Envision Utah's 2020 Quality Communities Academy is next week!
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The 2020 Quality Communities Academy is all about mixed-use centers. Local Utah experts will be providing an overview of centers that's useful for planning commissions, elected officials, municipal and county staff, and anyone interested in learning about how land use can help improve quality of life. Speakers will be answering the following questions:
- What exactly is a center?
- Are there different types of centers?
- How can centers benefit my community?
- How do you design and build a center?
- How does my center fit in with regional plans and visions?
These topics will be explored using real and replicable examples from Utah communities.
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This event will be FREE, but please RSVP to get it on your calendar and to check out a detailed agenda with speaker bios.
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How our growth patterns affect access to opportunity
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Recent events have prompted many of us to engage in deep introspection to consider how we can be part of the solution in righting the enduring wrongs of centuries of oppression and injustice. It’s unfortunate that it’s taken this long, and that a horrendous and senseless killing was what prompted this response, but we can all hope that this is a watershed moment that will finally spark the change that is so deeply needed.
We at Envision Utah are thinking carefully about what we can do, and encourage everyone to do likewise. Our mission involves creating and sustaining communities that are beautiful, prosperous, healthy, and neighborly for current and future residents. Not for some residents, but for all residents.
Our growth patterns—historically and even today—have in many ways denied some members of our communities the same opportunities that others take for granted, leading to extreme inequality. As we each examine our own community’s zoning and other policies, we should ask ourselves what the implications would be for our most vulnerable peoples’ access to opportunity if every community had the same policies.
How can the way we plan our communities be part of the solution? We want to hear your ideas, and we want to facilitate discussion among stakeholders. A good start may be the American Planning Association’s Planning for Equity Policy Guide. Here are a few of the document’s recommendations:
- Institute principles of effective community engagement and use targeted community-specific strategies
- Implement principles of participatory planning
- Promote diverse housing stock
- Remove regulatory barriers in zoning and subdivision regulations
- Increase the supply of housing
- Provide affordable housing in transit-rich locations
- Support funding for multimodal transportation facilities
- Utilize regional transportation planning and coordination
You’ll note that many of these recommendations reinforce the planning principles that have emerged from Envision Utah’s work with Utahns generally, because they will lead to a higher quality of life for all of us—with more convenient and affordable housing and transportation options, cleaner air, less conversion of agricultural land to other uses, and reduced water use, to name a few impacts. See, for example, the
Your Utah, Your Future vision
.
We at Envision Utah are recommitting ourselves to fostering inclusive dialogue in our planning efforts and around the topics of inclusion and opportunity. We hope you will do the same in your spheres of influence.
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Check out our new website on early learning: 5 Before 5
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Did you know that 85 percent of brain growth occurs before kindergarten? For first-time parents and veteran parents alike, understanding this development isn’t always easy, but it's critical in those first five years to engage interactively with our children to help that brain-building!
That’s why we’re excited to announce the launch of
5b45kids.com
—the website that teaches parents about the five ways we can prepare our children for the future before they turn five years old:
love, talk, read, count, and play.
As part of Envision Utah’s early learning initiative, we worked in partnership with
KSL, Help Me Grow Utah, United Way of Salt Lake, The Promise Partnership, and others in a collaborative effort
to put together this space dedicated to giving every parent the knowledge and confidence they need to help foster healthy development in their children.
Learn more about each of the five areas of growth, check out community resources, sign up for weekly personalized brain-building tips with Vroom, and give your child the start they need in life to make sure their future is bright—at home, in the classroom, and as Utah's leaders of tomorrow. Take a look at the website!
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You still have time to watch the Gubernatorial Candidate Forum before you vote
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Are you a registered Republican deciding whom to vote for in the primaries on June 30th?
Check out Envision Utah's Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on YouTube to hear from the candidates about issues like growth, the future of education, Utah's economy and more!
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Contrary to popular perception, densely populated U.S. city centers are not more prone to
the spread of COVID-19
, a newly released study by University of Utah researchers has concluded. The report supports the kind of places Utahns tell us they want for their communities to grow.
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During the 1.5 hour forum held virtually by Envision Utah and streamed live on YouTube, the candidates individually addressed topics raised by KSL’s Doug Wright that included handling growth, developing economic opportunities in rural Utah and dealing with climate change.
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A study by Envision Utah for the Point of the Mountain Commission said the right steps for the Point of the Mountain include about $3 billion in transportation improvements, including running TRAX through the area and extending the Mountain View Corridor freeway nearby.
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Like all of you, we’re worried about keeping ourselves and our families healthy, and we’re concerned about both the short- and long-term impacts of the current pandemic. But thanks to your generous support, we’re also able to remain focused on other critical long-term issues like air quality, water, land use & transportation, education, disaster resilience, and more. Thank you for your support!
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