The Pioneer Park Coalition formed as a nonprofit with a mission to make Pioneer Park a safe and inviting place for the community. The coalition recognized that improving the park couldn’t happen without first understanding and addressing systemic challenges the Rio Grande neighborhood had been experiencing for decades.
Homelessness
There were highs and lows and a couple things didn’t happen like we wanted it to, but this session was definitely a success in so many ways, both for the Coalition and for the community we are a part of. Every bill was successful in either codifying change, or starting an important conversation.
The Pioneer Park Coalition and Salt Lake City contributed $950,000 towards creating a multi-use lawn and installing event and pedestrian lighting. As the Great Lawn will open in Spring 2019, the Coalition is currently collaborating with the Downtown Community Council, Downtown Alliance, City employees, and other stakeholders on redesigning the rest of the park and a public-private partnership proposal.
Six months into Operation Rio Grande, aggregate crime in Salt Lake City decreased 25%, the lowest point for the city since 2013. Every SLC neighborhood examined in our analysis saw its aggregate crime rates diminish or continue falling after Operation Rio Grande, with one exception. In Liberty-Wells, crime rates roughly plateaued or had a slight upward trend—though still below the 2016 peak.