Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Salt Lake City faced significant challenges in 2025, including crime, homelessness, growth and various disasters.
- City adapted to state pressures on public safety and adopted new zoning for housing.
- 2026 could be a major year of long-term planning before a busier 2027 in the city.
SALT LAKE CITY — 2025 may not have been quite as transformative for Salt Lake City as the previous year, but it wasn't a quiet one either, as Utah's capital city continues to grow.
A lot of major themes of the past few years — from housing to other growing pains — culminated in 2025, but this year may have been more "responsive" than anything because of the expected and unforeseen hurdles that emerged throughout the year, said Salt Lake City Council Chairman Chris Wharton.
"We weren't just knee-jerk reacting; we had to react quickly, but we had to do it in a way that was also thoughtful," he told KSL, as he described 2025's various challenges.
Addressing 2025's challenges
Even before 2025 began, Utah leaders called on Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall to develop a public safety plan to address concerns about crime and homelessness. That document, unveiled in January, set the city's policing tone throughout the year, including at the top. Brian Redd, Utah's former corrections department director, was sworn in as the city's new police chief in March.
Crime ultimately fell to its lowest levels in about a decade, but challenges remain, Redd reported earlier this month.
"We're grappling with how we can make people feel safe in the city," he said. "The feeling of safety is something that we're also going to work on as we continue to bring crime down."
That wasn't the only pressure the city faced from the state this year.
- Lawmakers pressed the city to partner with the state on public safety issues or risk losing certain state funds in a bill that was ultimately altered at the end of the legislative session to remove that in exchange for a new state homeless campus planned for the city's Northpoint area.
- One bill called for a state-led study of lane-reduction strategies on several Salt Lake City roads; however, the Utah Department of Transportation found little impact from recent projects the city rolled out.
- Another bill prohibited governments from displaying LGBTQ pride flags and certain other flags at government buildings and offices. Salt Lake City, which had adopted this practice in recent years, opted to adopt three new official city flags with LGBTQ-related and Juneteenth designs to sidestep the new law the day before it took effect.
"I think that we're seeing efforts every year to erode local control, and a lot of that does feel aimed at Salt Lake City in particular," Wharton said. "I know that cities across the state are feeling that as well, so ... in recent years, that's something we've had to grapple with more and more."
These added to already existing challenges from the pressure of being the state's fastest-growing city. The city approved millions more in affordable housing funding and adopted several zoning changes to reduce housing costs. Residents previously approved bonds for road projects and park improvements, which funded projects carried out in 2025.
There were unforeseen circumstances throughout the year that required city responses, as well.
Salt Lake City amended its public events permitting process following the fatal shooting of a protester at a "No Kings" rally in June. A massive fire on Main Street in August and a grass fire on city-owned land that destroyed apartment buildings in Millcreek led to efforts to support affected businesses and clear up dry grasses, respectively.
What's in store for 2026?
While 2024 turned into a major year for Salt Lake City's future, and 2025 was responsive to challenges, 2026 is already shaping up to be a big year for planning in the city's future, before a busier 2027. To that end, the city has already initiated zoning changes tied to its Smith's Ballpark redevelopment plan that was finalized this month.
We're going to start to see things materialize. ... (A)nd we're just excited to be part of that planning process.
–Salt Lake City Council Chairman Chris Wharton
But Salt Lake County may have more detailed plans for the Salt Palace Convention Center in 2026, ahead of construction that could begin as early as 2027, following an initial land sale agreement with Smith Entertainment Group. The deal was reached weeks after the state signed off on a $1.8 billion funding plan for downtown's forthcoming transformation in April.
More details about Smith's downtown vision could be released in 2026. More planning details for the Salt Lake Temple open house — an event expected to draw in millions of visitors over six months in 2027 — could also be unveiled next year.
There are additional planning events in the pipeline as Salt Lake City prepares for the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
"We're going to start to see things materialize," Wharton said. "I'm sure that there will be announcements that different groups will make to add to that effort, and we're just excited to be part of that planning process."
