Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 4

[Future Mayor]

I don't have a problem with the Road Home staying where it is. It's the family shelter and it isn't the cause of the problem in the Pioneer Park Neighborhood. The people that stay at the road home are families that ran into some hard times and are truly trying to get back on their feet. These aren't the drug mules, drug addicts, thieves and hookers that make the area a horrible disgusting mess.

[asies1981]

Post on the demo for AC Marriott and Milagro Apartments.

[asies1981]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

I don't have a problem with the Road Home staying where it is. It's the family shelter and it isn't the cause of the problem in the Pioneer Park Neighborhood. The people that stay at the road home are families that ran into some hard times and are truly trying to get back on their feet. These aren't the drug mules, drug addicts, thieves and hookers that make the area a horrible disgusting mess.

The plan is to make the Road Home obsolete with the new shelters.

[Stenar]

Originally Posted by asies1981

The plan is to make the Road Home obsolete with the new shelters.

Does The Road Home know that? Someone from their organization was quoted recently saying their shelter wasn't going anywhere/would stay open.

UPDATE:
New homeless shelters or not, The Road Home is not going away, director says
By CHRISTOPHER SMART | The Salt Lake Tribune connect
First Published Sep 21 2016 06:15PM

A plan to build two new homeless shelters and a detox facility will not eliminate the need for the Road Home shelter on Rio Grande Street.

As the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor Jackie Biskupski grapple with a proposal for two new 250-bed shelters that will incorporate on-site services, the number of homeless people seeking emergency shelter continues to climb, said Matt Minkevitch, executive director for The Road Home.

Minkevitch said that statements by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams that downtown's Rio Grande Street shelter would not be necessary under the new plan are unrealistic, counterproductive and may cut into The Road Home's fundraising capabilities.

www.sltrib.com

[linguisize]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Does The Road Home know that? Someone from their organization was quoted recently saying their shelter wasn't going anywhere/would stay open.



Minkevitch said that statements by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams that downtown's Rio Grande Street shelter would not be necessary under the new plan are unrealistic, counterproductive and may cut into The Road Home's fundraising capabilities.

www.sltrib.com

Is there a reason why it would have to go? It seems the whole reason for this new push is dispersement; the road home itself isn't to blame for 5th west being so terrible right now, it's the fact that the Road home is practically the only option available. I see no reason why we wouldn't want some paired down version of the road home to still exist where it currently is.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by Marvland

Heh. Nothing worse than Laker fans that live in Utah. Although I'm sure SL,UT is a fine upstanding person other than his documented Jazz problems.

There is nothing -- nothing -- worse than people from your home city being fans of your home city's most hated rivals. It's bandwagoning on the most popular teams at its most excruciating and IMO frankly disgusting. If your team hasn't been good enough to deserve your attention *cough* Sixers *cough*, then -- just don't follow that sport. How have the Utes been doing, anyway?

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Stenar

Does The Road Home know that? Someone from their organization was quoted recently saying their shelter wasn't going anywhere/would stay open.

UPDATE:
New homeless shelters or not, The Road Home is not going away, director says
By CHRISTOPHER SMART | The Salt Lake Tribune connect
First Published Sep 21 2016 06:15PM

A plan to build two new homeless shelters and a detox facility will not eliminate the need for the Road Home shelter on Rio Grande Street.

As the Salt Lake City Council and Mayor Jackie Biskupski grapple with a proposal for two new 250-bed shelters that will incorporate on-site services, the number of homeless people seeking emergency shelter continues to climb, said Matt Minkevitch, executive director for The Road Home.

Minkevitch said that statements by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams that downtown's Rio Grande Street shelter would not be necessary under the new plan are unrealistic, counterproductive and may cut into The Road Home's fundraising capabilities.

www.sltrib.com

Then why is the city lying to us, telling us that it's a replacement, that it's going to be moved... Is it so that they won't get any flack about raising taxes or what? There is a lot of investment going on in the area especially with the Gateway mall.. I think there's going to be a lot of unhappy people if the shelters are not moved out of the area...

