Ever since the completion of the transcontinental railroad the Salt Lake Valley has been divided into two sides, east and west. Redlining in the 1930s and the completion of I-15 in the 1960s further solidified this barrier. West Salt Lake communities house most of the city’s minority populations and people of color and experience an average yearly wage gap of $25,000.
Along with the current disparities and inequity experienced on different sides of the well-traveled freeway, we are starting to witness a new gentrification of these lower income neighborhoods due to the growing housing prices in Salt Lake City. Many upper middle-class families can no longer afford their affluent eastern homes and are moving to the west side, subsequently increasing housing prices and forcing many lower income families out of their homes and communities.
This is a subject of utmost concern as we watch our city grow and change. Housing displacement can have a variety of negative impacts on individuals and families and can forever shape our community. There is a greater need in Salt Lake for more low-income housing in accessible and affluent locations.
The structure seen in many cities all over the United States of poor vs. rich neighborhoods is deeply problematic and we can use this housing crisis as an opportunity to change that instead of further exacerbating it.
In 2022 Salt Lake City received a federal grant of $3.7 million to heal the city’s east-west divide.
What was done, where did that money go?
Heather Mitchell, Salt Lake City
