Gentrification has affected almost every major metropolitan area in the nation, and Salt Lake City is no exception. In the face of a national housing crisis, locals have been hit especially hard with concerns regarding the availability of affordable housing options. And new developments in the area could potentially pose significant challenges to long term and incoming communities alike.
Resulting from a variety of unique social, economic and cultural factors, Salt Lake City finds itself especially predisposed to increased risk of gentrification. Being one of the fastest growing states in the country, recently named as having one of the country’s “hottest job markets” by the Wall Street Journal and still recovering from the resounding economic impacts of the pandemic, Utah’s housing is now what the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute identifies as “severely unaffordable.” That risk has resulted in displacement of local cultural and social pillars within the Salt Lake City community. As the conditions of highly desirable economic conditions collide with increasingly unaffordable housing options, that risk will only continue to increase if left insufficiently addressed by policies and interventions.
But people need housing, and when these efforts to provide it prioritize satisfying the profit potential of this basic need by luxury developers, where is there left to go? And when initiatives, such as those organized by the Salt Lake City Department of Community and Neighborhoods known as Thriving in Place, find that a staggering 95% of participants through the Salt Lake area had recognized some form of gentrification within their own community, it quickly becomes a question that warrants a reckoning.
I grew up in Los Angeles which has famously tussled with issues of housing availability for years (even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), and the effects of a similar struggle and their growing presence in Salt Lake seem clear. Gentrification and the harmful impacts of resulting displacement are not only seen through the physical relocation of a community member who must move, but additionally through the gap created by their absence.
Throughout my time growing up in Los Angeles, it was not unusual to hear of peers and friends having to relocate from our local community due to increasing housing prices. These price spikes often resulted from development geared towards increasing the number of available housing options in the area, or from the introduction of community assets meant to bolster economic performance. But when introduced with minimal consideration for the needs and context of the existing local community, this growth came at the expense of long-term members who were priced out and forced to move.
Losses of valuable social and cultural pillars due to gentrification highlight the damaging effects of displacement. Think of how you select housing yourself. You, most likely, choose somewhere that is located close to your daily functions, your friends, your family, a good school district for your kids and a short commute. To be priced out of your long-term living situation often means longer commute times, less time and proximity to local relationships and systems of support, and in turn the loss of valuable community members. Insufficient policies and initiatives intended to address housing availability have made this the reality for far too many Salt Lake City residents.
These losses are often representative of the shortcomings of the industry housing operates within. In its future policy developments and local pursuits addressing gentrification and resulting displacement, its mitigation and prevention, Salt Lake City must dedicate more care and consideration to how we measure what housing means.
Gentrification poses significant risks to both longtime residents grappling with growing fear of displacement, and consequently to the incoming community that is likely to face diminished social cohesion and cultural vibrancy. Despite arguments in favor of market-based pricing as a tool to encourage a greater diversity of backgrounds in neighborhoods, longtime residents and communities deserve protection from unaffordability so that they may flourish in the communities they currently exist within. It is clear that when longtime residents, who have often built the foundations of their livelihood supported by the intimacy of their surrounding locale, are unjustly priced out of their community the resulting loss for all stakeholders is astounding.
Gentrification affects us all. On both a national scale, and felt with even greater magnitude on the local, its mitigation and prevention is a call to action we must all recognize and prioritize for the security of basic needs and the preservation of our vital community social and cultural health. The Salt Lake City community as a whole has a responsibility to mindfully navigate the ways in which we support the increased availability of affordable housing through collaborative efforts through potential solution formulation.
Growth should not mean displacement. Long time residents of the Salt Lake City area deserve to grow with, and within, the communities they have worked to build. The Salt Lake community must embrace involving and investing in community collaboration to appropriately and thoroughly understand its unique local needs. And it is through listening to and working with these invaluable stakeholders, each other, that we may begin to build a stronger understanding of home, its unique place in our lives, and how we may better protect it for all.
(Photo courtesy of Alexandra Turner) Alexandra Turner
Alexandra Turner is an undergraduate senior attending the University of Utah studying economics, environmental studies and urban ecology.
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