Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[bflatflat9]

Originally Posted by justiny

I disagree, and not for the simple fact hornets build nests and not hives.

While jazz music has nothing to do with Utah, the team name has become iconic. When thinking about Stockton, Malone, Hornacek, Sloan, and the 1997 and 1998 Finals teams, I couldn't imagine not thinking of them as the Utah Jazz. Calling them the Hornets or the "peaks" or whatever ludicrous name the Miller family would come up with would be a shame. Hell, I still wish it was the Delta Center, but I don't have millions of dollars to throw around.

Not every sports team has to link with its geography. The Lakers are iconic and they were named after Minnesota's lakes. Same for the Dodgers and the Arizona Cardinals.

As a jazz music fan, and Utah Jazz fan (and Warrior fan for affiliation with the Bay), it's embarrassing to sport the name Jazz in Utah, yet the name HAS become iconic. I'm pretty sure almost nobody links the Jazz with New Orleans, unlike, say, the Colts with Baltimore. I hope they keep the name, although 20 million and draft picks is a lure.

[Comrade]

New Orleans had the Jazz all of five years. The Lakers in Minneapolis, who had a more vast history, is more linked to that city than Jazz to New Orleans. The fact is, unlike with a handful of other franchises who've moved, all the success of the franchise happened in Utah - the playoff runs, division titles, conference titles, the first 50 win season and 60 win season. Beyond Pistol Pete Maravich, the New Orleans Jazz is barely a footnote in NBA history.

The Baltimore Colts were an iconic franchise with 1 Super Bowl, three NFL Championships - and of course, Johnny Unitas, one of the greatest players in NFL history.

There just is no history linked to New Orleans significant enough to give 'em back the name. Plus, hornets are not bees, they're wasps.

[Marvland]

Originally Posted by RonnyRAGE

I still wish the Jazz would have taken the New Orleans Hornets offer and traded names. I believe the offer was for $20 Million and some 1st Round picks.

I know we have been the Jazz for a long time but Utah Hornets(Hornetzz) fits the Beehive state.

Off with his head! This is how this rolls: the ONLY trade with New Orleans has them getting the Jazz name back straight across for the friggin SAINTS. Utah Saints. If you want to be all "correct" with names, that's the goddam deal. No other.

[linguisize]

Originally Posted by RonnyRAGE

I still wish the Jazz would have taken the New Orleans Hornets offer and traded names. I believe the offer was for $20 Million and some 1st Round picks.

I know we have been the Jazz for a long time but Utah Hornets(Hornetzz) fits the Beehive state.

Ah hell no! Hornets are the worst. Beehives have nothing to do with those assholes. They just look a little similar.
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I hate Hornets.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by RonnyRAGE

I still wish the Jazz would have taken the New Orleans Hornets offer and traded names. I believe the offer was for $20 Million and some 1st Round picks.

I know we have been the Jazz for a long time but Utah Hornets(Hornetzz) fits the Beehive state.

I always thought we ought to give New Orleans the Jazz, and Los Angeles should give us the Lakers. They could be the Stars, which would go with the L.A. Galaxy.

[Comrade]

The Utah Stars were originally the LA Stars before they relocated to Salt Lake. So...

Changing the subject, I've been looking at old homicide numbers for Salt Lake and it's really remarkable how bad things were in the city during the early 90s. You've also got to consider the city was much smaller than today but the city had a lot more murders. Crime was pretty bad in the city. It's what I remember most about growing up in SLC in the 90s.

Some homicide numbers:

1990: 25
1991: 14
1992: 13
1993: 22
1994: 24
1995: 28
1996: 23
1997: 21
1998: 19
1999: 12

1995's 28 homicides was the most the city has ever experienced. From that point on, the city saw an overall decline in homicides. In 2004, the city had 14. 16 in 2007 (Trolley Square's shooting is included in this) and 13 in 2008.

So far this year, if I'm reading the stats right, SLC has had 8 homicides - up two from this time last year. Still below the level we saw in the 90s, though - but still 4 homicides above the 5 YTD total average.

What does this all mean? In the 90s, Salt Lake was a mess - as was a lot of inner-cities at this point in time. Gangs were dominating the city's crime statistics and, homicides per 100,000 people, probably rivaled most every major city - if not exceeding many of them.

To put those 1995 numbers into perspective, Salt Lake's murder rate per 100,000 people that year (based on the 1990 Census population of 160,076) was 17.4 murders per 100,000 people.

Crime was so bad, in 1995, SLC was the 23rd most dangerous city in the US.

