Best way to bring about change on a downtown city block in desperate need of creative attention? An International Urban Ideas Competition with a large sum of prize money [up to $80K...damn] and bragging rights [via a feature in Architect Magazine] for incentive should do it.

You may have seen last week's post on this...us, getting amped about the SixtyNine-Seventy Project Launch Party that took place at Squatters Pub. We were awesome and braved the winter storm for it, and it was well worth our efforts. Some of the SLC's most influential and aspiring creatives gathered in one room for the unveiling and official launch of a project that will transform city blocks 69 and 70 on the plat matt [clarification: the block between 1st and 2nd South and Main and State] from dead space into a fusing public space. As it sits now, that particular block is a well-known eye sore, what with the abandoned, ketchup-and-mustard-colored fast food building next to a barren alley. It happens to sit squarely in the epicenter of Downtown Salt Lake City's cultural amenities, so this idea/movement is sorely needed and nothing short of brilliant. Between the Gallivan Center, Capitol Theater, future home of Ballet West, and proposed Utah Performing Arts Center and Utah Film and Media Arts Center Project, SixtyNine-Seventy aims to create a connective tissue that acts as a catalyst for more design-conscious development and urban planning; it'll generate a shift to shape our city into one that will rival any major metropolitan player. Seriously...this is the type of forward movement we can COLLECTIVELY get behind. For more info, or if you feel inspired to enter, click here.

Presented by: AIA Utah Young Architects Forum, Utah Heritage Foundation, Downtown Alliance and many more passionate thinkers.