Prior to his position as Planning Director of Salt Lake City he was the founding director of Artspace, a Community Development Corporation creating affordable housing, live/work space, and incubator spaces for both for-profit and nonprofit businesses. During his 20 years as its director, he developed more than 400,000 square feet of mixed-use space, which has been recognized both locally and nationally for its innovation, architectural excellence and as examples of social and environmental responsibility.

As a Loeb Fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Professor Goldsmith conducted research on ways to change Low Income Housing Tax Credit policy to include mixed-use projects, as well as exploring the epidemiological impacts of the automobile. During his fellowship he arranged a symposium on sprawl at the Dessau Institute of Architecture at the Bauhaus, which was followed by an international symposium and exhibition titled FitCities held during the 2002 Olympic Games.

In addition, Professor Goldsmith serves on the board of the Salzburg Congress on Urban Planning and Development (SCUPAD), an independent, nonprofit, international network organization of planners and development specialists committed to the concepts of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social and economic justice, and a reverence for democratic principles, predicated on respect for and recognition of the inalienable rights of all people.