Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 5

[meman]

Speaking of new aparatment buuildings, does anyone know why Moda Luxe has stalled out?
It seems like no activity has happened at the site for a couple of months???

[meman]

I just got through watching a you tube video taken all over downtown Portland taken in February.

I have a new appreciation of downtown Salt Lake after seeing this video.

Downtown POrtland is almost completely boarded up, the streets are deserted
and there were homeless camps and people lying all over the sidewalks all over downtown. It is a completely filthy place and I was absolutely horrified watching this video. I had no idea things were that bad in Portland.

I know we have homeless camps and homeless people in downtown Salt Lake but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is in Portland.

I hope to God downtown Salt Lake never looks like Portlands downtown looks like now!!!

[Boz]

Originally Posted by meman

I just got through watching a you tube video taken all over downtown Portland taken in February.

I have a new appreciation of downtown Salt Lake after seeing this video.

Downtown POrtland is almost completely boarded up, the streets are deserted
and there were homeless camps and people lying all over the sidewalks all over downtown. It is a completely filthy place and I was absolutely horrified watching this video. I had no idea things were that bad in Portland.

I know we have homeless camps and homeless people in downtown Salt Lake but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is in Portland.

I hope to God downtown Salt Lake never looks like Portlands downtown looks like now!!!

Get woke, go broke.

The people running Portland into the ground need to pull their heads out.

[Ironweed]

Originally Posted by meman

Speaking of new aparatment buuildings, does anyone know why Moda Luxe has stalled out?
It seems like no activity has happened at the site for a couple of months???

Great question!

Was wondering if Makid, UTPlanner, or the omnipotent Viperlord could shed some light on this.

There are other lots that have been leveled in town that have not seen any construction either, which were to be developed. (I assume it is covid related)

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by meman

I just got through watching a you tube video taken all over downtown Portland taken in February.

I have a new appreciation of downtown Salt Lake after seeing this video.

Downtown POrtland is almost completely boarded up, the streets are deserted
and there were homeless camps and people lying all over the sidewalks all over downtown. It is a completely filthy place and I was absolutely horrified watching this video. I had no idea things were that bad in Portland.

I know we have homeless camps and homeless people in downtown Salt Lake but it is nowhere near as bad here as it is in Portland.

I hope to God downtown Salt Lake never looks like Portlands downtown looks like now!!!

!!!!

I don't know, man. This is from March and there's more people out and about than I've seen in downtown Salt Lake City this year.

• Video Link

Definitely not completely boarded up and deserted. Certain areas, for sure, but a bulk of the downtown?

Plus, those homeless camps are looking very similar to the ones that sprung up around the library here in Salt Lake:



But whatever.

[Orlando]

Ya, I was just in Portland in March and ya, it's quieter than normal, and still areas boarded up, but not as drastic as described.

[Orlando]

Originally Posted by meman

Speaking of new aparatment buuildings, does anyone know why Moda Luxe has stalled out?
It seems like no activity has happened at the site for a couple of months???

I just posted an update last week or so. It is fenced off and demolition is complete. I saw a backhoe or truck on there and a couple guys on there. It looked like they were getting ready for excavation.

[freeshavocado]

I was in Portland a couple weeks ago. It definitely has a worse homeless problem overall--homeless camps lined the freeways, and Old Town was not a place you wanted to be walking around. The stores and malls in the pioneer courthouse area were boarded up, and that area was pretty quiet, but I wonder if it was in preparation for protests because of a very recent incident reported in national news.

At the same time, the neighborhoods just northwest of downtown were lively and fun. People were out walking and eating and drinking. There were unique shops and restaurants everywhere. It had a real feeling of density and vibrancy. I was impressed by the new apartment and condo buildings--beautiful materials and designs. I hope areas of SLC can get there someday.

[bob rulz]

I have a friend who just got engaged and they went to Portland to visit just last week. They had a great time and while I can't say what areas of Portland they were in, it looked plenty lively and vibrant.

[VelvetElvis]

Portland, on occasion, is literally on fire. But it doesn't need to be continuously burning to indicate trouble. Those boarded up storefronts mean commerce has been disrupted. I live an easy bike ride from downtown Olympia and Washington's capitol city has seen many long-time businesses close or leave during the last year. Who do you think cleans and cares for the public spaces in front of those businesses? Well, no one does now. Nearly every cultural center has been shuttered for a year. The truth -without hyperbole- should sufficiently tell the story. Quality of life in the core has deteriorated significantly. Whether one is in certain physical danger when venturing downtown is debatable, but it's not unlikely you will encounter verbal abuse. I've had female friends (not easily intimidated professionals) step into a bank out of fear or cross the road to offer relief in numbers to another individual getting screamed at by someone not of sound mind. This during the light of day. There is substantially less commercial and cultural activity downtown. But societal ill (for which all share responsibility) is ever more present. I have hope that downtown will, someday, bounce back, but it will only happen because new folks jump in to replace the longtime contributors who have left. I was in SLC for spring break. It's been spared much of the degradation seen in some PNW downtowns.

[Old&New]

Originally Posted by Blah_Amazing

Not really. The Salt Lake City–Provo–Orem Combined Statistical Area in 2014 was 2,423,912 (prob around 2.6 million today). That still makes the entirety of Salt Lake with everything around it in the surrounding 10 counties HALF as populous as Phoenix's aprox. 5 million inhabitants.

