Salt Lake City

[mulad]

Salt Lake City is an interesting place to watch since they've been building a lot of transit -- I'm a bit more interested in what they're doing than I am about Portland. They just opened the Sugar House Streetcar line which has some resemblance to the Midtown Greenway -- built on an old rail corridor, though it appears to be at-grade rather than in a trench.

In this map, it extends eastward from the north-south LRT line just east of the I-80/I-15 junction, and parallels I-80 (they use a somewhat offset platform, which I wonder if might be a good idea to conserve some space on the west end of the Midtown Greenway line if they can't properly interline it with SWLRT).

Construction website: http://www.shstreetcar.com/ and an article from the SL Trib here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/5 ... r.html.csp

Here's a cab-ride video from the article:


I also recently noticed that they have expanded their commuter rail service -- sounds like they now have hourly service on their FrontRunner line from roughly 5am to midnight, and they have 13,000 daily riders on the 88-mile corridor.

For all that UTA is doing in terms of infrastructure, I'd still say Metro Transit has a better website for looking up schedules, and I think Metro Transit's maps are a bit better.

I was expecting to be in SLC for a work trip recently, though it had been canceled. I'll see if I can poke around if they end up rescheduling, though I can't promise much if I'm there in the dead of winter (lack of daylight and all that...).

[talindsay]

So I'm in Salt Lake City for a conference right now and it's a real mixed bag. I have to say that Minneapolis shouldn't hold SLC as a model.

There's a lot of good in SLC - the light rail system (trax) appears to be regular, reliable, and well-used. The area is beautiful. There seems to be a lot going on.

But there's a lot that's not so good. I hate the term "stroad" but this "city" is full of them. Downtown, most streets are at least five wide lanes wide, often one-way. The amount of the town that's dedicated to cars is huge. There's vast expanses of undeveloped lots and surface parking immediately adjacent to the main downtown buildings. Despite a fair number of very tall buildings clustered together, the town feels more suburban than downtown Rochester or Duluth. It's very car-centric, but it's also got no density. Frankly, if they hadn't gotten the Olympics I can't imagine a town this car-centric and low-density ever having a light rail system.

The other weird thing is that it feels *tiny* - even with surface lots abounding in the downtown area, it takes less than a mile to run out of city in any direction, finding yourself essentially in the mountains. Which is great if you're looking for somewhere to run but not so great if you're trying to build a city. Obviously it's much smaller than Minneapolis - a metro of ~1.1 million with a central "city" of ~190k - but frankly Madison feels bigger.

Anyway, being the center of the LDS church and also the center of a newly-growing ski resort area I expect SLC will continue to get attention and money, and the scenery is unbelievable - it's like if Denver were a good twenty miles closer to the interesting parts of the front range - but it's not really a comparison for Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a big city, while SLC is a small mountain city with great views and a western growth pattern.

[go4guy]

One thing I noticed when I lived in SLC for a couple months about 6 years ago is that there is no real entertainment options. It seems that once people are done with work, they just go home. Downtown is dead. The culture there frowns on drinking. So there is a very small nightlife scene there. I think things have changed to allow more drinking since I was there last, but I am sure it hasnt changed that much. Visually, it is a great area. But after a few weeks, I could not wait to get out of there. Was not a place for a single guy in his mid 20's.

[MNdible]

The Tenderloin, it is not.

[Didier]

The beer is diluted too, isn't it?

[talindsay]

Actually, i was surprised that there seems to be a decent brew culture there, with a few pretty good local beers. They were lower alcohol (about 4% iirc) but not watered down.

[COLSLAW5]

I was just looking at their light rail system and was floored to learn they actually share track with a local freight company. Not really sure how that works, does anyone here have any experience with that?

[Silophant]

Wild. I'm assuming it's only at night, when the LRT isn't running? I know the NJ Transit River Line works like that, but that was DMUs being added to an existing freight line, not freight being added to an electrified LRT line.

[DanPatchToget]

I was just looking at their light rail system and was floored to learn they actually share track with a local freight company. Not really sure how that works, does anyone here have any experience with that?

I’m guessing it’s like San Diego’s light rail. The route to the U.S.-Mexico border is also used by freight trains, but only at night when the light rail isn’t running.

[Didier]

Salt Lake City has been named the preferred host of the 2034 Winter Olympics, which means barring something totally unexpected the Olympics will be going back there (and six years after LA hosts the Summer Games).

Here's their venue plan.