HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
- A HUGE Welcome to the Newly Elected Officials!
- Map of the Month: WFRC Housing Inventory Explorer
- Government Affairs Update
- Exploring Equity Along the Wasatch Front
- Utah Population to Increase by 2.2 Million People Through 2060
- Missing Middle Housing Report
- Move Utah Summit 2022
- Utah Bike Summit
- Share Your Thoughts on UTA's Updated Local Coordinated Plans
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A HUGE Welcome to the Newly Elected Officials! |
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Congratulations and welcome to all of the newly elected officials, as well as those reelected to serve for another term! We appreciate your dedication and effort on behalf of our communities. We are very excited to work with you and look forward to your participation, planning, and implementation of the Wasatch Choice Vision. We’re eager to to meet each and every one of you! For all of the elected officials and others in our region, please visit our webpage frequently for the latest information about WFRC, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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WFRC Housing Inventory Explorer
Map of the Month
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For optimal viewing, a desktop or tablet-sized screen is suggested.
The more time you spend in a neighborhood, the more familiar you become with that area’s housing options and their characteristics, including the types, ages, sizes, and values of homes. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to get a broader picture of the residential mix and trends for other areas you aren’t familiar with, or the region as a whole.
WFRC’s new Housing Inventory Explorer web map shows residential properties in Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber counties, distinguished by the type of housing unit (single family, apartment, condo, townhouse, etc.). It also provides unit-level counts for each type of housing and units per acre, as well as charts market trends across the decades in which current units were built.
Better understanding our region's existing housing landscape, and how it interfaces with key transportation infrastructure and other amenities, can help to highlight housing options, trends, successes, and opportunities. This information is especially relevant as developers, local governments, and other policymakers look to respond to growth and affordability-related challenges. As such, cities and counties along the Wasatch Front are encouraged to use this tool when preparing plans such as moderate-income housing plans to visualize the existing conditions of housing.
The map automatically updates counts and charts as you zoom in on an area, and it allows users to filter for specific counties, cities and ‘built year’ ranges as well as proximity to TRAX and FrontRunner stations, and freeway exits.
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State
It’s official! The 2022 General Legislative Session has begun. The legislature kicked off their 45-day session last week with approximately $1.2 billion in excess state revenue to spend, with roughly $1 billion of that considered one-time cash and $200 million considered ongoing, or funds which can be appropriated out for more than one fiscal year. Additionally, lawmakers have a significant portion of federal stimulus funding that remains to be appropriated.
Various entities have released their funding proposals and priorities over the past several weeks and months, including the following:
Specifically, Wasatch Front Regional Council is working on the following potential funding investments, many of which have been endorsed by the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission (UEOC), or are being considered by the Commission on Housing Affordability:
- Multimodal transportation investment (including roadway, transit, and active transportation)
- Replacing $232 million in previously authorized bonds for FrontRunner with cash, which would free up the Transit Transportation Investment Fund (TTIF) to fund additional transit projects throughout the state
- $46 million for regionally significant active transportation projects
- Point of the Mountain transportation solutions
- Sustainable growth planning
- $1.65 million ongoing in technical planning assistance, $1.05 million of which would go to Associations of Governments for training, grant writing, and other technical assistance, as well as $600,000 for UDOT’s Technical Planning Assistance Grant Program
- $1 million to fund a statewide growth planning and communications effort
- Housing affordability
- $228 million for deeply affordable housing
During the whirlwind 45-day session, you can stay up to speed by following along with our timely and informational government affairs email updates (feel free to subscribe by reaching out to miranda@wfrc.org), or by keeping an eye on relevant pieces of legislation we’re watching with our WFRC bill tracker.
We look forward to yet another productive legislative session working with our members, partners, and legislators! We hope you’ll join us for the fun.
