the west) and the metro areas function like islands. When you think of economic growth in a global economy, you think of creating access and interactions between the islands.”

Gallis says Utah has done a tremendous job connecting Ogden and Provo to Salt Lake City with investments in mobility–think the I-15 CORE project and UTA’s FrontRunner which connects into light rail in Salt Lake County. He says that same kind of connection between SLC and neighbor cities like Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles will be increasingly important in the years ahead.

Gallis cites the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1960s as the catalyst for the stingiest period of economic growth in U.S. history post-World War II. He says making that connection between cities in a way trains did not, made all the difference.

“This issue of creating levels of connectivity through which we can interact more freely is fundamental to economic growth,” says Gallis “Are we going to drop out of the grid or strengthen our connection to the grid? Thats’ the challenge and the opportunity for us today.”

The proliferation of the internet and the impact it has on communication and commerce, makes a physical connection between “island metros” even more critical.

“You can use eBay to sell your product to the world; you can be a global businessman yourself–in fact many people are,” says Gallis. “But that involves still the shipping and movement of goods. So we still have the importance of moving people and goods through the world.”

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Self-awareness helps Utahns plan for the future

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

“Salt Lake is very self aware and it serves you well.”

That’s what famed demographer, author and columnist Joel Kotkin said in a recent interview with Chamber chief economist Natalie Gochnour. This comment reminded her that Utah, in fact, does have a very “strong sense of self, and we translate it into a great place to live.”

In a column for Utah Business, Gochnour noted, “Vision is nothing new to Salt Lake City. It’s part of our DNA.” Several of Utah’s largest cities have created multi-decade plans, and even our original pioneers had a vision that they acted upon immediately to help make Utah what it is today.

In an uncertain national economy, now is more important than ever for Utah to “keep refining who we are and what we want to be and then translate this self-awareness and vision into action.”

Gochnour polishes off her column by delving into a handful of areas where Utah should focus to maintain a growing economy for the future and strong sense of self. These include education, transportation, air quality and more.

You can read the complete article here.

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Breaking ground on the Sugar House Streetcar

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

The Sugar House Streetcar construction is officially underway.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined business leaders, elected officials and representatives from both UTA and UDOT to break ground on the $55.5 million project. The project was awarded $26 million from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II program. The TIGER II program provides most of the remaining funding needed to proceed with the project.

“This is about the next generation of transportation,” said Sec. LaHood (at podium, below). “This is a celebration of the jobs that will be created and the opportunity for economic development.”

The line will run east from the TRAX Central Pointe Station at 2100 South to 1040 East, just west of Fairmont Park. The line will be surrounded by business development, greenway, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes and residences.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker says $400 million of commercial investment has already been secured along the corridor. Construction of the streetcar accelerated or is partially responsible for the creation of over 1,000 residential units and nearly two million square feet of redevelopment on seven sites in the Sugar House Business District. The streetcar corridor’s greenway will add an additional 5.76 acres of public green space to the area’s neighborhoods.

“We have the finest transportation leaders in the nation in our state,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber (at podium, above). “People in Utah have vision and that makes a big difference for businesses and for all the people of Utah.”

Work began on the Sugar House Streetcar line in the early 2000s. The line was designed to connect the TRAX Blue Line (running from downtown to Sandy) with neighborhoods in South Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City.

“I don’t know of a better way to spend tax dollars than to bring communities together and creating economic opportunity,” said Sec. LaHood.

When the project opens, ridership is projected at 3,000 riders per weekday, rising to more than 4,000 by 2030. Construction on the line actually began last month and is anticipated to be complete late next year.

 

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Topping the Charts

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Over the past few weeks, Utah has found a comfortable home at the top, or near the top of several lists.  It seems we’re no longer such a “well-kept secret.”

Forbes magazine ranks the commute to and from Salt Lake City as the best in the nation. According to a study released Tuesday, “20% of workers find a way to get to work besides driving alone, which leaves the roads less jammed. It’s not an accident that commuters in Salt Lake have it better than elsewhere. The state of Utah has poured resources into initiatives that strengthen the city’s infrastructure… and [utilized] special road-construction techniques that minimize interruptions to traffic.” (READ FULL ARTICLE)

Anyone who commuted to Salt Lake City from Davis or Weber County before the debut of UTA’s FrontRunner service and the opening of Legacy Parkway can attest to just how much the trip has improved. We’ve all marveled at the ingenious technique utilized by UDOT to build bridges and move them into place without tying up traffic for months at a time. The addition of the Mountain View Corridor and FrontRunner South will provide similar benefits for Utah County residents.

As a Chamber, we consider transportation a top priority and we’re proud of state leaders and the steps they have made to eliminate gridlock and keep traffic flowing. That means businesses can thrive and workers can make it to the office to work, and home to relax. Utah’s transportation system is a significant element of our unsurpassed quality of life.

Earlier this month, Forbes heaped even more praise on our state, recognizing us as the best in debt management. As Derek Miller, managing director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, pointed out: “the state debt is $447 for every Utahn but the national debt is 100 times than figure–$40,000.” (READ FULL ARTICLE)

The responsible fiscal management exhibited by the State Legislature and our governors should be a source of great pride for all Utahns. We live in the best-managed state in the nation. That has helped us weather these challenging economic times better than the rest of the country and it is a major reason we’ll be the first state to emerge from the recession.

Perhaps most impressively, a Gallup poll released last week ranks Utah near the top of the list when it comes to well-being. We finished second to Hawaii so I can only assume the survey was done in January when most of us would rather be in Hawaii. We finished tops in this poll in 2008. (SEE POLL)

Dig into the numbers and you’ll see we scored highest in the Work Environment category based on “job satisfaction, ability to use one’s strengths at work, supervisor’s treatment and cultivation of an open and trusting work environment.”

I’ve been saying it for years: Utah is the best place to live, work and play.

More and more, we have the numbers to prove it.

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Forbes ranks Utah commute among nation’s swiftest

Thursday, February 18th, 2010


Salt Lake City received some high praise today from Forbes magazine:

“If you live in Salt Lake City, Utah, Buffalo, N.Y., or Rochester, N.Y., your ride to work is probably the smoothest of any big city in the country. Residents of Tampa, Fla., Detroit, Mich. and Atlanta, Ga., on the other hand, endure the most grueling slog to work.”

The commute to and from SLC was ranked tops in the nation, thanks in large part to our first-rate mass transit system. Forbes factored in travel time, road congestion and travel delays for the 60 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S.

READ FULL ARTICLE

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