The area around Provo's Intermodal Hub is currently undergoing substantial changes. Provo is the County Seat and center of Utah County, which is growing rapidly and is projected to nearly double in population and employment by the year 2040.
Key to the current growth and development in the downtown area are new investments in public transportation by way of a new Commuter Rail line and stop just south of the downtown and a new Bus Rapid Transit system that will connect the new Commuter Rail stop with Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University in Orem. These new transportation investments have the potential to attract the development of thousands of new households and jobs in the downtown area and also provide increased access for workers, students and residents.
During the Envisioning Center process several analyses were undertaken to assess the capacity and demand for residential and commercial development in downtown Provo. Some of the key factors that were considered included demographics, market demands and physical capacity criteria such as infrastructure and land constraints.
In-line with the Envisioning Centers process and working with our stakeholder group, Envision Utah created four scenarios with differing land uses for the Provo study area to meet the expected growth. The scenarios were derived from our stakeholders’ meetings in which stakeholders from the City and community took part in mapping exercises to help guide and to provide input about the future development of Provo. Some of the stakeholder maps displayed fairly aggressive growth with many high density land uses while other stakeholder maps displayed a more moderate vision of growth.
The scenarios were modeled and refined using Envision Tomorrow Plus to reflect market research and to help create a “Vision Scenario” for the Downtown Provo area, which was then vetted by the Stakeholder group.
Today, progress is being made towards the vision. It is being implemented by way of a newly remodeled Utah Valley Convention Center, which has inspired local business owners to dress up their storefronts with new paint, brick and mortar.
provo
intermodal hub
visioning images
Housing Analysis Sample Maps
While more than 67 percent of the low wages jobs in Provo are south of the Provo Demonstration Site, this is a large, expansive area, where the northeastern section of the catalytic site has almost 29 percent of the low-wage jobs in a much smaller area. The concentration of low wage jobs is an indicator of the need for affordable rental housing in the catalytic site.
