Many years ago I was attending a forum in Kansas City. The mayor at that time was Emanuel Cleaver. Someone from the audience asked him a very direct question related to the development of the downtown area. The query came from a gentleman living in the suburbs. He asked, "Why should we care what happens downtown?" Mayor Cleaver looked at him with seemingly little patience and replied as if it were an obvious fact, "The strength of the town is the strength of the 'burbs."
To me this is an obvious fact and one that cannot be ignored. Regions thrive with a strong central city.
Over the past year, I have had the privilege of conferring, through the Downtown Rising process, with some of the greatest minds we have in our state to consider the strength, future and potential of downtown Salt Lake City. The entire process has been exhilarating and enlightening as our potential as a community has been considered and the visions for the future have been verbalized.
Now that the vision has been released, I feel compelled to encourage people — from the southern borders of Utah to the northern, from the suburbs of the Salt Lake City to communities beyond — to become familiar with, internalize, work toward, and contribute to this vision. From the most influential of our residents to the "average Joe," we all have a stake in our capital city's future.
An important aspect of Downtown Rising is the vital connection and interdependence between downtown Salt Lake City and the surrounding region. I feel for those poor timid souls who live in the 'burbs and think that what happens downtown — and worse, what doesn't happen — has no effect on them or is of no concern to them.
If the town fails the 'burbs fail. If the town is weak, the 'burbs are weak. If the town lacks vision and its overall potential is not identified in the grandest of terms, the 'burbs can fight and claw, they can work and toil, but they will never achieve the potential they have in their complementary role to the central business district in the region.
My definition of the 'burbs includes all areas that are affected by the town regardless of distance. How far is the reach? At what point do we become presumptuous? How important is Salt Lake City to Provo, Ogden, Logan, St. George and everywhere in between? How important is this city to the entire Intermountain West, the country and even the world?
Our 'burbs are only limited by our vision. Our impact, our influence, our reach can be as strong as we envision it. Tell me this isn't good for our immediate neighbors!
Those who stand on the fringes and believe that Downtown Rising has nothing to do with them will ultimately be relegated to a determined destiny rather than playing a meaningful role to determine the destiny of this great state.
I have the greatest of confidence that success is inevitable. Our town is on a great path; it has a tremendous future and our children will thank us.
With the collective efforts of the great minds and talent amassed by the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, the vision is set, the possibilities are in play and, most importantly, the impossibilities are no more. Everyone should be involved. We should all shun the 'burb mentality regardless of where we live.
Curtis Bennett is vice president of retail operations for O.C. Tanner.