Crazy to think what the city was and where it is. It's still well above the national average in terms of crime, but it's gotten a grip on what was looking like an uncontainable homicide spike.

Just thought I'd share...don't mind me.

[ajiuO]

I'm really glad that they decided to renovate the Delta Center (yes me and most people I know still call it that) and not rebuild in another location. Having the arena right next to the salt palace offers some unique convention opertunities, as I discovered at Comic Con over the weekend. They were able to have the largest comic con panel ever because of it. They did it on a Thursday morning too. They would have filled every seat had it have been on Saturday.

With the attendance number that SLCC gets... they need to start taking it to movie/tv Studios and try to get some exclusive announcements and stuff... You get a nice hotel in the mix and we will start to look a lot more attractive then San Diago... VSA is a huge plus and we just have a way more enthusiastic built in fan base.

[TonyAnderson]

Originally Posted by Comrade

The Utah Stars were originally the LA Stars before they relocated to Salt Lake. So...

Changing the subject, I've been looking at old homicide numbers for Salt Lake and it's really remarkable how bad things were in the city during the early 90s. You've also got to consider the city was much smaller than today but the city had a lot more murders. Crime was pretty bad in the city. It's what I remember most about growing up in SLC in the 90s.

Some homicide numbers:

1990: 25
1991: 14
1992: 13
1993: 22
1994: 24
1995: 28
1996: 23
1997: 21
1998: 19
1999: 12

1995's 28 homicides was the most the city has ever experienced. From that point on, the city saw an overall decline in homicides. In 2004, the city had 14. 16 in 2007 (Trolley Square's shooting is included in this) and 13 in 2008.

So far this year, if I'm reading the stats right, SLC has had 8 homicides - up two from this time last year. Still below the level we saw in the 90s, though - but still 4 homicides above the 5 YTD total average.

What does this all mean? In the 90s, Salt Lake was a mess - as was a lot of inner-cities at this point in time. Gangs were dominating the city's crime statistics and, homicides per 100,000 people, probably rivaled most every major city - if not exceeding many of them.

To put those 1995 numbers into perspective, Salt Lake's murder rate per 100,000 people that year (based on the 1990 Census population of 160,076) was 17.4 murders per 100,000 people.

Crime was so bad, in 1995, SLC was the 23rd most dangerous city in the US.

Crazy to think what the city was and where it is. It's still well above the national average in terms of crime, but it's gotten a grip on what was looking like an uncontainable homicide spike.

Just thought I'd share...don't mind me.

Almost every U.S city peaked in homicides in the early 90s and have seen sharp declines since (though most are up this year for some reason). There's still a staggering amount of them though. I read this year Utah as a state is around 10th in homicide rate. Not bad, but honestly a bit higher than I would have thought. The western U.S in general is pretty violent.

[delts145]

I assume you mean 10th lowest, not 10th highest. Yeah, not bad. I imagine States such as Nevada and New Mexico are much higher.

Hmm...I'm reading here now, since my curiosity was peaked, that Utah fairs pretty well as far as what's considered overall violent crime. This is from USA TODAY. While the article is from 2015, their latest stats are coming from 2013. So, if anyone has something more recent, great. Also, overall violent crime is considering more than just homicide. Homicide alone lists Utah as 14th lowest per 100,000.

10 Safest States: USA TODAY

10....Montana
9......Minnesota
8......UTAH
7......Idaho
6......New Hampshire
5......Kentucky
4......Wyoming
3......Virginia
2......Maine
1......Vermont


10 most dangerous States

10.....Arkansas
9.......Florida
8.......Maryland
7.......Deleware
6.......South Carolina
5.......Louisiana
4.......Tennessee
3.......Nevada
2.......New Mexico
1.......Alaska

.

[asies1981]

A look at adaptive reuse downtown.

[delts145]

Cool, the adaptive reuse on the Mark Miller dealership is a big improvement. I wish they would do an adaptive reuse (tongue & cheek) on the entire block of Ken Garff's downtown dealership.

[Comrade]

State crime statistics are pretty irrelevant and really don't mean much, especially to people who live in high-crime areas of the state.

This is why city statistics carry more weight, since it allows for a bigger, more detailed picture of areas most impacted by crime.

