With comprehensive Salt Lake City zoning reform almost completed, one of its most effective advocates at City Hall won’t be around to usher it across the finish line. Darin Mano, City Council Member from District 5, has seen his last city council meeting as an elected...
Sustainability
Salt Lake City tees up debate on single-family zoning reform
After clearing out the queue of other changes to zoning districts throughout the city, planners have teed up the next housing topic for discussion and debate: single-family zoning reform. The city recently unveiled its proposal to change the rules for its three...
OPINION: Utah Needs More Transit to Trailheads
A week ago, I discovered that—on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays—Park City Transit extends its Route 9 Purple from downtown Park City over Empire Pass to serve Bonanza Flat Trailhead and Bloods Lake Trailhead. Since I had been hungry to get in some hiking and leaf...
Shadow lobbying, an AI paper and a willing Senator. The story behind the bill that took SLC’s streets away
This story has been made free for all readers. If you would like to help support BSL's independent journalism, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. The bill that took away Salt Lake City’s ability to control many of its own streets stemmed from shadowy...
Utah Transportation Commission derails plan to extend S-Line Streetcar into Sugar House shopping center
ROY—The Utah Transportation Commission showed little hesitation before approving roughly $3 billion in roadway expansion projects on Friday, posing virtually no questions to Utah Department of Transportation staff and limiting their comments to effusive praise for the...
SLC street improvements, bus line expansion seem to be paying off citywide
It’s been over six years since Salt Lake City voters approved the Funding our Future street reconstruction bond and the city council approved a sales tax bump, and city officials are approaching the end of their list of roads to improve — just in the nick of...
Opinion: Governor Cox’s housing plan is fueled by nostalgia for the suburban “starter home,” not reality
In November 2023, a housing policy legislative audit prepared for the Utah State Legislature delivered a sobering reality: Utah must build nearly 28,000 homes annually just to meet current demand. Worse yet, the audit warned that if the state’s housing policy...
REGISTER NOW: BSL Events to host Missing Middle Housing discussion and tour
Fresh off a successful kickoff event, Building Salt Lake is preparing to host an informational session and tour that's focused on a bygone and misunderstood type of housing known as Missing Middle Housing. Our Missing Middle Housing Discussion and Tour will focus on...
Dinwoodey Mansion, originally marketed as a tear-down, is protected from demolition after all
Days after a neighborhood Facebook group reposted a real estate listing for 411 and 419 East 100 South as “Tear down dwellings that are necessary to build future apartment or condo buildings,” the consensus among preservationists - including the keepers of records at...
Salt Lake City may be ‘too far gone’ to become affordable again, as city officials debate housing policies: BSL panel
The days of inexpensive rent and housing may be forever gone from Utah’s capital, and even working through a backlog of policies may never bring it back. The balance between urban infill, historic preservation and housing affordability may be out of whack, and recent...
Two projects in Depot District – Gateway amplify the need for the city to finish its new parking ordinance
Salt Lake City’s new off-street parking ordinance - how much parking developers are required to build given their land use and location - will be getting its final look by the city council later this spring and summer. The reform may have significant...
Mass timber coming to SLC – Chicago-area company considering large studio project at the U, Project Open phase 3 announcement later this month
In a city increasingly marked by concrete podium and wood-frame buildings, a new construction technique is coming to town that may help change the landscape. Mass timber is cheaper and less environmentally harmful than concrete and steel. Carbon dioxide emissions from...












