(See Downtown Alliance Web Site)

People like to complain about Washington, DC – sometimes with good reason, but the District of Columbia is more than shorthand for the dysfunction that seems to paralyze politics these days. It is also a dynamic urban center and downtown Salt Lake City has much to learn from the nation’s capital. 

Recently, 57 Utah business leaders went to the nation’s capital to ask our political leaders to please stop bickering, and get to work solving problems. In two-and-a half days, we met with administration officials, business lobbyists, Utah’s entire congressional delegation and former U.S. Senators Bennett (R- UT) and Dorgan (D – ND) who talked about paralysis in our nation’s capital. The meetings were well organized and educational, but they were not very optimistic. The Washington, DC culture seems more focused on preserving power and advancing  rigid ideological agendas than actually solving problems.

On the other hand, I got to see, up close, some of the innovations in urban development that the city of Washington has unveiled. These were awesome.

Washington has an attractive and helpful way-finding system. We’re working on something similar for downtown Salt Lake City – renovating and in some cases replacing our downtown maps and signage that still talk about Crossroads, ZCMI and the Delta Center. We’ll be talking to the Salt Lake City Council over the next few months about how local business and political  leaders can work together to make this happen.

DC has an amazing bike sharing program, with solar-powered kiosks scattered throughout the district where you can rent a bike for as little as $5. We have something like that in the works here, too. Parking a car in Washington DC isn’t easy. But if you do find an open space, you can pay with a credit card, or your phone as part of a solar powered parking pay station. We’re hoping to unveil a similar system with Salt Lake City’s transportation department in the next few months.

When you arrive at Reagan International Airport, the METRO rail line takes you to the City Center in about 15 minutes for just a few dollars.  And, guess what?  In Salt Lake City, the Airport TRAX line is ahead of schedule and under budget.  We’re almost there. 

Over the next year, downtown will change dramatically. In part because of City Creek Center’s opening, bringing 15 million (that is not a typo) visitors, and in part because of streetscape and other infrastructure improvements that will make downtown more user-friendly. It’s also changing because Utahn’s are feeling a greater sense of ownership and connection to their downtown as the region’s urban center and capital city.

I know we’re not perfect – we still have problems in pockets of our city that make the urban center unwelcoming, and we need to aggressively work to fix those problems. But the long-term trajectory of downtown is moving in the right direction as a more livable, walk-able and dynamic neighborhood.  We have much to learn from the city of Washington, DC in terms of urban innovation. But the nation’s capital could also take a few hints from Salt Lake City’s business, community and political leaders in how to work together cooperatively for a better future.