If I were the owner of gateway I would just get a coalition of business owners and residents in the area to sue the homeless shelters out of existence.. regardless of who is staying in the homeless shelters they are creating a situation outside of the homeless shelters which is dropping the value of the property and making the neighborhood unsafe. Regardless of whether or not the lawsuits could be won the homeless shelters would be unlikely to be able to afford litigation... They could be offered a way out which would obviously be relocating.

There is also a lot that the city could do. I would like to see them do a lot of landscaping to the islands on fourth and fifth W. They could change them from grass to shrubbery... Just make it a situation that it's impossible for people to congregate like they currently do... They could literally make it so that there is no space to set up camps... Then they just need to make sure that the sidewalks are thin enough that they can kick people off of them for blocking the sidewalks...

I personally wouldn't have a problem getting together a class-action lawsuit to sue the city for making promises and then not delivering after using those empty promises to appropriate funds... that's complete BS.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by linguisize

Is there a reason why it would have to go? It seems the whole reason for this new push is dispersement; the road home itself isn't to blame for 5th west being so terrible right now, it's the fact that the Road home is practically the only option available. I see no reason why we wouldn't want some paired down version of the road home to still exist where it currently is.

If the road home thinks that the hundreds and hundreds of people moving into the area with their $1200+ apartments are going to tolerate what the road home allows to take place on Rio Grande St. and fifth W. for too much longer.... then they've got another thing coming.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

If the road home thinks that the hundreds and hundreds of people moving into the area with their $1200+ apartments are going to tolerate what the road home allows to take place on Rio Grande St. and fifth W. for too much longer.... then they've got another thing coming.

ONCE AGAIN, THE ROAD HOME IS NOT THE CREATOR OF PROBLEMS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. It is the men's shelter and other unaddressed problems in Pioneer Park and 500 W, that spills over from the men's shelter, that creates the problems. The Road Home is a family shelter.

Once again you are generalizing regarding a use or a style of building. I believe it was you that generalized about all motels on N. Temple, on both sides of I-15 are only used for prostitution, discussion, remember that? Except that they aren't because the one at 144 W is owned by the LDS Church and is used to house missionaries.

The Road Home, if the only shelter in the neighborhood, will not be a detriment to the overall neighborhood and the property values.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

ONCE AGAIN, THE ROAD HOME IS NOT THE CREATOR OF PROBLEMS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. It is the men's shelter and other unaddressed problems in Pioneer Park and 500 W, that spills over from the men's shelter, that creates the problems. The Road Home is a family shelter.

Once again you are generalizing regarding a use or a style of building. I believe it was you that generalized about all motels on N. Temple, on both sides of I-15 are only used for prostitution, discussion, remember that? Except that they aren't because the one at 144 W is owned by the LDS Church and is used to house missionaries.

The Road Home, if the only shelter in the neighborhood, will not be a detriment to the overall neighborhood and the property values.

Most of the motels on North Temple are used for drugs and prostitution... the one that you are pointing out is probably the only one that's not... I see prostitutes and druggies hanging around most of the other ones all the time.

Also it's interesting that the road home is a "family shelter" because I walked by it like 5 minutes ago and most of the people hanging around outside of it don't look like families... besides the 5+ cops walking around... it looked like a lot of single people, gang bangers, and a lot of people who look drunk & strung out on drugs... I'm sure they only House families... but there must be a reason all those other people are hanging out on the buildings and around the buildings property... I don't think pioneer park has much to do with it... there are parks everywhere and pioneer park isn't even that bad any more. If the road home is going to operate a shelter there then they need to take responsibility for the other problems it might bring.... I say fine... shut down the men's shelter and all the other places when the new ones open... but if the problem continues to circulate around the road home then it's time to lay some law down on them... I think they probably give out free food or something and that why peopl are hanging around all day... if the road home want to house families inside of there that is fine... but what ever they are doing to make all the other peopl hang around a their building needs to stop and they need to just start kicking them off the properties.... they can move the feeding facilities somewhere else that's going to be less of an issue for people.

