Young’s Salt Lake City and Haussman’s Paris: A Tale of Two Cities

Paul Goldberger, the New York Time’s Pulitzer Prize winning architectural critic, on a visit to Salt Lake City in 2007 to deliver the opening plenary at the Utah Heritage Foundation’s Annual Preservation Conference, noted the burden of Salt Lake City’s pioneer era block sizes by suggesting: “this is one real drawback to your urban grid here, that it was designed without pedestrians in mind…” A somewhat presumptuous statement given Salt Lake City’s gridded plan derived from the divinely mandated Plat of the City of Zion.

As a bit of history, the central idea of the original plat depicted a orthogonal delineated city populated by a series of large blocks. In the central block a multitude of twenty-four temples were depicted with one emphasized as the principle temple. The temple was graphically described on an unsigned and crudely drafted sheet depicting the plan, front and side elevations alongside an articulate description. These “houses of worship, schools, etc.” were to accommodate the projected 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants of the proposed City of Zion. Each of the planned twenty-four “houses of worship, schools, etc” was to be at least as large as the specifications found in the drawings for the principal temple of the Presidency, but was to be dedicated to and managed by the various quorums in the two levels of Mormon Priesthood, the Aaronic and Melchizedek. A revised plat was prepared by Frederick G. Williams to correct oversights in the original plat and was sent to Bishop Edward Partridge in Independence in August of 1833. In the revised plat, the total area of the city was increased from 1 mile to 1.5 miles square, the number of half acre lots was increased from 968 to 2,600 which reduced the average number of people projected per lot from between an estimated 15.5 to 20.7 persons to between an estimated 5.8 to 7.7 persons. One of the three central public blocks (used for storehouses and schools) was removed and the remaining central public blocks were reduced in size from the rectangular fifteen acres to ten acres square which resulted in a uniform block pattern throughout. The axial direction of the central public blocks were changed from a north-south to an east-west direction, the uniform street width of 132 feet was limited to the four major cross-axis avenues and the remainder streets were reduced to 82.5 feet. Finally, names or numerical designations were included for the streets in the revised plat. The gridded plat devised for the City of Zion was not uncommon in the United States during this time, and was primarily based on the ubiquitous Federal land survey of 1785. It was the “utopian premise behind Smith’s plan and how it was to be implemented” which distinguished Zion from other contemporary American cities. Brigham Young, Joseph Smith’s theocratic successor, continued imprinting the Plat of Zion concept, with utilitarian revisions as necessary, on successive colonial settlements in the West. Salt Lake City was laid out with the four principal streets bounding the solitary yet central temple block.

Returning to Goldberger’s assertion, however, so what of Salt Lake City? Because of the overly large block sizes and wide streets the city exudes a suburban feel in its city center vis-à-vis the densely packed fabric of, say, Portland, Oregon. Salt Lake’s streets are monotonous and uniformly rigid which is surprisingly disorienting despite its obscene rationality. As mentioned, the gridded blocks are ten acres in size and require roughly two minutes to walk end to end, eight minutes around. The streets hold to a uniform 132 foot width, averaging approximately 15 feet of sidewalk on either side with 100 feet of road surface, give or take. Young’s 19th century urban framework accepted the intrusion of the automobile with considerable ease and its accommodation has changed little since the extraction of the intra-city trolley system in the 1950s and 60s. However, in anticipation of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City “re-constructed” a much needed light-rail system. The 19-mile light rail system, smartly named TRAX, consists of two lines originating downtown at the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub; one line, which opened in 1999, heads south to Sandy and the other, which opened in 2001, branches east to the University of Utah. Salt Lake City’s Main Street, from South Temple (at the northern aspect) to 400 South (at the southern aspect), was redesigned as a result of the light rail line and now exists as a fresh counterpoint to the surrounding ubiquity of the auto-philic streets. Salt Lake’s Main Street sidewalks are much wider than the typical widths in the rest of the city center; as well there are only two lanes (one on each side of the street) dedicated to the automobile, and of course two light rail tracks. In this five block strip, there are expansive pedestrian platforms at the first, third and fifth blocks providing access to the train and offering a bit of diversity to the street. Here the city comes to life; the shops are vibrant and oriented to the sidewalk and the pedestrian, there exist outdoor dining areas, places to sit, the trees are full and regular, and the architecture exists in the background as a subtext to the street. Main Street is replete with civic amenities, which leaves one to bemoan the drought in the rest of the city. The street itself is a civic amenity.

