What Killed Downtown Salt Lake City?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City was once a bustling district full of unique local shops, charm and life. Today the street is almost dead. I investigate how and why this happened, why 2 malls were built on the street 30 years ago and what the future might bring with the new development that will demolish the malls in attempt to bring back some of what has been lost. Visit UtahStories.com for more.
![Eminem - Fuel (Shady Edition) feat. Westside Boogie & GRIP [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k1OquBida9s/mqdefault.jpg)
I used to live in Salt Lake too, West Jordan in particular. I now live near Boston, MA. I miss Utah very much. You appreciate Utah very much when you leave the place. I'm moving back to Salt Lake the beginning of 2009 to stay for good ...
And now, nobody goes to the gateway once City Creek Center opened.
+The Leland and Leanna Show Exactly! We predicted this would happen and it did. Our retail in Salt Lake City is way overbuilt and now the "Empire has fought back" and won. See our story on UtahStories.com. www.utahstories.com/2013/06/city-creek-centers-impact-on-gateway-and-downtown/
*Annnd now 10 years later The Gateway is an eerie Ghost Town and shell of what you just saw in this video.*
We were just there the other day and astonished at the vacant retail spaces, the vacancy rate had to be 60% + with many of the remaining tenants unknown 'C' brands.
There are 3 factors behind mass retailer exodus of The Gateway:
*1. The LDS Church:* The City Creek development cannibalized Gateway's demographic and attracted more nationally recognized brands not to mention large anchor tenants.
City Creek has *100% CASH* based operational coffers funded by millions of tithe payers. How in the hell is any mall establishment in the Down Town SLC area suppose to compete with that?
*2. The Homeless Problem:* The Gateway is reminiscent of a scene out of the Walking Dead except the 'Walkers' haven been replaced with homeless panhandlers and drug addicts.
The adjacent Road Home homeless shelter has grown 3X in the number of transients they have compared to 2007. Think my assessment is an exaggeration? Drive by it for yourself and draw your own conclusion.
*3. The Amazon effect:* Warren Buffet has divested not some, not most but ALL of Berkshire Hathaway's interest in the retail 'juggernaut' Walmart earlier this year. *That is text book 'writing on the wall.'*
As I write this, national retail closures for the 1st quarter of 2017 are *exceeding* any quarter during The Great Recession of several years ago.
Consumer price conscience, the ease of online shopping and the cheap labor/material costs of China are picking off our beloved retailers like a navy seal sniper in an elderly home.
*10 Year Predictions:* By 2027 I predict that The Gateway will resemble what The Crossroads mall looked like prior to it's demolition.
City Creek will resemble what The Gateway looks like today.
Jeff Bezos will not only be the richest man in the world, but the first Billionaire to exceed a personal net worth that exceeds *$100 Billion, $200 Billion and easily $300 Billion based on Amazon's present growth trajectory.*
*80% of Brick & Mortar Retailers will be defunct or hanging on life support.*
*R.I.P. Shopping Malls of yore.*
bebeezra ikr
Crossroads Mall was never on 300 South, Auerbach's Department store was. Crossroads Mall was on 100 South Main.
Aww I remember Crossroads.
I know what killed downtown SLC!!!! It is the LDS Church buying everything up! I live 180 miles from SLC and it is a main destination for shopping getaways for alot of local residents. Alot of which are now going to Ogden or even Casper, Cheyenne, or Denver because they don't like dealing with SLC!
Salt Lake City does have a pretty boring main street. I think we should be able to reverse time, and make it more like major cities, such as Seattle or Philadelphia. Those cities have a lot of ground-level retail, and seem to be bustling around the clock.
Well the City Creek project should bring Main back to life. I love how they are building a bridge right over the trax.
did they finish downtown yet? last i saw crossroads was comepletly gone i was like WTF!?!?, its beenabout a year since ive been there, im gonna move back when i get the chance!.......i used to live there back in the day...its way polluted now............i miss the library too!!!!
Nice documentary. Sad, but true.
I'm sick of Gateway and nothing in Trolley Square. I wish they'd finish that new mall where ZCMI/Crossroads was already.
omg i live in salt lake there are tons of people in the malls and mainstreet is packed.
