2025 APA UT Fall Conference
October 9-10, 2025
The Depot and Megaplex Theaters at the Gateway
13 North 400 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Planners from across the region will gather in Salt Lake City this fall for APA Utah’s 2025 Fall Conference. Over two days, the conference will feature a robust lineup of sessions that address the diverse needs of both urban and rural communities. Designed for professional planners, citizen planners, and elected officials alike, the program will cover critical topics such as planning ethics, historic preservation, transportation, housing, and inclusion. Attendees can also take part in mobile tours offering real-world case studies of planning and environmental projects throughout the Salt Lake area.
Sessions
October 9, 2025 9:00 am
Keynote: Planning with Purpose
What is our purpose as planners? Emerging trends and the convergence of global disruptions, such as political polarization, policy, and legislative mandates, have altered how we plan, design, and b...
October 9, 2025 11:00 am
Downtown Bike Tour
Let’s ride bikes downtown! This short loop takes us past all your favorite landmarks: the Salt Palace, Abravanel Hall, Temple Square, City Creek, Regent Street, and Gallivan Plaza. We’ll stop along...
October 9, 2025 11:00 am
Beehive & Lion Houses
Please join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Beehive House and the Lion House during restoration. These 1850s adobe structures have been used as residences, schools, social centers, offices, ...
October 9, 2025 11:30 am
Step Into the Plan: Public Engagement Gets a Digital Upgrade
Explore the shift from conventional public meetings to immersive technology in land use planning. This highly graphic and interactive presentation showcases how immersive technology, blending story...
October 9, 2025 11:30 am
Seeing is Believing: New City and Town Center Visualization Resources
Centers are the heart of a community where people gather, where public spaces, commerce, housing, and transportation choices meet. A new State-funded website with exciting new vignettes and 3D pano...
October 9, 2025 11:30 am
Pardon My Blindspot
We all have default planning settings, without even knowing it. What’s yours? Does housing ‘obviously’ mean single-family homes? Does ‘transportation’ automatically mean cars and roads? The 2021 AI...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
A Way Forward: Urban Design Roles, Tools, and Imaginations
Urban design practice is changing rapidly, and planners are part of that shift. This session explores the expanding definition of the “urban designer” to include planners, policymakers, data scient...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
Ballpark Next: Co-Creating a Human-Centered Design Framework for the Smith’s Ballpark Site
Since 1928, Smith’s Ballpark has been a beloved sports and cultural landmark in Salt Lake City. With the Bees’ departure, the community now looks ahead to a bold new vision for the 14-acre site. He...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
Going From Advisory General Plans to Mandatory Compliance – A Good Idea?
Utah has always been a state where local general plans are advisory. There has been discussion in recent years at the legislative level of switching to make us a mandatory plan compliance state. Is...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
Growing a Walkable Urban Center in Sugar House
This walking tour explores the zoning and planning that shaped a thriving, walkable business district in Sugar House, one of Salt Lake City’s oldest neighborhoods. Sugar House has rapidly developed...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
Ground-up Community Led Placemaking
Join us for an open conversation about community-led placemaking in the Central Ninth neighborhood, where residents, creatives, and local advocates are shaping public space from the ground up. This...
October 9, 2025 3:00 pm
Great Salt Lake Basin Water Planning
Similar to patterns observed in other major waterbodies worldwide, declining water levels in the Great Salt Lake (GSL) Basin emphasize the challenges posed by a limited water supply in the face of ...
October 9, 2025 3:00 pm
Corridors versus Centers: Match of the Century
City and town centers are a key part of Utah’s approach to handling growth. But what about corridors like a “Main Street”? Do they matter too? We’ll talk about the pros and ...
October 9, 2025 3:00 pm
Collaborative Visions: Advanced Visualization Tools for Informed Community Planning
This session showcases cutting-edge visualization techniques transforming urban planning engagement. Experience immersive 3D renderings, dynamic simulations, and interactive decision-making tools t...
October 10, 2025 8:45 am
Keynote: Youth Are Not the Future, But the Now
Youth Are Not the Future, But the Now Too often, youth are seen only as the “future leaders” of our communities. But young people are already shaping our cities, policies, and civic lif...
October 10, 2025 10:15 am
Zoning for Zucchini: The City Planner’s Role in Nourishing Communities
Explore how city planning shapes access to healthy food. This presentation highlights the use of healthy food audits, zoning policies, and land-use strategies to address food deserts and food swamp...
October 10, 2025 10:15 am
Transportation Safety for All Ages
Everybody wants safe roads, but balancing priorities is tricky. This session identifies road safety risk factors from different perspectives. Recognizing that words matter, we reflect on ways to ta...
