For the past decade, Utah has been the fastest growing state in the nation. This creates many challenges to our housing availability, transportation options and the air quality. The local process to address these issues starts with a community’s general plan. The general plan is the opportunity to coordinate a variety of physical changes to a community. Several communities have updated their plans and implemented the Wasatch Choice Vision, which focuses on coordinating the planning and location of land use, housing, transportation, economic development, and open space to achieve a higher quality of life.
The following case studies offer a cross section of communities in their efforts to address the challenges of a growing Utah. These studies demonstrate the time and complexity it takes to work with the broader community to change planning and zoning and can be a useful resource for other communities to get ideas about how to address growth.