Earlier this year, the FBI released its most violent crime cities in each state. Salt Lake City was listed for Utah with a violent crime rate of 38.2 and 28th nationally. Since Pueblo, Colorado, is listed, and not Denver, at 26th, I can only assume SLC's violent crime rate is higher than Denver's. Tucson was listed for Arizona at 31st, so, again, I can assume it's higher than Phoenix (and Tucson) - and it continues for Seattle (Tacoma for Washington, at 29th), Louisville, KY, Portland (Eugene, at 40th), Boise (42nd) - but still better than a lot of other cities.

http://fox2now.com/2016/02/09/fbi-ranks-st-louis-top-us-city-for-violent-crime-in-2015/

Even so, at the city level, Utah doesn't fair as well. What's interesting to me is that SLC continues to be plagued by higher violent crime than the national average. It's something that has followed the city, really, since the 1970s, and I can't explain it. It's not because we have a high minority population (Denver is much more diverse and lower) or a homeless population (Seattle and Portland beat us there) and it isn't because we're some rundown, down on our luck rust belt city, either...yet here we are.

It's very unusual. On paper, Salt Lake should be a lot like Portland and Seattle and even Denver. But it's worse, or was through much of 2015, than those cities - plus Phoenix...and closer to New Orleans in terms of violent crime than Louisville, which is considered much safer.

I guess it's possible that some of it is due to the city's small borders. I know it's listed as per 100,000 residents, but much of Salt Lake is urban compared to huge stretches of other cities that encompass a great deal of suburbia. Louisville consolidated with its county about 15 years ago or so, which means the city is now spread throughout wealthier, less crime-filled suburbs.

My guess is that's probably it. Denver is its own city and county, too, so, I'm sure there's a lot of affluent suburbs within the city that skews the overall results.

I can't find county statistics but I'd wager they're better than SLC's statistics on its own.

Still...interesting how perception is not always reality. I'd wager the perception of Salt Lake beyond our borders is that of a boring, small religious town with no crime, a homogeneous population and clean streets.

I don't think that's true at all.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by delts145

Cool, the adaptive reuse on the Mark Miller dealership is a big improvement. I wish they would do an adaptive reuse (tongue & cheek) on the entire block of Ken Garff's downtown dealership.

I wouldn't miss the downtown dealerships if they were demoed, lol

[Comrade]

Me either. SLC seems to have a higher total of car dealerships in their core than other cities.

It sucks.

[ThePusherMan]

Hey all just tuning back in. I've been out of town. Seems like Comrade and ajiuO pretty much fought it out on the homeless thing. Don't want to beat a dead horse but I will say, that I live downtown and have for a long time. Although it sounds like ajiuO lives on the west side and has grown tired/angry of the homeless population. I can relate to that. My last apartment literally always had people camping out on the park strip. I have been frustrated with our homeless population but to say that it is worse here than it is other cities is simply not true. I will stand by my statement that our homeless population is very polite and kind. At no point or place in Salt Lake City do I feel unsafe and that is not true for any other city that I have been to. Looting is a crime of opportunity not a violent crime. The fact that our homeless population is for the most part non violent speaks volumes. I do think that the city is trying to address the problem and spread out the homeless services so that there isn't such a high concentration in one area but things take time and clearly we need to be thoughtful of where those services end up. It is more important for shelters to be accessible to the homeless than for them to be out of sight. An empty shelter does no good. As much as I feel badly for the Gateway being collateral damage I think that the shelter where it is is a great spot because of its proximity to Grey Hound and Amtrak.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by TonyAnderson

Almost every U.S city peaked in homicides in the early 90s and have seen sharp declines since

I blame video games.

Instead of going outside and getting some wholesome exercise (by murdering real people in person), these lazy young men just stay inside on the couch and play Grand Theft Auto.

(kidding, obviously)

Originally Posted by Comrade

Me either. SLC seems to have a higher total of car dealerships in their core than other cities.

It sucks.

If SLC were to jack up sales taxes they'd slowly chase the car dealerships out of the city. But then they'd have to raise taxes on residents, so it may not be worth the trade-off.

[Future Mayor]

Genius idea in my state of sickness. An Asphalt Tax, commercial/retail business are charged a tax per square foot of asphalt.

[asies1981]

Update on the Hardware Village project. It looks like they are building the residential portion first.

[i-215]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

Genius idea in my state of sickness. An Asphalt Tax, commercial/retail business are charged a tax per square foot of asphalt.

Welcome to Bob's Car Garden --- where every car in our inventory sits atop well-watered Kentucky Bluegrass.

[Gastroc]

Two new homeless shelters? Not so fast, says SLC Council

http://www.sltrib.com/news/4325538-155/two-new-homeless-shelters-not-so

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski's site-selection commission and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams' Collective Impact initiative had settled on a plan for two new shelters that would house 250 to 300 people each.

A majority of the council now says facilities of that size would overwhelm a neighborhood. Some council members say a shelter should be no larger than 100 beds.