October 10, 2025 10:15 am
Planning Made Practical: New and Enhanced Tools & Resources for Land Use Planning in Utah
Local governments are on the front lines of shaping how communities grow—and the citizen planner is a significant piece of those efforts. This session is about the most recently created and enhance...
October 10, 2025 11:30 am
Trees are Infrastructure Too: How to Plan Ahead Before They’re Gone
In cities across Utah, cities are cutting down mature trees due to reactive planning, policy gaps, or infrastructure conflicts. This session explores how to prevent those losses by treating trees a...
October 10, 2025 11:30 am
Youth Voices, Real Choices: Engagement in Action + Fishbowl Discussion
Youth are not just the future — they are key voices in today’s planning decisions. This interactive session, led by Meagan Booth and Jake Young, will highlight practical, tested methods for involvi...
October 10, 2025 11:30 am
The Planning Commission and Planning Staff: Who’s in Charge?
It sometimes seems like that the Planning Commission’s purpose is primarily to rubber stamp the work of the planning staff. When The Planners Journal broached this topic several years ago, comments...
October 10, 2025 11:30 am
Plugging Your Community Into the Grid
This session will help planners understand the Statewide MPO Regional Roadway Grid Study’s value and impacts for their communities, including performance metrics, projects, and starting point...
October 10, 2025 1:30 pm
Multifamily Infill and Adaptive Reuse in SLC Historic Districts
Salt Lake City’s South Temple and Central City historic districts preserve many of the city’s early mansions and ornate homes. Learn from city planners and developers about the districts and visit ...
October 10, 2025 1:30 pm
Take Back the Streets: Reimagining Streets as Public Space
Public streets are our most abundant shared spaces—but are they serving people or just vehicles? Join us for a walking tour of Salt Lake City’s downtown to explore how streets are being reclaimed a...
October 9, 2025 1:45 pm
Form-Based Code in the Real World
This walking tour will discuss how Salt Lake City’s first form-based code has resulted in significant mixed-use, infill development in the Central Ninth neighborhood. The emerging neighborhoo...
October 10, 2025 1:45 pm
Beyond the Wheelchair, Inclusive Play is so Much More
A common misconception is that “All-Abilities” playgrounds need to be designed for the mobility device or wheelchair user. Inclusive play involves so much more! Statistics show that more children h...
October 10, 2025 1:45 pm
Reimagining Public Spaces: Playful Learning Landscapes
Playful Learning Landscapes is a global movement that is situated at the intersection of placemaking and early learning. By transforming public spaces into opportunities for playful learning, we cr...
October 10, 2025 1:45 pm
Infill Options
The concept of infill housing options has become a Statewide issue. Many communities are discussing what sorts of infill, often called “the missing middle,” might be suited to their community. This...
October 10, 2025 1:45 pm
Bikeways.utah.gov: Your definitive source for statewide bicycle infrastructure…and more!
Transportation partners have developed a public friendly web based map that includes the totality of known existing bicycle infrastructure across the state, a first in Utah. Come explore the map, l...
October 10, 2025 3:00 pm
Resources, infrastructure, regulations. What’s the deal with Utah’s housing supply?
Utah is growing fast and, despite record permitting, housing supply is struggling to keep up. Several constraints limit our collective capacity to build more housing, but the comparative impacts of...
October 10, 2025 3:00 pm
The Everything Bagel Approach to Development Agreements
This session will explore how to construct project specific development agreements that address a wide variety of items, but not too many items can create the right balance for the community and de...
October 10, 2025 3:00 pm
Revisit HB 368
Since HB 386 was a somewhat overwhelming bit of legislation, the intent of this session is to review the top ten changes that communities should be aware of. This session should enable cities and t...
October 10, 2025 3:00 pm
Public Transit’s Multiplier Effect: Quantifying Indirect Benefits Beyond Ridership
This session explores the direct and indirect impacts of public transit on reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas emissions. Using multilevel structural equation modeling and data...
Presenters
Moderate Income Housing Program Manager
Housing Community Development Division of the Department of Workforce Services
Director of Culture, Operations & Strategic Initiatives
Trust-Based Philanthropy Project
Career-line Instructor, University of Utah, College of Architecture & Planning
Department of City & Metropolitan Planning
Accommodations
Holiday Inn Express Airport
200 North 2100 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Distance from Venue: 3 Miles
833-372-3538
APA Rate: Starting at $119/night + Tax
Marriott University Park
480 Wakara Way
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84108
Distance From Venue: 4.7 Miles
833-372-3538
APA Rate: Starting at $208/night + Tax
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