Utah planners unveil 'Visualizing Centers' toolkit and image library to guide mixed‑use development

Molly Wheeler, deputy director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, opened a webinar introducing a new "Visualizing Centers" toolkit and image library created with the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) and consulting firm People in Place. Presenters said the resource is designed to help local officials, planners and residents visualize mixed‑use, walkable centers and to support public engagement, code updates and small‑area planning.

"When we're talking about a center, we're talking about a place that's a great place to go on a walk," Ted Nolting, chief planner and deputy director at the Wasatch Front Regional Council, said in the presentation. Nolting described centers as concentrated, walkable areas with a mix of housing and destinations coordinated with regionally significant transit.

Consultant Christy Ostema summarized statewide planner feedback gathered for the project, saying communities in 24 of 29 counties responded to a questionnaire. Ostema described the most requested design elements: active ground‑floor uses, public spaces for events, pedestrian‑scaled amenities and flexible ground‑floor layouts that can convert from residential to commercial as markets change.

Tim Watkins of WFRC gave a live tour of wasatchchoice.org/centers, showing an interactive home page, galleries for multiple center types, vignette and panorama views and downloadable image packs. "All of the graphics will be downloaded as one zipped folder," Watkins demonstrated, noting the site provides annotated images and image‑only sets in multiple resolutions suitable for public meetings, online surveys and printed materials.

Presenters previewed metrics the site will publish soon, including comparative estimates of walking, biking and transit trips by center type, sales and property tax revenue per acre, retail demand from residents, infrastructure cost per unit and water‑use comparisons. Nolting and Watkins framed those metrics as tools communities can use to weigh fiscal, transportation and environmental impacts when planning centers.

The toolkit was funded in part by the Land Use Training Fund, presenters said, and the webinar recording and slides will be posted for later review. Attendees were encouraged to download the images and contact WFRC, MAG or UDOT for technical assistance and next steps.

The webinar closed with a Q&A session where planners answered audience questions about applying the images and metrics locally and offered follow‑up contacts and assistance.