The Young Voice Shaping Salt Lake City's Future
Eva López Chávez is a city council member in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eva has been involved in many layers of local government, including working as a city staffer and construction project manager. Today, she and Norm discuss how she became a city councilor and how she’s building prosperity in her city.
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Norm Van Eeden Petersman 0:06
Thank you so much for tuning in to this Bottom-Up Short, I'm Norm with Strong Towns, and I've met 1000s of Strong Towns members now, and after hearing their stories, I'm inspired to say to others, "I've got to tell you about so and so." That's what Bottom-Up Shorts is all about: quick introductions to regular people doing really exciting things, even when they might have initially felt much like you do, that such amazing things must be the domain of extraordinary folks who have never had a moment of anxiousness or self doubt. And so if you like what you hear, please let us know. And today, my guest is Eva Lopez. She is the city council member for Salt Lake City's most urban, walkable district. She's the daughter of Mexican immigrants, an advocate for renters and housing affordability options within the community, a former city staffer and construction project manager, and really in the thick of so much of the work that's needed to build strong and healthy communities. And Eva really does bring that bold energy and insight to local government leadership. She's focused in particular on protecting longtime residents on the streets in the midst of rumored highway expansions, and in the face of embracing the benefits of density, but also understanding what the trade offs and challenges are that are associated with growth, and really grappling with the idea that we can't simply grow grow at all costs, but that instead, when we measure those costs, we can also see various types of benefits when we do this in a prudent way. And so Eva's pushing for policies that one of the things that stands out is that keep families in cities rather than forcing them to leave. And so I met and heard about Eva when she introduced herself as a Strong Towns member, and I wanted to discover what led her to take on the challenges her community faces in this way. Council member Eva Lopez, welcome, hey, thanks for having me. I'm so glad that you've joined us for this, and I'd love to hear what you are currently engaged in as you work as a city council member and work within a community. What comes through so clearly is that you've taken note of the needs of your community, and now you're working sort of, I would say, quite judiciously, to really begin to address those. What does that look like for you?
Eva Lopez 2:11
Yeah, well, I think, to no one's surprise, we are living in uncertain economic times. Everyone feels the strain of pressures. I think this is a time where all of us, whether through our personal finances, with our friends and family or companies, to really strategize and have some serious concern about the lack of housing, about the cost of food, cost of living, and getting back to the basics of governance. Municipal governments, which is the closest branch that serves the people, have the opportunity to really demonstrate the use of essential services. That being said, I think I'm a very non traditional Gen Z council member. I would say a big focus of why I got involved, and why this matters to me is my family story. I have two parents, both Mexican immigrants that came over to conduct farm work in Idaho and in Utah. I'm their eldest daughter. At the time it was President George W Bush. Long story short, I learned who he was pretty quickly, and I learned how federal policies were hurting my family at the time. These were immigrant policies, but in many ways, I saw how it shaped our economic opportunities or lack thereof, and I fought like hell as a student and as the first one in my family to go to college. I met a council member named Erin Mendenhall that eventually ran for office. I got to join her and her campaign team, and was really introduced to the inner workings of municipal government. At the time, I knew I'd run, so I'd tell people, "This is a 20 year journey to becoming a council member." It was probably at the age of seven that I decided I'd run for office one day, and I kept that promise. But really, by the time I was in my 20s and had exited college and working at Salt Lake City Corporation for the mayor, I really began to understand the inner workings of municipal government. And I began to understand that demonstrating effective and innovative solutions to overcoming some of these social symptoms that we face and economic systems that we face is pertinent, not just to growth but to mobilizing and empowering individuals to exercise their rights and their abilities to access economic freedom. I'm somebody that really believes in economic opportunity as liberation for individuals and their families.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 4:49
That's so powerful. And I think it touches on one of the areas that really stood out in your campaign, as well as in your continued work around allowing our streets to be more safe. And I think one of the things that Strong Towns does well is highlighting the need for, yes, streets to be safe, but also that by making them safer, they actually become more far more productive. Can you talk about how productive streets and good neighborhoods are one of those core pathways to helping people build generational wealth? And maybe some of the things that stand in the way of safety being preeminent and place being focused on within your your existing ward, as well as more broadly within the city?
