It has been seven years since this urbanist last visited Daybreak. In 2006 I wrote an article for ULI (you may have heard of it). At that time Daybreak was a few hundred homes, a school and the idea of new urbanism was indeed new to Salt Lake City. Now, one housing bust and a light rail line later, I returned to see if Daybreak has grown up. It has, but in human terms, it is no longer a young child and now a responsible teenager with a job and a bright future. The Trax red line now serves Daybreak, a…

Kate Wolford’s Star Tribune commentary calling for more transit was spot on. Our peer cities (Denver, Portland, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, hell, even St. Louis!) are ahead of us in terms of built rail miles, lines and stations. We must do more than catch up to remain an attractive metro area for all. Rail miles, lines and stations are important, but equally if not more so is the fabric of the city once people step off the platform. That is where we must set ourselves apart, and that requires something much more robust than station area planning. All hands must be…