From Deseret News archives:
A high road, and low road, for downtown
Breath mint or candy mint?
Why not both?
As concerned souls grapple with the future of Salt Lake City's Main Street, they've splintered into two camps. Some feel a skybridge is the answer. It would allow people on the upper levels of the City Creek complex to cross the street without having to run a Pac-Man route to street level and back up again. They say it wouldn't spoil the view, but provide a view.
Others throw in with Mayor Rocky Anderson. They would like to close Main Street between 100 South and South Temple to automotive traffic. In the Anderson plan, TRAX would still run down Main Street, but there would be "crossing points" that would keep foot traffic flowing. The Salt Lake City Council was said to be "underwhelmed" by the idea, saying it does nothing to address the second-tier congestion that a skybridge would alleviate.
We wonder why carrying out both plans couldn't be a double winner. The skybridge would keep things fluid on the upper levels, while the closed street would keep people bustling at street level. And a vibrant downtown is always about movement. It's about bustle. Movement gives a city a dynamic quality that is appealing. It creates an aura of economic health and recreation. Nothing says "well-being" like a lively inner city.
The 19th century American Unitarian, Theodore Parker, summed up such a notion.
"Cities have always been the fireplaces of civilization," he wrote. "Places whence light and heat radiated out into the dark, cold world."
It's an old American trait to want to be where the action is. Americans complain about the congestion of New York City and Chicago, but they also know such places are filled with vitality. They are like engines, driving culture and commerce. Downtown Salt Lake City will likely never be able to muster the kind of shoulder-to-shoulder whirlpool of, say, Union Square in San Francisco or the Gaslight District of San Diego, but the more avenues available for movement here, the more active and alive Salt Lake City will become.
The skybridge is the way to go.
As is the pedestrian walkway.
