Downtown Daybreak opens, a mixed-use city core
| CNU Journal | March 11, 2025
| Robert Steuteville |
“Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah, is the largest new urban development with 30,000 residents and is opening what may be the biggest new urban downtown to date. As of 2025, Downtown Daybreak features a new Triple-A ballpark for the Salt Lake Bees, an amphitheater, a performing arts center, a large cinema, a health center, a Salt Lake County Library, a mix of residential units, and office space.
The 200-plus-acre downtown will eventually have 5,000 residents and is connected to Salt Lake City and the region by the TRAX light rail system. Downtown Daybreak is the latest outcome of a vision that began a quarter century ago with Envision Utah, the plan that looked at scenarios for the growing Wasatch Front.
Envision Utah was sponsored by a coalition of civic, business, and political leaders. Participants preferred the future of mixed-use, compact development connected by light rail over the business-as-usual scenario of unmitigated sprawl and more highways (126 square miles versus 409 square miles of new development)... ”
How bad would the ‘Big One’ be? Lawmakers move toward forming a new earthquake panel to help Utah get ready.
| The Sale Lake Tribune | February 26, 2025 | Tony Semerad |
“…Projections are that more than 3,000 Utahns could lose their lives in the disaster, with tens of thousands injured, due largely to the collapse of an estimated 140,000 homes and other structures made of unreinforced masonry, many of which were built before the 1970s.
For comparison, Utah’s Big One would be about 90 times stronger than the 5.7 magnitude quake in March 2020 centered near Magna — and would be more akin to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that killed more than 3,000 people and left nearly 200,000 homeless.
“We would have over a million people without water, sewer and power, and for many of them, those services would not return for many months,” said Ari Bruening, CEO of the regional planning agency Envision Utah. “So our main concern is: What does that do to our economy as a state?”..
Read More →
Is Utah in a ‘major’ housing crisis? A new study asked Utahns just that
| Salt Lake Tribune | January 28, 2025 |
| Megan Banta |
“Utahns appear to agree with Gov. Spencer Cox’s mantra that we must build, new research found.
More than 2/3 of about 600 Utah adults surveyed at the end of last year agreed the state is in a “major” housing crisis or at least facing serious challenges.
Though Utahns surveyed by Envision Utah and Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy disagreed on what caused the crisis, they were more likely to agree the solution is building more housing.
Ari Bruening, CEO of Envision Utah, said housing is the “greatest worry about life in Utah.” The group is nearly two decades old and focuses on growth-related challenges.
“Most Utahns realize this is one problem we can build our way out of,” Bruening said, “they just want us to do it in a well-planned way that doesn’t threaten other aspects of our quality of life.”
Envision Utah, Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy report highlights path forward for addressing the Utah housing crisis
| Utah Policy | January 28, 2025 |
“Envision Utah, in conjunction with Utah Workforce Housing Advocacy, has released an in-depth report on Utahns’ perceptions of the state’s housing situation. Conducted in Q4 of 2024, the research sheds light on how Utahns think about the state’s housing shortage. This research included a survey of approximately 600 Utah adults and a large multi-day online focus group of 36 participants representing a variety of different backgrounds. Each participant spent 20–40 minutes answering a series of questions on housing.
Key Findings
The report reveals that most Utahns agree there is a housing problem and that we must build more homes to increase supply and drive down prices. Notable findings include:
- High public concern. Most Utahns (69%) believe Utah is “in a major housing crisis” or “facing serious housing challenges.” Only 15% see the situation as “fine” or “great…”