The survey was broken into three sections based on where respondents live: urban, growing rural, and rural areas with slow growth.
Park City is considered urban, while a swath of Summit and Wasatch counties are labeled “growing rural.”
Between 2010 and 2020, Utah was the fastest growing state in the nation. The Beehive State’s population is projected to grow from 3.3 million to 5.5 million by 2060.
Lauren Hanson, a planning coordinator for the state, said the goal of the survey was to learn from residents how they’d like to see the state change to meet the needs of its growing population.
The 28,000 people who filled out the questionnaire were asked about four separate topics: housing, water, transportation, and open space and recreation.
Hanson said water brought the clearest consensus among residents.
“Urban Utahns and rural Utahns both wanted to see proactive and focused water conservation,” Hanson said. “Utahns realize that we need to be cautious about our water, and the thing I found that was most encouraging from the survey results was this sense of shared responsibility.”
She said respondents expect water conservation to be a priority for existing and new developments, local governments, and farmers.
Amid increasing housing costs, people were also asked how much new development they’d like to see, if any at all.
“Overall, Utahns wrote back and said that they want a variety of housing products and price points,” Hanson said. “The majority of people chose the option that allowed the most amount of new housing in the most number of places.”
Younger people and renters were more likely to choose the option for the most housing. She said around 20% of respondents said they’d like to stop future development.
On transportation, Hanson said Utahns are looking for different ways to get around.
“We saw significant support for increased investment in public transportation, buses, trains, but also a lot of support for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.”
There was a split between residents in urban and rural areas.
“In urban areas, the survey option that received the most support didn’t even mention cars. It was all about public transportation and trails and bicycle infrastructure. In rural areas, we have a little bit more geography and distance to cover, and so they were supportive of a more balanced approach between investment in new highways, but also a ton of support for public transportation and trails in rural Utah as well.”
Hanson said many respondents also expressed interest in a statewide rail network, something Gov. Spencer Cox has said he supports.
The full results of the “Guiding Our Growth” survey can be found here.
