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Watch for Gov. Jon Huntsman to announce more members of
his cabinet this morning (see Morning
News and Tribune
stories). So far, there hasn’t been anything too unexpected about
who’s staying, who’s going, or any of the new appointments. Huntsman
hasn’t made any big surprise appointments, like bringing in a prominent
business or political leader to fill a slot, or bringing in some
big name from out-of-state. So far, appointments to both his senior
staff and cabinet positions have been fairly safe and predictable.
We’ll see what happens today.
Transportation Watch
Unless something is done, Utah faces gridlock in certain transportation corridors
within a few years. Meanwhile, Utah’s economic competitors are stepping
up with major mobility initiatives to protect their economies and
improve quality of life. On Nov. 2, Denver-area voters approved
a $4.5 billion program for rail and transit improvements called
“FasTracks.” Colorado’s Legislature is also working on an expanded
highway funding program. Phoenix-area voters also approved a big
transportation program, providing $16 billion for transit and highways.
Utah’s business leaders, led by the Salt Lake Chamber, are highly
concerned about Utah falling behind Denver and Phoenix. Transportation
infrastructure and mobility are crucial to economic strength. So
business leaders are supporting a large transportation funding package
for Utah.
A major part of the package is legislation sponsored by Rep. Wayne
Harper (see Morning
News story) creating a flat rate sales tax that would standardize
the transit tax across the Wasatch Front at a half cent. Combined
with some other steps, Harper’s legislation would provide a big
boost in accelerating construction of commuter rail and light rail
TRAX to numerous communities across the Wasatch Front.
At Last, Centerville Will Have a Center
I live in the suburban community of Centerville, in Davis County, and one of
the features of Centerville is that it has no center. Like many
fast-growing suburban communities, Centerville has a lot of new
subdivisions, older homes in the central part of town (where I live),
and a variety of businesses, mostly scattered all over the place.
There is no central gathering place, no place where you can park
your car and walk to do your business at the bank, the post office,
a grocery store, the library and rest under a tree on a park bench,
and have lunch at a cozy café or buy an ice cream cone in a small
shop.
You can currently patronize all those types of establishments in
Centerville (except the library, which will soon be built), but
you have to drive from one big parking lot to another. You go in
one store, back to the car, drive a few blocks, go into the bank,
back to the car, drive a few more blocks, go to the post office,
etc. Centerville is laid out for an impersonal, hurry-up, car-driving
population, not for walking, talking, intimacy or friendly ambiance.
We had an opportunity, a few years ago, to take a stab at creating a center for Centerville, an “urban village” (which became a much-reviled phrase), a walkable few blocks where the library, a theater, small shops, restaurants, housing, some green space with benches and tables, and so forth would be located. The city leaders worked with Envision Utah and developers to create a vision for a center for Centerville.
I liked the concept of the urban village (I would even enjoy living in so-called high-density housing in the development), but lots of other people didn’t like it, and over time and an election Centerville ultimately chose not to go that direction. I’m not blaming anyone in particular. I think many residents either didn’t want or didn’t understand the town center concept. And perhaps I am romanticizing the whole idea of having a walkable town square in Centerville. Perhaps it wouldn’t have worked out. Perhaps the small shops wouldn’t have been successful. Perhaps we are just wired to like driving from one parking lot to another.
But here’s the real irony of the whole thing. I didn’t even think about this
until some people e-mailed me some material recently and stories
were printed in the Davis County Clipper. The big irony is
that instead of a town center, Centerville gets a Super Wal Mart
on some of the same property. Funny thing is, I’m not even necessarily
opposed to Wal Mart. I believe in free enterprise and if a business
meets a city’s requirements, it shouldn’t be discriminated against.
So even though we didn’t know it at the time, we pretty much did
exchange a walkable city center/town square for a Super Wal Mart.
Once Wal Mart is in, I doubt the city center concept will ever be
viable.
So we make our choices and we live with them. And, the reality is, Centerville will soon have a center. It will be at Wal Mart. Won’t be a lot of trees, park benches or leisurely ambiance, but you can do a lot of walking in there, buy about anything, and have friendly chats not only with your neighbors, but with a few thousand other good folks who come in off the freeway.
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