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City Creek Center To Short-Change Salt Lake City?
updated November 7th
According to, Stephen Goldsmith, initial Planner of the City Creek Center, the new plans will short-change Salt Lake City residents so Taubman Partners shareholders can maximize profits at the expense of existing retailers and the South end of Main Street.
It was Stephen Goldsmith's initial proposal that the Zion Securities adopted for the City Creek Center Project. |
 Bill Bennion's family jewelry business has been on Main Street for over 100 years. Mr. Bennion is strongly opposed to the sky bridge element of the City Creek Center.
Daniel Ball is a student of Urban Planning at the University of Utah. Mr. Ball wrote an Op-ed piece for the Deseret News that started a debate about how the sky bridge will detract from the stated goals of the City Creek Center Project.
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One of the initial planners of the City Creek Center--former Salt Lake City Planning Director, Stephen Goldsmith, sat down with UtahStories.com to talk about some of the flaws he sees in the way the project is progressing.
Goldsmith believes the biggest flaws are in Taubman Partners (the developer of the City Creek Center) attempts to segregate the buying public from the rest of Main Street. Goldsmith says there will be very few entrances to the project from Main Street, and the proposed skybridge will be used for the same purpose: to maximize City Creek usage at the expense of the existing retailers on Main Street.
In the coming week UtahStories.com story we will present the opinions of fourth generation merchant Bill Bennion, Daniel Ball and John Speros owner of Lambs Restaurant. The Full Story will be released on November 7th. This is the story of those who are in opposition of the current City Creek plans for a sky bridge. In a later installment we will offer those who are in support the skybridge and Taubman's plans.
Your comments are being herd by the people who will determine the future of downtown Salt Lake City. Your help in promoting UtahStories.com will work in providing more interviews and transparency in the project so the result will indeed be a community effort.
Rocky Anderson spoke to UtahStories.com on his last day in office without a Mayor elect. Anderson believes huge mistakes were made in building the downtown malls 30-years-ago and the new City Creek Development plans are repeating many of those mistakes, "only worse". Anderson believes developers are making attempts to "trap shoppers in a gerbil-cage-like-tube." to prevent them from going on the street. Anderson says these plans completely disregard creating a real public square because developers will be able to control everything from the temperature to free speach to who can come in their mall.
Besides just the City Creek Development Anderson also addresses the problems he encountered making attempts to change Utah liquor laws, Pioneer Park and his on-going battles with the City Council during his tenure. Anderson has some harsh words for Dave Buhler and Nancy Saxon who he calls "obnoxious, obstructionists." Besides Anderson defends his "head-butting" with the City Council and House of Representatives, which he calls "a backward body." Anderson speaks about utah culture, the "great divide" and the "timidity and cowardice" the South-end merchants are displaying for not speaking out and organizing against the skybridge and City Creek plans.
Related stories:
Downtown Salt Lake City History: Why Main Street was Traded for malls
Send me your pithy, insightful comments and ideas to rmarkosian@gmail.com
(I'll post them below my article)
