[QUOTE=taboubak;7994610]"It really isn't all that important if SLC itself hits a mark such as 300 or 400,000 people. The development of downtown will be based far more around the population of the metro area and the urban corridor as a whole."
I hope everyone is having a Happy Thanksgiving (Or just a great day if you don't celebrate it.)
I find the above quote disturbing. This mindset is what I am trying to combat. Why? Because it simply leads to more of the same: Sprawl, Traffic, and Pollution. SLC should have a significantly larger population and will need to have so.
To reiterate: We live in a mountain basin. We have inversions unlike anywhere else in the country. We are also expected to have another 3 to 4 million people be added to the state in the next 43 years. Most of these people are expected to live along the Wasatch Front. Why? Because the main water shed is here. The jobs are here. The infrastructure is kinda here. It is my firm belief that spreading the population willy-nilly up and down the Front will be disastrous. For the aforementioned reasons. Much higher density must occur in the predesignated urban centers.
The current suburban development trends are not sustainable. A much different approach needs to be taken. Also, putting an extra 3-4 million people all over the state is not only unpractical, it is impossible. The resources are not there to support such an idea.
Smart development in THIS area requires high density built around non/low polluting mass transit (preferably rail) in predesignated urban corridors. Not on every piece of open space left along the Wasatch Front!