Brigham Young’s streets were designed ostensibly to accommodate the required turning radius of a team of oxen hitched to a wagon. This archaic function still exists in a majority of the surface streets in the city, however why this remains important is an ongoing mystery, unless one considers the turning radius of the average SUV. Perhaps Young’s prescience anticipated this ungodly environment.

Paul Goldberger continued: “The street means more than the building, and that you can make a great street out of so-so buildings if they are put together well and relate to each other well and make a tight urban fabric, and if you have enough great streets you have one of the most important ingredients of a great city.” Getting at the heart of Goldberger’s argument requires a look at a city known for its striking streets: Paris.

On their face, Paris and Salt Lake City are two of the most unlikely comparitive urban models. Salt Lake once boasted the Paris Department store and the two cities developed into their modern cloak in the 1860s but beyond that, their growth and development resulted from a very diverse set of variables, with a diverse set of end goals, and by very diverse political groups with varied interests. Modern Paris is burdened with its own issues of sprawl, crime and overpopulation, to which any large metropolis is necessarily subject, however it boasts some of the most diverse streetscapes of any city on earth. Goldberger would love modern day Paris with this endless street diversity. It only became a hallowed model of urban planning in the latter half of the 19th century, prior to that time it existed as a medieval rabbit’s warren teeming with narrow twisting roads and dirty alleys. Thomas Jefferson, who spent a considerable amount of his career in Paris as the U.S. Ambassador, stated of cities in general: “The yellow fever will discourage the growth of great cities in our nation & I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man…” Pre-Haussmann Paris was Jefferson’s likely reference in this anti-urban denunciation.

Georges-Eugène Haussmann and Brigham Young were contemporaries. Both exuded a large and dominant personality, accented by their large portly figures. Both are regarded in their locale as pre-eminent urban planners. Haussmann’s modern reinvention of medieval Paris was on a scale unlike any seen before or after, excluding of course cities ravaged by war or natural tragedy. Haussmann's crafty re-urbanization was largely accomplished by obliterating many of the old, twisting streets and leveling rundown apartment houses. The great urban voids were then replaced with the rues, avenues and wide, tree-lined boulevards which is what Paris is heralded for today. Other elements of Haussman's plan included uniform building heights along the grand boulevards with anchoring elements such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Grand Opera House. Haussmann's plan for Paris inspired some of the most important global architectural movements, including the City Beautiful Movement in the United States. During this urban recreation many of the boulevards were just that, just the street. Development followed the street which is an important point which I’ll come back to. Paris seems to just get better with time like a fine Bordeaux.

Salt Lake City, however, seems a stale cola in comparison, which in effect is just losing its gas. As Goldberger suggests, Salt Lake’s streets may be a liability, however taking the high road (no pun intended) its streets may be an endearing and empowering asset. Salt Lake’s streets already fit the Paris template. Unlike Haussmann’s destruction of Paris, Salt Lake simply has to refit its existing network, akin to removing extra and unecessary clothing as temperatures rise. Most importantly, there must exist a defined hierarchy of streets within the city.

The Parisian “Grand Boulevard” street type can be aptly applied to the existing Salt Lake “arterials” accessing downtown. These include 700 East starting at 2100 South and terminating at the landmark anchor, South Temple; State Street starting at 2100 South and continuing to the Beaux-Arts State Capitol (1916), by Utah’s preeminent architect Richard K.A. Kletting, as the landmark anchor; 400 South starting at the Interstate-15 off-ramp with the University of Utah’s John R. Park Building (1914) as the anchor, which was designed, by the way, by the prominent firm Cannon, Fetzer & Hansen; North Temple beginning at Salt Lake’s International Airport with the Salt Lake Temple as the anchor; 500 South beginning at 700 East and extending to Interstate-15; and 600 South beginning at Interstate-15 and extending to 700 East. These streets are hierarchically the most important, functioning as the primary gateways to Salt Lake City and should be the “Grand Boulevards.” These should offer diverse transit alternatives such as TRAX (as on 400 South and planned for North Temple), Bus Rapid Transit lines, and, of course, automobiles. (See Drawing 1) As well, major arterials from I-15 to the south should populate this category and include 1300 South, 2100 South, and 3300 South all extending to 700 East.

