While physical brick and mortar developments are important to urban centers, it is the signature events and festivals that define what it means to be a great city.  They showcase a city’s physical and cultural identity, creating a sense of ownership, pride and emotional connection for residents and visitors alike. Just think about it.  Austin has South by Southwest, Milwaukee has Summerfest, and Tennessee has Bonnaroo. SLC has the Twilight Concert Series, which at $5 a show is a bargain compared to Bonaroo’s $250 plus price tag. Think I’m overstating just how impressive the Twilight Concert Series is by comparing it to these national festivals? Think again. Year in and year out the Twilight Concert Series lineup speaks for itself.  The 2013 headliners include Belle and Sebastian, The Flaming Lips, The National, Grizzly Bear, Erykah Badu, Kid Cudi, and Empire of the Sun.

Twilight Concerts are a cross-section of the residents who make up our community: families, young professionals, tweens, scenesters and fixie riding hipsters. You name it.  Producing an event that appeals to everyone is no easy feat and is a testament to Salt Lake Arts Council Program Director and Twilight Concert Series mastermind Casey Jarman. Jarman’s vision and conscious programming selections ensure a diverse spectrum of musical tastes. With genres covering blues, rock, hip-hop, indie, folk, electronic and more, Jarman and the Salt Lake Arts Council are dedicated to bringing our community an event that is all inclusive while still offering world-class music.

Ah, the joy of laughter...one of the most healthy and obviously happy expressions in life. It's truly the best medicine (whether ailing or not), so get thee to the doctor this weekend, David Sedaris that is. Capitol Theatre will host the best-selling author on Sunday, April 28 at 7 p.m.

The smart and savvy Sedaris is a master storyteller—in voice, style, theme—and he's on the road promoting his latest musings. "Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls" is Sedaris' most recent collection of essays (and eighth book to date). Listen to an audio clip here: http://davidsedarisbooks.com/owls.html

Everything comes down to execution. How do we execute even one, or two or three new ideas in our community? We hope our leaders, residents, and property owners get excited about these ideas and help with the process of idealizing and implementing.

Downtown is continuing to rise and this great timing, since our Downtown Master Plan is currently being crafted. Simply writing things in a plan is not always enough, as many of the cities in this video (below) had some impactful ideas in their master plans (such as greenspace or public space) but did nothing to implement them. In some cases, cities had conflicting ordinances which didn't allow ideas we have explored, such as sidewalk dining or public sitting areas, which may or may not be right for Salt Lake, given our weather.

SLC was able to launch a Bike Share program in April and Open Streets is coming to our community in May – what should be the next priority? Would painting intersections work here or could we create plazas to make our blocks feel smaller?  What about converting on street parking into green space? Or a plaza and park with swings? Have you ever heard of a parklet ?

Please watch the video below to see what other communities are doing to make their cities more walkable, friendly and connective. It's our downtown, we all must work together to shape it. If you are interested in getting involved, please join us at the Downtown Masterplan public workshop coming up on May 9th. For more information, go to downtownplanslc.com

On Monday April 8th, one hundred green bikes sprouted up, seemingly overnight, at 10 downtown stations. Don't fear you were the only one to miss a clearance sale at the SLC Bicycle Co – instead; these new bikes are hitting the street as part of a new bike sharing system.

The concept of sharing bikes is different than a rental and the GREENbikeSLC.orgGREENbikeSLC.org website does a stellar job of explaining how the program works, the low associated costs and where to find stations. The best analogy I have heard to explain bike share is to think of it as mass transit on two wheels.

"What is a city but the people?" Shakespeare asked.

When people think of cities they often think of skylines, towering buildings or famous monuments. But at their most basic level cities are complex systems organized to bring people together for commerce, culture and entertainment. At their heart, cities are about human interaction.

City Creek Center has been open for a year now. It has not solved every urban issue or ensured the success of every downtown venture. But it has dramatically improved our city's core in meaningful and observable ways. It has also affected downtown in ways that are not as obvious.