Salt Lake City residents are evenly split on whether the Road Home and other homeless service providers should be moved away from the Pioneer Park area.
Our latest UtahPolicy.com survey finds 49% favor moving those resources for the homeless population away from the downtown area while 45% are opposed. 7% say they're undecided.
Those numbers are similar to an April UtahPolicy.com survey that found 38% of Utah residents oppose moving the homeless shelter from downtown Salt Lake City while 36% were in favor. 25% were undecided.
That April poll showed most Utahns (58%) would oppose bringing a social service provider to their neighborhood.
Those who live in the Northwest quadrant of the downtown area, closest to the Road Home shelter, favor moving the Road Home by a 58-40% margin. People who live in the southwest part of the city slightly oppose relocation 47-45%. Those in the southeast part of the city oppose moving the shelter 50-42%, and people living northeast of those geographical boundaries are opposed 49-44%.
Last month, Salt Lake City unveiled a redevelopment plan for the Rio Grande area of downtown. One hurdle to that plan according to developers is the continued presence of homeless service providers in the area.
The Pioneer Park Coalition, a group of businesses and community organizations hoping to revitalize the Rio Grande area has been mired in some controversy after two homeless service providers, including the Road Home, pulled out of the organization. Some say the group wants to move the homeless out of the area. However, leaders of the coalition say they want to build permanent affordable housing for the homeless on the city's west side.
The survey was conducted by Dan Jones and Associates from April 9-15, 2015. 366 registered voters in Salt Lake City were contacted via telephone and online means. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5.12%.
