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Salt Lake City wants to build a new linear park around downtown

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.

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