About
OUR HISTORY
For nearly 20 years, we and our cohorts have advocated for sound planning, zoning and housing decisions while helping to shape dozens of new codes in Salt Lake City. We have served or are serving as chairs or officers on Salt Lake community councils.... As former members of SLC's Planning Commission.... As appointees to city boards, commissions or grass-roots committees. In short, we've had a deep and vested interest in finding meaningful solutions to the city's housing issues.
COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP
We believe community stewardship means taking responsibility for the long-term well-being of a community. It emphasizes caring for shared places, relationships, and resources so tomorrow's Salt Lake is as strong and vibrant as today's.
Why lived experience matters
Planning studies and technical analysis alone cannot produce complete information about how future zoning regulations will impact a city. That's why residents with learned experience can be essential in assisting cities develop housing patterns and codes.
Residents observe day-to-day patterns that may not be obvious from maps or
traffic models, such as school pick-up congestion, parking demand, pedestrian activity, and seasonal variations.
Homeowners can explain which physical features—such as lot sizes, setbacks,
mature trees, parks, or architectural styles—they believe contribute to the
neighborhood's identity and quality of life.
Residents often notice recurring issues with drainage, utility reliability, road
maintenance, or emergency access that may warrant consideration when evaluating future development.
Homeowners who have lived in an area for many years can describe how
previous zoning or development decisions affected traffic, infrastructure, local businesses, tree canopy, or community life.
The housing urgency
Utah has been building housing at one of the fastest per capita rates in the country – about 265,000-270,000 units over the last decade. In that same period, Salt Lake added between 30,000-35,000 apartments and multifamily dwellings – the largest construction boom since World War II.
This growth seems to have created excess inventory in some sectors. Salt Lake’s apartment vacancy rate is currently about 9% (mid-2026). Statewide statistics show the state has about 14,000 housing vacancies – a mixture of homes, townhomes, condos and multi-family structures.
Utah’s population has also been explosive. And entry-level homes are in short supply. Governor Spencer Cox announced an ambitious program to build 35,000 new starter homes to fill the gap. Housing pressures are also emerging from homelessness, economic insecurities and those who are housing-cost burdened.
Housing Tools
Salt Lake and other Utah cities rely on a range of tools to address housing needs:
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.