It makes logical sense to include Ogden, Pine View, Morgan, Park City, Heber Valley, Tooele Valley, Eagle Mountain Valley, and all of Utah Valley (South to Santaquin) in Salt Lake City's MSA area. I think Brigham City/Logan, Nephi, Evanston, and the Tree of Utah are outside the MSA, but pretty much everything between them should be considered Salt Lake City's MSA.

[rockies]

SLC just needs a more vibrant downtown and nightlife scene and I think it could easily be a much cooler city than Portland. There's a very real, unique counter-culture here because of the church and the population is so young. Not to mention the insane skiing/hiking here. Hopefully we can achieve that without all the issues that plague the bigger West coast cities.

Might be a stretch but I always think SLC/Denver are very similar to Portland/Seattle.

[taboubak]

Originally Posted by rockies

SLC just needs a more vibrant downtown and nightlife scene and I think it could easily be a much cooler city than Portland. There's a very real, unique counter-culture here because of the church and the population is so young. Not to mention the insane skiing/hiking here. Hopefully we can achieve that without all the issues that plague the bigger West coast cities.

Might be a stretch but I always think SLC/Denver are very similar to Portland/Seattle.

Until many of the stringent laws about liquor consumption are lifted, SLC will always be a bit behind in that regard. These laws make us lag far behind pretty much all large Western cities, even Boise has a far more vibrant and lively nightlife than SLC. I think we can get there eventually, but ironically those who preach for the "free market" are strangling the industry. It is a shame too because the potential SLC has is enormous, it has become a year round tourist destination.

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by taboubak

Until many of the stringent laws about liquor consumption are lifted, SLC will always be a bit behind in that regard. These laws make us lag far behind pretty much all large Western cities, even Boise has a far more vibrant and lively nightlife than SLC. I think we can get there eventually, but ironically those who preach for the "free market" are strangling the industry. It is a shame too because the potential SLC has is enormous, it has become a year round tourist destination.

Honestly if the state just raised the limit of how many bars were allowed we’d get by just fine. Hit Main Street on a Saturday night. There is a really healthy scene in our city despite our limitations.

[Atlas]

I was just reading a story the other day about how there is a huge demand for bar licenses and the state is only giving out one this month, and that they're saving it for an "under served" area in Southern Utah.

Pretty ridiculous situation all around, in my opinion.

Edit: here's the article.

Which leads us neatly onto the thunder dome like event (as Ben Winslow always so wryly puts it) that is the monthly contest for available bar licenses. If you’re keeping score, going into the April DABC meeting only one such bar license was available in the state of Utah; the forfeiture of The Fifth’s meant two were up for grabs at the meeting.

Why Kiki (SLC) were the only successful applicant in securing a full license for their downtown SLC bar, upgrading their Summer seasonal from last month – the business in turn surrendering their existing seasonal and restaurant licenses.

With numerous rural Utah bars looking close to opening (see below) commissioners opted to hold over the other full license to May’s meeting – preferring to hopefully award the precious license to an underserved area such as Moab or St. George. With all that in mind Bewilder Brewing Company (SLC) settled on a Summer seasonal license for the time being allowing them to start operating as a full bar until as late as October 2021.

Businesses waiting in the wings for a possible future license include:

• The Spoke (Moab – projected opening June 2021)
• Hive 435 Taphouse (St. George – projected opening June 2021)
• Garage Grill (Herriman – projected opening September 2021)
• Fife Brewing Company (SLC – projected opening April 2022)
• Edison House (SLC – projected opening March 2022)

Beyond the one license held over to the May meeting, no other licenses are expected to become available until August – September based on population increases. It’s gonna be a dry, dry Summer.

Those last two bullets are actually updates on projects in SLC. I've been wondering about Fife Brewing, which is a Lotus venture that I think is going to be on 700 S between Main and State (Midtown's first brewery!). Also, has Edison House even broken ground yet? March 2022 seems optimistic there.

[taboubak]

Originally Posted by ThePusherMan

Honestly if the state just raised the limit of how many bars were allowed we’d get by just fine. Hit Main Street on a Saturday night. There is a really healthy scene in our city despite our limitations.

Ya it isn't bad, it's just not where a city our size should be. The number of bars allowed is obviously the most detrimental of the laws to the vibrancy. However, the smaller, more expensive drinks due to lack of free pour, very early last call, and dumb restaurnt/bar liscencing rule also play an important part in reducing the vibrancy. If these were removed and say Main Street was permantely closed to cars and lined with bars, SLC would have a pretty awesome scene im sure.

[Atlas]

Group seeking to preserve historic Salt Lake City theaters sues city over ballot initiative

[allh]

I've passed by Edison House's location and it doesn't even look like it has broke ground yet. But it's opening Spring 2022?

[Always Sunny in SLC]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Group seeking to preserve historic Salt Lake City theaters sues city over ballot initiative

These guys are complaining of a non democratic process, but in reality this has ground through years of democratic processes and this small group is deciding they should be able to at the last minute stop elected officials from doing their job. It is apparent there is no popular support for preservation or more accurately rebuilding this theater at the cost necessary. These people are stopping a democratic process because of their personal preference. Enough with subverting the will of the people and their elected representatives.

[Makid]

Just came on to post that it looks like ground work is continuing for Moda Luxe.