[bob rulz]

It's very troubling how many people in here seem to think that simply keeping the homeless people out of sight is the solution to the problem. If we disperse the shelters around the city, that should certainly help alleviate the issues of everybody congregating in one area, and should help the homeless by providing better service and help available over a wider area. That does NOT mean that The Road Home needs to go anywhere, nor should it.

[ajiuO]

Looks like they are doing work on gateway... they are goin from beige stucco to gray stucco... the escalators are also being rebuilt... looks like they changing the entrance to the building along 200 s. It doesn't appease like they are making any major cosmetic changes... I guess we will have to wait and see.... they post bad yelp reviews for gateway on the construction baracades... that's kind of funny I suppose.

[ajiuO]

Eeeh... the paint job they are doing at gateway is actually making it look worse.... they are painting everything gray and white... they are just painting white over all the brick... it's made it look even lower quality... on the east side of gateway they painted a large section white and it's already stained with pidgin poop... this is a really horrible effort to make the mall look better... now it's even less colorful, more bland, and more ghetto... I hope they are just priming it or somthing.... I thought 30 mil would get them more then an ugly paint job... valley fair mall was a really impressive turnaround... it's to bad we aren't getting somthing like that.

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

Eeeh... the paint job they are doing at gateway is actually making it look worse.... they are painting everything gray and white... they are just painting white over all the brick... it's made it look even lower quality... on the east side of gateway they painted a large section white and it's already stained with pidgin poop... this is a really horrible effort to make the mall look better... now it's even less colorful, more bland, and more ghetto... I hope they are just priming it or somthing.... I thought 30 mil would get them more then an ugly paint job... valley fair mall was a really impressive turnaround... it's to bad we aren't getting somthing like that.

They are going to spend a good amount of money on art in the mall. They had a RFP out for a bunch of different projects. Mostly murals and such. Hopefully we will get some cool stuff.

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by bob rulz

It's very troubling how many people in here seem to think that simply keeping the homeless people out of sight is the solution to the problem. If we disperse the shelters around the city, that should certainly help alleviate the issues of everybody congregating in one area, and should help the homeless by providing better service and help available over a wider area. That does NOT mean that The Road Home needs to go anywhere, nor should it.

That's because it is. Our problem is the devaluation of property, crime, and feeling uncomfortable to walk down the street in our own neighborhood as the results of that. The solution is ultimately to eliminate what is causing us the problem... And since homlessness is not a solvable problem at this point in time the only solution is to move it (Keeping it out of sight) and to spread it out so that its not concentrated in to one community, causing that one community to bare the full burden of the problem.

I'm perfectly happy for the city to offer assistance to those who WANT help and can be help... but unfortuanlty many of the people either can't be helped or simply don't want to be helped and are looking for free food and money to support their substance abuse problems... I could care less about those people because they choose to live like that.

But yes I am Concerned about helping people who can be and want to be helped... However that is a different problem. The Problem that I'm most concerned about when I discuss these issues is my community....

[ajiuO]

Originally Posted by ThePusherMan

They are going to spend a good amount of money on art in the mall. They had a RFP out for a bunch of different projects. Mostly murals and such. Hopefully we will get some cool stuff.

I hope so as well. Gateway has a little enough brick as it is.... I'm not sure what's up with painting brick and everythign else white. I cant stand painting brick unless its in really bad shape and needs a lot of patch work with non matching brick.

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Liberty Wellsian

As much as I would love to see the county take some responsibility, I believe all of these will be in SLC proper. That being said it appears that they are replacing 900 beds w/550. Perhaps there is a plan in the pipeline on a county level that I(we?) am unaware of.

There's actually a new Road Home in Midvale with 300 beds. It's a family shelter. It appears to be a much better experience for users than the Road Home downtown.

