Giddy over the efficiency of Portland's downtown streetcar system - and the economic spoils it spurs - Salt Lake City leaders are energized about adding new tracks and trolleys in the capital.
Fresh off a transit tour of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver with 28 city officials, Mayor Ralph Becker says a new streetcar network, beginning in downtown, will be a priority project.
"Lay the tracks and development happens," Becker told reporters Thursday morning at City Hall. "That's what we saw place after place."
The vision, shared by the Redevelopment Agency, Salt Lake Chamber and City Council, is to see streetcars - they stop on each block and charge a fare in some areas - connect to both light- and heavy-rail hubs. Eventually, they could spread into neighborhoods - the planned Sugar House trolley would serve as a model - rendering vehicles unnecessary for capital visitors.
"Within a five-year horizon, it's doable," said Bob Farrington, the city's new economic-development director.
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