I visited Provo River Delta Gateway Park this weekend, and it was filled with families and kids playing in the river. The park’s popularity is one of several examples showing that Provo is ready to embrace its river as an amenity, rather than ignoring or shunning it, as it has been generally done historically.

Here are some ideas we can do as a city:

1) Create a river overlay zone to encourage new developments to include river trail access and plant trees/vegetation along the water.

2) Add better river access to parks that are already near the river but don't connect to it/embrace it (e.g., Riverview Park)

3) When developments happen by the river, encourage them to face the water and treat it as an amenity instead of turning their backs to it. It’s sad to me that there isn't one place in Provo where you can grab a bite to eat and sit next to the river.

Chicago, Boise, San Antonio, Tempe, and many other cities all show the value that comes from embracing water as a source of beauty, recreation, and city identity.

I'd love to hear other ideas that could help the city embrace our river.