When Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall imagines what makes a great city, she envisions a place that is open and accommodating to everyone.
“They’re built for families to play and connect outside after dinner. They’re built for our aging neighbors and for all abilities. They’re built for young professionals, creators and students,” Mendenhall said Tuesday night at the 2024 State of the City address. “They are timeless and innovative, all at once.”
Mayor Mendenhall emphasized that Salt Lake City encompasses the heart of Utah and the Intermountain West, and as Utah prepares to host the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, it’s important to know the state of Utah’s future is “built not solely for the success of one global event — but for those of us who live here every day,” she said.
Making SLC pedestrian-friendly
The current projection for the 2024 population of the Salt Lake City metro area is approximately 1,214,000 million people, a .91% increase from 2023, according to Macrotrends.
As the city’s population and the population in surrounding areas continue to grow, Mendenhall said her administration is working to accommodate that growth by creating a “Main Street pedestrian promenade that will be the epicenter of activity downtown.”
Salt Lake City made the conceptual designs for a project public, inviting community feedback through a survey to gather opinions on proposed plans. “Of the more than 2,500 people who were surveyed this past fall about potential designs, 85% chose options that would reduce car traffic on Main Street from South Temple to 4th South,” Mendenhall said.
“That’s a clear mandate, and we are listening,” she added.
Photos of the project show that the pedestrian-friendly plan would “close Main Street from South Temple to 400 South permanently to vehicles and make it a pedestrian plaza. It follows the success of ‘Open Streets,’ which was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving people an opportunity to spread out. It led to a boost in Main Street business with more people visiting,” per Fox 13.
Mendenhall also said she and her administration are setting the groundwork for a bold and groundbreaking project: The Green Loop.
“As you can imagine, converting 132 foot wide right of ways into multi block pedestrian centered space is far from a walk in the park. But the extraordinary benefits to our community, to our economy and to our quality of life are well worth it,” Mendenhall said.
“This linear park network will reconstruct five-and-a-half miles of downtown streets into places for every generation to come together and play, walk, shop, picnic and relax. And what’s more, when we unlock the connections, the green loop will make it its reach opens up a second link into our west side. It’s more than the downtown opportunity. It is a west side opportunity as well,” she emphasized.
Expanding sports and entertainment
Along with a growing population comes a growing sports fanbase.
“The potential to welcome both major league baseball and the National Hockey League to our city is incredibly exciting, and a great fit,” Mendenhall said Tuesday night. “It amplifies our city’s values and vision of expanding sports and entertainment experiences that further connect our residents and visitors across all generations and identities.”
Mendenhall is not the only one with a dream to invite more major league sports teams to the Beehive State. The owner of the Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith, and his organization, Smith Entertainment Group, have their eyes set on bringing in an NHL team, the Deseret News previously reported.
“SEG envisions a near future where the NHL will thrive in Utah, and we are 100% focused on making this happen as soon as possible,” Smith said in a statement. “We are passionate about sports and entertainment in the state and are committed to providing premium sports and entertainment experiences for the people of Utah and visitors from around the world. We are ready to welcome the NHL and are confident that the time and attention being spent by all parties will bring one of the most exciting and dynamic leagues in the world to our community on a permanent basis.”
On the issue of housing and homelessness
Chronic homelessness continues to be a growing problem in the Salt Lake metro area. According to the 2023 Annual Data Report on Homelessness, “Utah witnessed a concerning increase in the number of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.”
Chronic homelessness is defined as being homeless for at least 12 months continuously or experiencing four episodes of homelessness in the last three years that cumulatively equal at least 12 months, per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Exchange.
Mayor Mendenhall said Tuesday that she is optimistic that the legislature will approve a budget proposal from Gov. Spencer Cox aimed at addressing homelessness in a comprehensive manner.
“If it’s greenlit by the legislature, his proposal would provide support for to non congregate shelters to low barrier shelters funding for a statewide winter shelter response $30 million for deeply affordable housing and $8 million. To address the state’s shortage of behavioral health professionals and services,” Mendenhall said.
However, the mayor noted that the heart of the homeless problem is the lack of affordable housing.
“As with our challenges related to homelessness, the city is tackling affordability and continuing an outsized investment in all types of housing, including affordable and multifamily projects,” she said.
In the upcoming year, Salt Lake City plans to allocate more than $38 million toward the development of new affordable housing units, the acquisition of existing ones and the backing of future housing initiatives as a way to increase the provision of affordable housing throughout the area.
“As we embrace this future, and welcome more neighbors today, tomorrow and in the next 10 years when we host the Winter Games. I know that we will be proud of the decisions we have made,” Mendenhall said.
“We’re going to be proud of the partnerships that we have built and will be proud of the initiative we took to ensure Salt Lake City thrives for another century,” she concluded.