I am a single woman who has recently moved to Utah and am living in an upscale apartment building that has an entrance on Main Street, Salt Lake City, right next to the City Creek mall. I have lived in apartment buildings in downtown Washington, D.C., and New York City previously and have never felt as unsafe as I do entering and leaving my apartment in City Creek Landing apartments.
On the sidewalk of my entrance on 66 S. Main Street, there is almost always a man sleeping or talking to himself, three or four feet away from me. Today, when walking back from a Sunday walk on Temple Square, a man was zipping up his pants on the sidewalk in front of my entrance door.
Despite the sympathy I feel for people who suffer from mental illness that contributes to homelessness, it seems like Salt Lake City also has a responsibility to keep areas frequently used by families and women, like the City Creek mall area and Main Street, safe.
Of all the areas of the city, the streets around City Creek mall seem like they should have the most policing and safeguarding considering the high numbers of people that visit daily and live there. Homelessness is clearly a complex and long-term problem for any city, but, in my experience, other cities have done a better job of safeguarding and keeping clean certain popular areas and being mindful, specifically, of the safety of women in downtown hotspots.
Jordan Smith
Salt Lake City