One-Third of Downtown Salt Lake City Devoted to Parking

According to an article by Taylor Anderson in Building Salt Lake, almost a third of the Utah capital’s downtown is taken up by parking despite 2021 parking reforms that reduced the number of required parking spots for downtown developments.

“Researchers with the Parking Reform Network studied the area spanning roughly between North Temple and 900 South, 200 East to 500 West and found that 29 percent of the land is dedicated to parking,” Anderson explains.

“The city itself often appears to acknowledge car dominance, approving a nearly 1,000-car parking garage in the Granary District and undertaking several angled parking projects in lieu of cycle tracks, expanded sidewalks or other improvements that would encourage and promote walking and commuting by bike.” 

Yet the land, PRN argues, could be more productively used for “parks, retail, housing, universities, daycares, bars, restaurants, churches, offices, assisted living facilities, hospitals, group homes, art galleries, museums, or a combination of it all.”