SOAR Blog

We got an invite to Mayor Becker’s press conference this week announcing the new sustainability ordinances that he wants Salt Lake City to adopt- ordinances would make SLC’s sustainability plan the most comprehensive in the country. It’s too bad our team couldn’t make it to the press conference, which was really more of a press tour of a Salt Lake business and home already implementing the proposed ordinances. Said ordinances address:

photo credit: Jim Urquhart | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is great news for Salt Lake City and is completely in-line with the city’s values- and history. One Salt Lake Tribune article points out that the Mormon pioneers who settled the valley lived sustainably out of necessity and efficiency. Today Salt Lake’s residents pick up their bikes more often, belong to food co-ops and want to see a reduction in traffic. Most expect that the ordinances proposed by Mayor Becker will be passed by the city’s legislature.

A lot of the folks in this town that like it “green” also like to live in the green- and desert- that surrounds. It makes so much sense to make our residential and business lives sync up with our outdoor recreation hobbies. It makes sense why Outdoor Retailer, the place for the outdoor industry to convene, is in Salt Lake.

SOAR is excited to see how these ordinances are implemented over the next few years and what feedback the community has given the mayor in this week of review.

We’re proud of what this town is becoming, and that it is already the type of place 40,000 members of the outdoor recreation industry want to visit on an annual basis.

More on SLC’s green initiatives:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49891706-76/becker-says-lake-salt.html.csp?page=1

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/49915105-82/becker-residents-salt-changes.html.csp

Photo credit: Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune

The SOAR Blog didn’t give Real Salt Lake due attention and praise when the team won the Major League Soccer championship in the spring, but that doesn’t mean SOAR isn’t incredibly proud of its home team for bringing the State of Utah a professional sports championship title for the first time in 40 years.

It seems fitting that the influence of professional soccer in Utah, and in the United States, was recognized today by President Barak Obama in a brief ceremony honoring Real Salt Lake team at the White House. Joe Biden wasn’t there- he is heading up the contingency representing the U.S. at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa which is now less than a week away. One of Real Salt Lake’s players, Robbie Findley, will play with the U.S. team, which is a contender against Algeria, England and Slovenia.

Professional soccer is too often overlooked by North American spectators. World Cup engenders even more global enthusiasm than the Olympics in some regard- except in the United States. There are books, classes, experts, lectures galore on the global significance of “footy,” so I won’t belabor the topic here. We’re glad that with all of the other matters our presidency has to attend to that it would recognize the athletic power coming out of Salt Lake City and the importance of the World Cup.

Any chance Obama will vie for World Cup 2018 to be in the U.S. like he did for the Olympics? (2014 is already scheduled to be in Brazil).

See the Salt Lake Tribune article here

Our "Best Of Utah" Route

I was skeptical moving away from my California paradise to the arid and hot and cold Utah desert. But this red rock, Wasatch state has proven itself in the year that I have lived here. This past weekend Utah re-wowed me as I spent three days taking my parents up and down Eastern Utah for their first visit. You could call it a “best of trip,” starting with mole at Salt Lake’s Red Iguana (killer Mexican food, really). The folks had fun with the Utah altitude hiking up to the Timpanogos Caves, driving through Castle County to Arches National Park, seeing Delicate Arch that graces the Utah license plate, riding the chair lift at Sundance and poking around art galleries in Park City.

And there are several bests we didn’t have time to do, like float down the Provo River, make our way through slot canyons, eat Navajo Tacos, snow skiing or sleep under the stars.

So, I’m living proof that you can drive nearly 600 miles in one weekend with your parents and finish the trip happy…as long as you have a group of adventurous spirits and an amazing state like Utah to tour.

While attending the first annual Salt Lake Bicycle Summit this weekend, I had the chance to meet the fabulous Tara Mckee, organizer of the 2009 Cycle Style Show-Salt Lake City.

The Cycle Style Show is a local outdoor fashion show that will show off functional and fashionable commuter cycling clothing and accessories (see preview here), in action, on some really cool commuter-friendly bikes.

Whether attendees currently commute into town for work, to shop, to hang with friends or (gasp!) do not ride a bike at all, this show is sure to inspire folks to dust off the bikes in their garage and get out on a bike this summer.

The Cycle Style Show is Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Gallivan Center in SLC. Hope to see you there!

Courtney enjoys the signs of Spring on the Electra Amsterdam with the tulip design

Salt Lake has some die-hard cyclists. I met some of them at the SLC Critical Mass meeting/ride last week while conducting research for a Momentum Magazine assignment. The weather conditions that day weren’t particularly brutal, but the participants told me they stayed true to their bike commutes even through the bitterness of the Utah winter. One rider vowed to ride to school every day. And he had, even when the snow-covered ground required a unicycle equipped with a mountain bike tire. Another cyclist recently sold his car and instead tackles snowy paths with a studded bike snow tire.

SLC Critical Mass in March

I don’t envy the chilly weather conditions the SLC Critical Mass folks cycle in for a good part of the year. But I do envy the city they get to navigate. I think I would have a richer appreciation of Salt Lake if I could experience by bike more often. The brightly-lit, snowy Wasatch Mountains were dead ahead of us when we started out. As we passed by an Eastern Orthodox church, a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace” pumped out of the stereo of one rider’s homemade tall bike (like a horse, but with less stability). The stone and stained-glass Cathedral of Madeline was on the right as the mass headed west.

My photographer, McKenzie, was a hardcore as the cyclists she was following. Still, she and her driver, Austin, had trouble keeping up with the speedy pack because Critical Mass doesn’t have a set route. Simultaneously using my mobile and riding urban streets required more coordination than I had in that moment, so I had to pull over to update McKenzie on the riders’ location. Given my difficulties, I was pretty sure McKenzie would have had an even greater struggle managing both handlebars and an SLR. At least in the car she could leave the driving to someone else. Thanks, McKenzie, for your stealthy cameras kills and to Austin for chasing down the pack!

Keep your eye on this blog for more updates on my Momentum article research.