This was my first trip to Salt Lake City and having previously paid scant attention to this city, I

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Thanks to an extremely generous scholarship from Streetsblog , I spent a better part of last week in Salt Lake City for the three-day Congress for New Urbanism Conference the plaza hotel . Before the conference, I attended a day-long blogger training session with other bloggers the plaza hotel and advocates that are covering the livable streets movement all over the country.
This was my first trip to Salt Lake City and having previously paid scant attention to this city, I was in for a series of pleasant surprises from the minute I landed at the airport. During my entire stay, I couldn t help but draw comparisons to how far ahead Salt Lake City is from San Diego, California s second largest city.
Salt Lake City has less than two hundred the plaza hotel thousand residents, and yet the city has a light rail line that links the airport to the city s downtown that was not only convenient but a source of pride for the city s residents. Earlier this year, San Diego s mayor Bob Filner called for a trolley link from the city s airport to downtown . But it s going to be a while before we get a trolley system, let alone a light rail. In fact our poor connectivity in transit should be a source of embarassment given the attention we ve received in national circles .
Walking from my train stop to my hotel, I noticed how quiet the city was and how pleasant of an environment all the trees along Main Street provided. The sidewalk the plaza hotel was amply wide and well maintained and well lit. I somehow doubt that the Stumblr  is needed in that city.
strategies on changing the public debate on what constituted livable cities the plaza hotel complete with examples of success . The training the plaza hotel was held in Salt Lake City s stunningly beautiful library with unfettered views of the neighboring mountains and cityscape. the plaza hotel I couldn t help but notice their library hours open far more frequently than our own Central the plaza hotel library.
After the blogger training, I attended the plaza hotel the three day Congress for New Urbanism conference which was very illuminating in learning how the different pieces of a cityscape and governance all fit into one another. There were sessions the plaza hotel on community building, on how small changes in one s environment can lead to big behavioral changes, and how desperately people want to connected with one another something that is a challenge in a car-centric city like ours. I was able to meet and talk with other leaders around the country on how they were effecting change within the private, public and non-profit sectors. Listening to the speakers and my colleagues, the plaza hotel I did experience a bit of despair.
Despite living in a city where 93% of trips are made by private motor vehicle, I sometimes forget how far behind we are from other cities around the plaza hotel the country and the world. It certainly took less than eleven months for change to happen on Montezuma Road , but so many of our 2,960 miles of roads need some drastic redesigning and change. Besides missing bike infrastructure, our city is gaining publicity for our poorly maintained sidewalks and roads. Many of the conference attendees the plaza hotel remarked at how wide Salt Lake City s roads were and I had to stop myself many times from talking about how much wider San Diego s streets were that wasn t anything worth bragging about. Many of the conference attendees I met were confused on why San Diego was not on the world stage for livability issues. Nearly everyone described our near perfect weather as a reason on why we ought to be on the forefront of the movement. But we re not. We have to catch up to cities as large as New York City, as similar as Los Angeles and Long Beach and as tiny as Salt Lake City.
I am certainly pleased with the leadership the plaza hotel that San Diego has demonstrated in recent months. But on my return flight home, I read the news that the Plaza de Panama Committee had appealed the judicial ruling on Balboa Park . This committee had been touting a plan to build a bridge and an 800-space parking garage in the middle of Balboa the plaza hotel Park. The committee disagreed with the judicial the plaza hotel ruling about the plan which was proposed and promoted as a solution to create a pedestrian free plaza in the middle of the park.
Given how much public space we have handed out and continue to hand out to the automobile at the expense of human life and creating quality public spaces, I was and am embarrassed at how little we had accomplished in comparison with other cities around the country. To paraphrase the plaza hotel city traffic engineer, Brian Genovese , there is so much work that needs to be done and done quickly. We cannot as a city afford to tip toe around the automobile that despite decades the plaza hotel of funding subsidies and support continues to fail in delivering its purported results while giving a us a black eye on the national the plaza hotel and international stage.