Eva Lopez 5:28
Yeah, that's a great question. Salt Lake City has a great example of neighborhoods that have historic values, and with that, come place making and urban planning that reflects those values. We have neighborhoods that we see certain symptoms of those growths. I think of our downtown, where we see a lot of corporate entities moving in and housing moving out. I've had a real focus on creating homeownership products in our urban downtown, for example, to reamplify and to energize these streets. I mean, what this really comes down to is public safety is not just creating precincts where police can respond to physically. That's an operational cost. You have human capital on the streets, and that comes with a really high expense. But safety could also look like families grabbing ice cream and strollers being parked near a cafe, or individuals going shopping in a mall. We have really great neighborhoods that reflect that, in my district as well. Central Ninth is a great example of a neighborhood that has pedestrian walkways, different byway paths, multimodal experiences. Car-centricity as well; we recognize that we're still not, in the West, able to adapt in contemporary times, but we know that there will be a future time. Economic sense, right? It comes down to who can afford a vehicle, insurance, and gas, and who can't. And who wants to have more of that pedestrian experience while trying to overcome housing costs. So yeah, we have a really great multitude of portfolios of neighborhoods as examples of where we want to head as a city, what's safe, and what are the symptoms we'd like to overcome as well, and how do we get creative about overcoming them? I think, to no one's surprise, cities across the nation are not just facing economic pressures. We also face the lack of a safety net, which means people falling out of housing and the symptoms of homelessness or unhoused situations. So definitely making sure that we come up with solutions that both offer dignity to those individuals, but some respect to the neighborhoods. I also lament that sometimes these symptoms become overwhelming. It's easier said than done, certainly, but when we're leadership, we take it seriously that we want to investigate. I think the key is getting granular. I don't think we can apply these reaganomic type platforms and platitudes across our municipalities, counties or states. I think the key to prosperity in neighborhoods is really recognizing that each parcel individually has capacity to serve but can't be fortified without looking at the magnitude of how that threads into the greater web or quilt working that makes a city great. You know, to quote Jane Jacobs. When I got elected, I went straight to read from the greats, and realized she makes the case. Communities are built by people. And that's really what I see in Salt Lake City, is that our community, since 1848, has been built by different people that came through, that saw opportunity, and the zoning and the urban planning has reflected that.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 8:51
That core question, "is a city an organism or machine?" And we take very different paths. And this is where Jane Jacobs is. You know, our patron saint helps us in that task, because it really emphasizes the need for things like incrementalism, really making small measured bets, and then allowing for the learnings that come from failure, the learnings that come from some of these fairly innocuous types of small investments. You know, a small improvement to a streetscape, watching and observing what happens, and then saying, "Oh, we could do a little bit more of this." And to your point, about, like, top down solutions, where you try to impose a single thing and see how it works, versus 1000s of natural experiments being conducted, and then picking up the learnings from those things. I just find so much in what you're describing to really resonate with my own impression of where Salt Lake is, and some of the efforts being made to be more nimble, to be more sort of iterative. I know in one city, in Medicine Hat, Alberta, their city manager actually created the Nimble Award for their city staff, and the idea was to try to encourage that type of quick thinking, iterative thinking. And I would love to see even more places do that. I haven't had too many people that have had a time in political staffing that then gave rise to opportunities to get into elected office. I feel a little bit of a kinship because I worked in the mayor's office doing communications for the mayor, and got to see behind the scenes what that looked like. And it was a great way to not only try to serve well in that time -- though, there are certainly letters I wish I could retract that I sent out in the mayor signature, because we had to turn down so many requests that were safety related, emerging out of people's deep need. But out of that, I feel like I've learned from that. Can you describe, one, why you worked in local politics, even as a non elected but as an appointed staffer, and then some of the learnings that have helped you to set you up to be a successful council member as well?