Unfortunately, I tend to agree that the Road Home downtown may need to be closed eventually. Crime in the area is chronic and may not go away even with the disbursement of homeless shelters. I'd imagine getting the homeless out of there will make it easier to police the area, and much easier to sort out the victims from the offenders.

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by ajiuO

That's because it is. Our problem is the devaluation of property, crime, and feeling uncomfortable to walk down the street in our own neighborhood as the results of that. The solution is ultimately to eliminate what is causing us the problem... And since homlessness is not a solvable problem at this point in time the only solution is to move it (Keeping it out of sight) and to spread it out so that its not concentrated in to one community, causing that one community to bare the full burden of the problem.

I'm perfectly happy for the city to offer assistance to those who WANT help and can be help... but unfortuanlty many of the people either can't be helped or simply don't want to be helped and are looking for free food and money to support their substance abuse problems... I could care less about those people because they choose to live like that.

But yes I am Concerned about helping people who can be and want to be helped... However that is a different problem. The Problem that I'm most concerned about when I discuss these issues is my community....

YOU MOVED INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH AN EXISTING SHELTER!

Sorry but your solution of moving them into another neighborhood isn't a solution. Sharing the burden is fair and that is happening.

[Future Mayor]

Originally Posted by airhero

There's actually a new Road Home in Midvale with 300 beds. It's a family shelter. It appears to be a much better experience for users than the Road Home downtown.

Unfortunately, I tend to agree that the Road Home downtown may need to be closed eventually. Crime in the area is chronic and may not go away even with the disbursement of homeless shelters. I'd imagine getting the homeless out of there will make it easier to police the area, and much easier to sort out the victims from the offenders.

You made my point, the Midvale Road Home is a much better experience, because it is a stand along shelter, it is not surrounded by other shelters. Once again, it is the men's shelter and the congregating of the homeless in the neighborhood that results in the crime problem. Removing the cancerous cells in the neighborhood (mens shelter) the non cancerous (Road Home) can function as it is intended to.

Just because you "Walked by" the Road Home and didn't see families doesn't mean it's not a family shelter. The majority of those that actually stay there work and the children attend school, so of course they are not going to just be hanging out outside of the building. The Road Home is a true transitional facility. If I recall correctly the average stay for a family at The Road Home is less than 3 weeks, they transition them into traditional housing, and 90% of those that had a stay at The Road Home don't return, because they have successfully transitioned to permanent housing. So you are more than happy to help those that fell on hard times and are trying to get back on their feet, yet you insist that the shelter that is successfully accomplishing that HAS TO GO!

[airhero]

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

You made my point, the Midvale Road Home is a much better experience, because it is a stand along shelter, it is not surrounded by other shelters. Once again, it is the men's shelter and the congregating of the homeless in the neighborhood that results in the crime problem. Removing the cancerous cells in the neighborhood (mens shelter) the non cancerous (Road Home) can function as it is intended to.

Just because you "Walked by" the Road Home and didn't see families doesn't mean it's not a family shelter. The majority of those that actually stay there work and the children attend school, so of course they are not going to just be hanging out outside of the building. The Road Home is a true transitional facility. If I recall correctly the average stay for a family at The Road Home is less than 3 weeks, they transition them into traditional housing, and 90% of those that had a stay at The Road Home don't return, because they have successfully transitioned to permanent housing. So you are more than happy to help those that fell on hard times and are trying to get back on their feet, yet you insist that the shelter that is successfully accomplishing that HAS TO GO!

I never said the Road Home downtown isn't a family shelter and in fact I have seen families in the area plenty of times. Or at least mothers with their children. I'm not saying the Road Home has to go. I'm saying it may be easier to sort out the crime problem if the homeless services are moved elsewhere. Not to mention, Road Home users are frequently victims, direct or indirect, of crime that happens in the area. I've read many comments from mothers that their children saw things they wish they never had to see in their lifetimes.