I miss Trolly Square growing up. godfathers's pizza with Trolly Games on top and 2 theaters (8 screens total) right there. plus Trolley Corner across the street for 3 more screens.
I'm glad that the situation seems to be getting better.
Other areas, Wal-Marts killed downtown. A city in NY called Amsterdam, they dropped a mall into the middle of Main Street and now it's basically vacant except for some medical offices and such. At least the church is looking to help that area whether you follow that religion or not.
got to plan your trip better. there's great places to eat like the Pie Pizzaria (1350 e. 200 s.) or the icceberg 's famous thick shakes (900e & about 4500 s.), there's Hogal Zoo, and Lagoon is just north of town...
Funny that the tables have turned.
Luckyyyyyyy! I'm about to move there :(
&& I'm not going to come back to Califoria
What do you do in Cali? Just curious...
The Gateway was doomed from the beginning. An outdoor mall that’s only comfortable for 2 times a year, the rest of the time it’s either too hot or too cold. The Boyer Company who developed Gateway had this idea of making it like Old Town Pasadena. The big difference is that the weather is temperate in Southern California and not so much in Salt Lake City. The Gateway hype is long gone. I don’t see new life coming to the Gateway, at least not anytime soon.
Not for long....Main street is getting a multi-million dollar makeover that has been under construction for the past 4 years.....opening up in the fall of next year. Just amazing...Will give Gateway a run for its money.
they obviously wanted to make it as inviting as possible.
funny how city projects hurt the local business
I love the taco stands!!!
Salt Lake City is the best city I've been to. It has small city politeness but with nice bars and great local spots. Thanks to the malls being torn down the local culture is flourishing on 300 South. Long live local Utah!
Salt Lake City is pretty boring but people there are generally nice .Besides,there is a lot of cool nature around.
@Luciferminusone ooooo! and put in a walkway fountain, and have it go off at times in the winter! (yes, this happened to me, it was f'n cold!)
Definitely doesnt look like this anymore. Most of its a slum and they've been getting rid of the homeless shelters they have.
i love being a mormon jewish girl... mormons and jews are SMART, know how to make MONEY, are good lookin' , funny, creative and we both know how to do a mall right!!! I'm proud to be both Mormon and Jewish.. The Church doesn't use tithe money~i think it's cool they are paying up front, not getting in debt.. the community needs this addition.. it will be great!!
Why downtown is dead because they have not have famous buildings or things on main street besides the temple. People don't live near and work near it. The malls will die because people go to cheap outlets. All People go to park city, ski ,snowboard, and on or near the hills. The downtown has no charm. People out of Utah only think about Utah is skiing, The U,and the lDS church ( Mormons). That is why is dead. Sad
We really need to understand the LDS Church's motive for building City Creek.
They don't give a rat's ass about downtown; they only care about the publicity that the mall generates for them. Not the other way around.
yea salt lake is great, but no matter how much the lds church spends on the city creek, its gonna fail if its not open on sundays, which is likely to happen, but gateway will still dominate unless they get some really high end stores(LV, ect.) btu yea, salt lake is great, its not san diego but thats like comparing apples to oranges
To be honest I'm not surprised that many of these people seem less "perfect, Mormon, white man" then I thought they would, in Ireland, even though we're pretty much run by religion, many people are liberal, open ANC very much similar in attitude to most of Europe. That's why countries/states/cities that are founded on a set religion/rules all hell breaks loose in later years...
eoin fenton Salt Lake City is much more liberal than the rest of Utah. The current mayor is a lesbian.
Utah always does everything ass backwards. If those 2 downtown malls were built with decent architecture & design they wouldn't have ever had to bulldoze them and build another tacky mall with hideous murals. The 2 malls didn't even have their entrances line up on Main Street. The insides were dated when they opened. Even the Trax they built for the Olympics doesn't even go to the airport. What a joke.
NYKID10014 Trax DOES go to the airport.
@kittywaymo WOW, well arn"t you just a prime stereotype!
run utah like a third world country? wow. that's the purest "I have no idea what I'm talking about statement" I have heard in a long time. come visit, I will show you around.