Eva Lopez 10:52
Yeah, that's a great question. I really wanted to because I was inspired by my elected officials at the time. I described myself as someone with a chip on their shoulder, I had a bunch of ideas that I wanted to integrate into my city. Quite literally, I remember driving from Twin Falls -- I grew up in Idaho -- and taking my little Corolla onto the freeway. This was the big city, Salt Lake City. I'd never been to a bigger city than Salt Lake at that point in my life, and to see the sunset emerge over the skyscrapers, and this red, fiery glass panes just being projected from the skyline, I realized, "Whoa, this is my city. This is going to be the place that I call home." A decade later, fast forward, I had been told "No" so many times, Norm, that I genuinely decided, "You know, I can do this. I actually can do this, and I really care about this community." So I dug really deep, and not to get too emotional, but it was a very spiritual calling for me. I felt a magnetism to serve. I'd been angered for most of my life seeing injustice through policy creation, and decided I actually do know how to create good policy. I know how to advise. I know how to interpret statistical data and analysis. And what I don't know, I'm willing to learn. So I put my best foot forward, offered those ideals and values that not just amplify and protect families, but I think, really elevate opportunities for the different individuals that make Salt Lake City their home. And as the prophecy has now been recited, I was able to be entrusted with this role, and I'm really grateful for it. I tell my neighbors all the time, I really am so grateful and honored, because it is a privilege to take your ideas and to magnify them in the city that you call home.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 12:51
And you are so much more than a Strong Towns member, but you also really embody what it is to be part of a Strong Towns movement. Part of a desire to really, one, gain an audience and a hearing for ideas and concepts that have been either dismissed too quickly or simply not given that focus that is needed. You know, what is the good that we seek? What is it for us all to prosper? What is it for everyone to live a good life in a prospering community? All of those different layers. And I love the way that you're describing that resolve that builds over time. And you know, my challenge for anybody that's listening is, you're probably closer to taking a seat at your city council table or on a commission table than you might imagine. It is not the only avenue for creating change in our communities, but it is a really important one. And this is where, especially with the help of allies and community advocates within these spaces, you'll find that support comes out of the woodwork. There can be some real inspiration that comes from the unlikely people that you connect with that realize, "woah, we have this in common," as well as just that work of rolling up your sleeves and making that happen. And I wanted to ask you Eva, what gives you hope as you take up this, at times, thankless work, but much of the time, I would imagine, work that gives you opportunity for thankfulness in your community?
Eva Lopez 14:12
Yeah. I mean, I am the oldest daughter, and I have three siblings. My youngest sibling being 11, I call her my mini me, since I don't have any children. But I look at our youth, and to be quite honest with you, I look at how hard it was for me to have the economic mobility to make decisions that will help strengthen my family's future. I look at my grandmother, who is in the United States, worked very, very hard for under minimum wage in the fields in Idaho picking sugar beets, beans, corn, and looking how proud they are of the very little they have. So I find resiliency and hope in both the ideals of the past and the future, and to make sense that it's my reckoning to deal with contemporary times. That's where I derive a lot of my passion and hope from, is my own family. But as I learned the stories of my own neighbors and different residents that I've gotten to meet over time, I know that there's a different path forward that has not been offered to them, because the American ideals has been a white picket fence, much like suburban life. And instead to say there's a different path forward, and it might look like condos, townhomes, what we call middle housing. It might look like urban living without vehicular access, but public transportation. It might like multi modality or all of the above. And the goal is to incorporate all of those experiences, because all of us deserve to have access to a network of healthy communities that are resilient.
Norm Van Eeden Petersman 15:55
Yeah, I love that. That's a fantastic way to sum it up. And if you are in Eva's district, definitely connected with her and support the work that she's doing there. But also, more broadly, if you would like to follow along, Eva's Instagram will be available in the show notes as well. And Eva, I'm so glad that you've been on as a guest on this Bottom-Up Short. Thank you for taking time. To everybody that's listening, take inspiration, because when you begin to not only feel that righteous anger on the on account of the challenges that we see in front of ourselves and sometimes of the ways in which action is not being taken, but then begin to find fruitful ways to turn that into action, I think there's so much power in that. So with that, take care and take care of your places. Thank you, Eva, for being on.
Eva Lopez 16:40
Thank you.
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