 The Parisian “Boulevard” street type should include South Temple (from the University of Utah past the temple and to the Union Pacific Railroad Depot; Main Street from 2100 South past the temple to the Main Street Plaza (where a stoic statue of Brigham Young stands); West Temple from 1300 South past the temple to the huge architectural behemoth LDS Conference Center. The Salt Lake temple exists as a dominant theme in the overall landscape of these boulevards. These streets should mimic the landscape on Main Street described above, still providing space for the automobile but not allowing it to dominate. Again there should be TRAX lines, bus lines, trolley lines, etc. (See Drawing 2)

The Parisian “Avenue” street type should include 100 South, 200 South, 300 South, 200 West, 300 West, 100 East, 200 East and 300 East; essentially, the commercial core of the city outside of the four principal boulevards. The avenues should be pedestrian oriented with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, bus lines, trolley lines, etc. The automobile will still be allowed but will be a very minor theme to the overall street character. Use of one-way directional patterns should abound at this level to create elbow room for a wide variety of users. (See Drawing 3)

The Parisian “Rue” street type should apply to the remainder of the streets from 400 East to 700 East, from 400 West to 700 West, and from 700 South to 1200 South are primarily residential in character and should be redesigned to include dedicated bike lanes, trees, ample pedestrian sidewalks and promenades, etc. Because of the overall use pattern they should be intimately scaled to the human. The automobile traffic present on these streets should be strictly local. (See Drawing 4)

There should be a progressive and radical initiative on Salt Lake City’s part to continue to promote the development of mid-block alleys, an agenda already being stressed in current master planning initiatives. Mid-block alleys are essential to the future vitality and success of the large and unwieldy Zionic blocks. The mid-block alleys create a permeance within the city, allowing it to breathe in a sense. Mid-block crosswalks should be a mandatory component of a mid-block alley. In essensce a secondary block pattern shoud be established which gives primacy to the pedestrian.

Within all of the models described above a rich diversity of street sub-types can and should exist within each of the street types. Looking closely at the “boulevard,” if TRAX is only feasible on Main Street then other streets within this genre should be outfitted with bus rapid transit, trolley lines, bikes lanes, etc. As streets take on a distinct character, the monotony of the grid will be diminished and citizens will form a relationship with the street.

The ultimate function and goal of the street is it’s capacity to transport people and goods from one point to another, in other words a vehicle for commerce. The street is the vehicle for commerce, not the car. The rational grid built by the pioneers in Salt Lake City accomplishes this economic proposition with unprecedented efficiency. The street will accept any number of transportation alternatives to fulfill its function. In fact, with a greater diversity of transportation alternatives, the street will function at its highest and most optimal. Let’s consider a hypothetical: 100 citizens must get from Main Street to the University of Utah. If all were to hop in their cars, in the large parking lot required to house the cars downtown, and get on 400 South, these 100 cars occupying the current three-lane roadway, assuming each car requires at least its own space and the space of a car in front and back for elbow room, the cars would require at least two blocks (roughly 1500 feet in 3 lanes). These cars would require a large parking area on the other end as well. Now if you added TRAX and assumed 75% opted for this mode of transport, the 25 cars now occupying the three lanes would require only a half a block (about 375 feet). A single TRAX car easily would house 75 passengers and takes up only about 80 feet of linear space (compared with 750 feet for 3 lanes of cars or 2250 feet for a single lane of 75 cars). Now if we add bike lanes and give 15 of those people bikes, and 75 still ride TRAX, we have only 10 cars on the road and these cars only require 100 feet of space packed into 3 lanes. This is about 1/8 of the Salt Lake’s typical block. Suddenly there seems to be little need for three lanes of car traffic and the parking areas required at the origin and destination points is absolutely minimal.

Outside of the central city there exists intact neighborhoods with distinct character and rich diversity with established and fabulous streetscapes. These include the Avenues, Rose Park, Glendale, Sugar House, and Federal Heights. By providing transit options to these “streetcar suburbs,” these areas will continue to thrive and add to the vitality of the city. Another important component of Salt Lake’s urban re-invention would be the inclusion of greater Salt Lake in the mix. For example, the southern boundary of Salt Lake exists at 2100 South, at which point the City of South Salt Lake begins. There is nothing architecturally or geographically that separates the two cities. The Grand Boulevards on State Street and 700 East described above should continue through South Salt Lake to the southern “boroughs” of Midvale, Murray, Sandy and Draper.

Transportation is the key. Alex Marshall stated in his profound book entitled How Cities Work: “Every city built has grown from the spine of its transportation system, like flesh around bones, whether it be a river, a trail, a railroad, or a highway. If we want to shape a city, we have to shape its transportation system.” In summation, to borrow a common phrase: “If you build it, they will come.”

© 2010 Steven D. Cornell

Sources:
Goldberger, Paul. Utah Heritage Foundation Annual Preservation Conference Plenary Address.

Smith, Joseph. History of the Church, 1:357-59.

Marshall, Alex. How Cities Work. 46.