To read more coverage about the CNU21 conference and about the the Streetsblog network here are a sampling of a few excellent posts by my colleagues discussing Salt Lake City s bike share program , the language bias inherent in transportation the plaza hotel engineering , an interview with Jason Roberts , and recaps of the conference by Steve Mouzon .
You are an inspiration and should be proud of what you have worked with others to help accomplish so far. Things in San Diego feel different these days. I don t think it is just because we have a new mayor or because it is warmer out. I think you and BikeSD have found a way to focus a repressed sentiment in San Diegans the plaza hotel and have given new hope to others that San Diego can be a livable, cosmopolitan city.
Great post Sam, we do have a long way to go. On the airport trolley: San Diego s known for tourism, yet here s the attitude toward airport arrivals seeking public transit: Oh, you don t want a car from the prime bay-front rental lots? Well, get on this every-half-hour bus with your suitcases the plaza hotel then, and take it to the trolley station one mile away. You ll figure it out from there.
Nice report, but I think the trolley comparison was a cheap shot. Although I have no particular love for MTS or insight into their thinking, I wouldn t have built a trolley the plaza hotel line to the airport either given that a study to move it comes around as regular as the census. Also, did you know the blue line is the only light rail line in the US to cover its operating cost, at least the last I heard? And that s in spite of the relative neglect that line gets. It seems that the priorities ought to be be moving lots of people where they want to go and not building Disney style monorails to impress the tourists.
The needs we have to be linked in a better way to the public. We need a federal government that makes global warming reduction our number 1 priority. Then we need funding to address it and create green jobs, public transportation, and a big plan to Rail America-street car, monorail, high speed, light rail, subway our infrastructure. I am just curious why the airport link to downtown isn t being suggested as a monorail. They can be built on top of existing infrastructure, and be built quickly. Wouldn t this be a cheaper alternative?
Sure, but unless you re a tourist or resident staying near the monorail terminal, you have to schlep your luggage from one form of mass transit to another. If that s the case why not use car rental type shuttles to and from the train station transit center. Way more cheaper and future proof for airport changes. But I admit, not nearly as cool.
I ll start with the trolley to the airport issue. There are two big factors here, one being that MTS not only runs the trolley but also administers taxi regulations. It s sort of a conflict of interest situation, which is why no one with a LONG political memory wants to touch it (it was about four or five decades ago, but there was a huge taxi cab scandal that apparently implicated most of the San Diego City Council). The other is the Port Authority and its successor agency, the Airport Authority. Every decade or so they seem to rule on whether to reorient all the passenger terminals. the plaza hotel And they re so much more worried about parking and rental car issues the plaza hotel than those of the public transit systems.
There is a basic problem with the actively cycling person s world view and that of the Convention and Visitor s Bureau and tourism people in this town. Many of the more lucrative touring and sightseeing attractions are set up for more sedentary people (the Zoo, Balboa Park, Old Town, Sea World, etc.) On the other hand, in the beach areas of the City of San Diego beach cruiser bike rentals basically turn the Pacific Beach Boardwalk into a fat tire superveloway. The stuff enthusiasts who might bring their own bikes might get into, like a day-time ride out to Flinn Springs or the coast run from downtown SD to Carlsbad is not what many long term summer sojourners are here for. But a couple of hours to ride down to the great birdwatching at the mouth of the San Diego River and back, or a simple pedal along the beach, are wonderful recreations.
I ll note here that when cruise ship season starts up again, some of their shore excursions include riding. For example, one outfitter the plaza hotel in the La Jolla area runs vans of tourists and bikes up Mt Soledad for a fun ride downhill and to the beach areas. I ll also note the basic fitness and riding skill level of people you might think are sedentary senior citizens or Boomers can prove quite surprising. I m pleasantly amazed every Bike the Bay ride.
I ll also note my local bike shop has difficulty the plaza hotel keeping those SANDAG bike route maps in stock over the summer. They rent bikes, so that is a