Salt Lake City is no longer just the big neighbor down the canyon. It's a competitor.

That was the message from Park City Councilor Tana Toly at a Saturday, Aug. 22, work session where city staff presented data showing Main Street foot traffic fell 9% from its peak, landing at roughly 4.17 million visits in 2025.

"Salt Lake is becoming really cool. It's actually, like, a fun place to go. There's great stuff. There's great restaurants. There's great bars," Toly said, according to the Park Record.

Toly, who grew up in Park City and whose family owns Red Banjo Pizza, the oldest business on Main Street, rattled off a list of regional rivals she said are pulling visitors away: Snowbasin, Ogden, Heber and Midway, all within about an hour's drive. Closer to home, Canyons Village and the emerging Deer Valley East Village are also siphoning shoppers and diners from the historic corridor.

Toly said Park City used to be the only destination of its kind in the state and can no longer pretend Main Street will stay frozen in time.

The numbers behind the warning

City economic development project manager Matt Lee presented concept designs for a Main Street and Swede Alley overhaul at the same work session, KPCW reported. The data he shared showed visitation peaked around 4.5 million trips in 2019 and 2021 before the gradual slide. Spending per visit, adjusted for inflation, has also declined.

The losses are visible on the street. The Top of Main Brew Pub, an anchor at 250 Main St. for 37 years, closed permanently in spring 2026. Main Street Pizza & Noodle, another decades-long fixture, shut its doors around the same time.

Salt Lake's Olympic-era surge

Toly's competitive-threat framing lands as Salt Lake City pours investment into its downtown ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics. The Delta Center is being upgraded after the arrival of the Utah Mammoth NHL team, a major Salt Palace Convention Center renovation is planned, and the long-running Temple Square project is nearing completion. The Power District west of downtown is a potential future home for a Major League Baseball franchise.

What the council wants to do about it

The council backed a pedestrian-friendly redesign of Main Street and Swede Alley featuring wider sidewalks, one-way vehicle traffic and a trolley lane. Estimated cost: $36.6 million. A separate gondola connecting Main Street to Deer Valley's Snow Park Village could run between $33 million and $55 million depending on tower placement. According to the Main Street Area Plan, 23% of Main Street visitors come from Deer Valley Resort.

Councilmember Bill Ciraco suggested starting construction on Swede Alley first to limit disruption to Main Street businesses. Toly pushed for elevating Swede Alley's role, saying the city's code currently treats it as "subordinate to Main Street" and that needs to change dramatically.

The council also flagged the aging China Bridge parking garage, whose southern portion has five to ten years of useful life remaining, as its top infrastructure priority. Members want a plan in place before the 2034 Olympics.

No votes were taken Friday. City staff will return with detailed plans and financial analyses in the coming months. The council had not revisited the Main Street redevelopment topic since February 2025, after rejecting the full Main Street Area Plan in December 2024 and directing staff to pursue a piecemeal approach with feasibility studies.