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Federal
As Utah’s transportation partners continue to analyze and move towards implementation of what is included in the federal infrastructure law and what it means for Utah, additional information continues to trickle down from the feds. For example, last week, the FHWA provided a guidance and funding notice on the new $27 billion Bridge Formula Program (BFP) established in the federal infrastructure law, intended to replace, rehabilitate, preserve, and protect bridges. Additionally out is a notice of funding opportunity for the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Demonstration Project (due April 9th), and a notice of funding opportunity for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity or RAISE (due April 14th).
As we continue to receive additional information on funding information, and discretionary grant program funding opportunities, we will keep you informed.
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For more detailed information on our federal, state, and local issues, feel free to subscribe to our WFRC Government Affairs newsletter by reaching out to miranda@wfrc.org.
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Exploring Equity Along the Wasatch Front |
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In October 2021, WFRC released an Equity Planning webpage outlining efforts to improve consideration of equity in our work. This month, WFRC completed a new website that provides a more in-depth review of the interface between planning and equity topics: Exploring Equity Along the Wasatch Front.
Using graphics, video, and interactive maps, this new website highlights our region’s history, effects of past policies, and ongoing planning efforts that aim for a more equitable future. Scroll through the site to engage with informative topics, powerful examples, and additional resources as you learn more about progress toward a better future for our region.
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Population to Increase by 2.2 Million People Through 2060 |
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The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute today released long-term planning projections for Utah, which show net migration becoming a steadily increasing force as the state’s population increases to 5.5 million by 2060. The projections, which include input from planning experts throughout the state, form the basis for long-term planning in Utah for transportation, water, education, and other needs.
“This new round of projections indicates an additional 1.3 million jobs that help drive continued population growth of an additional 2.2 million Utahns,” said Mallory Bateman, director of demographic research at the Gardner Institute. “These changes will be experienced differently though out the state, with Salt Lake and Utah counties continuing to be dominant drivers for both the population and the economy. Demographic shifts impact our statewide characteristics of age and households throughout these projections.”
WFRC is proud to partner with the Gardner Institute, having provided technical expertise in the creation of this report.
As Utah grows, WFRC has a plan - the Wasatch Choice Vision. The Wasatch Choice is our communities’ shared vision for transportation investments, development patterns, and economic opportunities, with the goal of enhancing quality of life even as we grow.
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Missing Middle Housing Report |
Recently, the Utah Foundation released its three-part report series on "Missing Middle Housing," a term that includes an array of multi-unit housing buildings that are house scale, facilitate neighborhood walkability, accommodate changing demographics and preferences, and are available to people with a range of incomes.
WFRC is proud to have made a financial contribution toward this study. The Transportation and Land Use Connection (TLC) program, and the partnership that supports it, is available to help communities when they want to explore changes to planning and zoning to enable more missing middle housing choices.
Click on the links below to read the report.
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The Move Utah Summit is the only event of its kind in Utah and brings together hundreds of subject-matter experts, including planners, engineers, and community leaders from across the state. The Summit provides a forum to discuss best practices for improving decision-making related to health, transportation and land use.
The Move Utah Summit 2022 keynote and breakout sessions will be held virtually from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17. A walking tour will be held on March 16 and a biking tour will be held on March 17 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Summit is the premier annual event for UDOT’s Move Utah program. Move Utah is an active transportation program that provides resources and technical assistance directly to local communities across the state. The program’s goal is to foster active, healthy, connected communities through robust planning and implementation of biking and walking initiatives, programs and projects.
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The Utah Bike Summit is on April 22, 2022! This event is open to everyone and features a day of lively conversations, product demos, and a motivational atmosphere on this year’s theme Our Streets, Our Trails, Our Future. |
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Share Your Thoughts on UTA's Updated Local Coordinated Plans |
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The Utah Transit Authority is seeking public input regarding recently updated Local Coordinated Plans. These Plans were updated by Local Coordinating Councils and aim to define strategies that will meet identified mobility needs of disadvantaged groups within the UTA area. In accordance with federal funding guidelines, these plans define “disadvantaged groups” as- older adults aged 65+, persons with disabilities, Veterans, and persons living in poverty. Comments can be made through February 21.
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