Salt Lake’s TSA and Opportunity Zones—Developers and Real Estate Triumph from Exclusion
Personal Investigation
Work in Progress (TBD)
Urban renewal at what cost?
“Transit-oriented development (TOD) is more than simply a project next to a transit station and cannot be defined by a prescribed set of densities and mix of uses. True TOD is incorporated into the district or neighborhood surrounding the station. It is comprised of multiple new projects and existing developments. It includes a rich mix of choices and uses in a pattern of compact development and in a network of walkable streets, with access to transit neighborhood amenities with supporting design, and transportation choice.”
— Salt Lake City Government
Efficient public transit systems and their potential to connect locations beyond personal vehicles as the main mode of transportation is impressive, and to those who only know of traveling by car, perhaps even mindblowing. However, as with all systems and products, they tend to be tainted with inequality before they’re presented to those interested in investing. This example will be looking at the burgeoning Salt Lake and the urban growth that demands transit positively grow with it—zoning procedures made by city planners and quickly taken up by profiteering developers may not outrightly seek to create inequity, but brushing past the knowledge that many of their high-density housing or mixed-use strips are gentrifying and widening social gaps is just as deplorable.