Community Planning

Image courtesy of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization.

To grow from within, [one] needs only fair opportunity for jobs, education, housing and access to culture. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)

Why is Community Planning Important to WFRC's Work?

All residents of the Wasatch Front should have access to the opportunities that are important to lead a productive, healthy, and fulfilling life.

WFRC, through its Council of elected officials and other community leaders, is committed to ensuring broad engagement and participation in WFRC planning and decision-making processes.

WFRC employs an Access to Opportunities framework as a primary lens to evaluate transportation, land use, and economic development initiatives. Providing access to opportunities is core to WFRC’s work. Accessibility means people are able to easily, efficiently, and safely reach key destinations including jobs, schools, healthcare, childcare, parks, places of worship, and grocery stores. Access to opportunities can be increased by providing quality transportation options and by coordinating housing, land use, and economic development with transportation. This can have significant impacts on overall community livability, while promoting individual and family upward economic mobility.

How Do We Consider Community Planning in Our Work?

Access to Opportunities

Increased accessibility to jobs, schools, healthcare, grocery, social services, parks, community centers, recreation, retail, and entertainment have significant impacts on community livability and foster upward mobility.

WFRC and its partner organizations use Access to Opportunities (ATO) to collectively pursue the best possible transportation plans and land use decisions in support of community choice and economic vitality.

Community Outreach

In 2022, WFRC, with its transportation partners (MAG, UDOT, and UTA), created the Wasatch Choice Community Advisory Committee. This committee is built upon the goal that all communities have access to opportunities for work, education, and other essential destinations. The Wasatch Choice partners are committed to identifying solutions for positive change. The purpose of the Community Advisory Committee is to enhance the engagement of communities to the Wasatch Choice Vision while advising Wasatch transportation partner agencies on transportation and land use decisions.

WFRC’s public involvement and outreach policies strive to make community engagement opportunities more inclusive.

Decision-Making

WFRC is incorporating community planning into the scenario analysis and project prioritization processes of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and analyzing how external forces impact community focus areas (CFAs).

WFRC will continue to explore community considerations in reviewing and scoring project applications for Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and Transportation and Land Use Connection (TLC) projects.

Supporting Resources