Last weekend I got to spend an entire day up in the High Uintas wilderness, exploring trails, swimming and floating on a lake. I am incredibly grateful to live here.

Heber Valley is the largest population center in Wasatch County. The city itself is a crossroads to Park City or Vernal, giving us access to a huge amount of protected open space. Living here gives us access to so much.

We have the opportunity to decide and shape what Heber will be like in our future. I think we can learn from what other cities have done, what works and what doesn’t.

There has been many studies and discussions, we need to make sure we learn from the good and the bad experiences of others.

I found this Ted Talk Interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFjD3NMv6Kw

What is the problem:

Sprawl with low density, and isolating people. Segregate them into economic enclaves, Separates them from nature.

What makes a city a great place:

Interactions and the community that lives here.

I love some of his principles and I think they apply to Heber.

1. Preserve nature and heritage - I am advocating for an open space bond and changing our zoning to match our general plan.
2. Mixed Use - Mixed income, and groups with commercial and residential in our downtown area will lead to a thriving space
3. Walkable - better intersection designs, multi use paths connecting across the valley, pedestrian path connecting main street park to city hall.
4. Bikeable - This is an efficient way to get around. Places that get more snow than us manage to bike all winter long.
5. Road Network - Our town should be built for the people that live in them, not just cars. I love the 1 way only street on 200 south that is closed off during Thursday’s market on main. That’s a great start, are there other streets we want to make safer for our kids to ride on and through?
6. Transit - we need express buses from the Provo airport through Heber to Park City and the SLC Airport running multiple times per day.

Another great resource to learn about city design and what works and what doesn’t is strong towns.

Strong Towns

This Strong Town video on bad street design is super informative and helps explain some of what’s wrong with Heber’s streets.

Why Bad Street Design is Both Costly and Deadly bad street design

We need to design side streets so that people slow down, and pay attention. Dutch style intersections, painted bike lines, better sidewalks, bulb outs and more! We need to create spaces where it is uncomfortable for people to drive fast and then they will slow down.

There is a lot of other research, studies, books, feel to reach out to me and share. I always love to hear from anyone.

Christen.thompson@gmail.com

435-315-2551