[bob rulz]

Portland is already well ahead of those other cities. I think Portland is the model that all mid-sized cities in the U.S. should be following, and many cities have already been following Portland as an example for years now. There are only a handful of cities I would choose to leave Salt Lake for, and Portland is one of them (San Francisco and New York are in that list, too, but obviously those are in a whole other league). That said, I'm married to Salt Lake City for the foreseeable future and I'm alright with that. I love seeing how this city has grown even in the last 5 years or so.

And Comrade, I agree with you about Gateway. The homelessness in that area was always a problem, but that didn't stop Gateway from being incredibly successful for a full decade. But since foot traffic has decreased as vacancy rates increase, the homelessness has simply become more visible, and since there's a newer, shinier shopping center just a few blocks to the east, that perception of it has only increased.