New Mexico city may be a model for Provo

After a walking tour of Provo's downtown streets, Leinberger suggested that Provo could style its downtown after the Gateway shopping development in Salt Lake City. Efforts at revamping of Provo's downtown won't be easy, Leinberger said. He said those efforts must be largely determined by the private sector working uninhibited by city code.

Albuquerque's city council first "threw out" all of its parking and zoning regulations on the basis that the consumer market would ultimately dictate the area's needs, he said.

So far, future downtown residents are satisfied with having a mere 1.6 parking spaces per housing unit. And Albuquerque locals are happy to walk the downtown streets after parking for free at a six-story parking garage, Leinberger said.

But, Provo residents may want something different, although the universal popularity of "urban-living" television shows like "Friends" and "Sex and the City" indicates otherwise.

Leinberger, who has not been hired by the city, recommends an extensive market analysis be done in Provo to help the downtown revitalization meet the desires of the people who live and shop in Provo.

"He (Leinberger) represents a very unique approach," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said. "I think many of us would agree that there is need for further growth and revitalization (downtown)."

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