Low-INcome families are getting priced out of SLC

March 27, 2021

Story by Roberto Elguera

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — It’s about an hour before bedtime at the Balderrama residence. On top of the roof are three tents spelling out, “Tents are the new affordable housing.” 

The Kozo House Apartments is one of many developments going up on the Westside of Salt Lake City. If you take a stroll around the Rose Park and Fair Park neighborhoods, you’ll notice that the west side is rapidly changing. Entire blocks are being bought up to build new luxury apartments; causing families to rapidly find a new home or face the risk of displacement. 

 Tina has been a tenant on the 200 N 600 W block for six years and currently watches over her nephew, four grandkids and her brother who is currently displaced. On April 19, a notice was sent out to Tina and the remaining six families on the block to vacate the home by March 31 to make way for the construction of the Kozo House Apartments.

What you can’t take away from Tina, is her resilience and love for her family. In 2008, she tragically lost her husband, Julio Villa Balderrama due to gun violence. A sketch of Julio is displayed on the front window. With this new trial in her life, Tina reflects on the memories she’s had in the home. 

 “I nursed my father through heart disease. I nursed my mother through liver disease. And it was a very hard job. It’s a 24-hour job; seven-days-a-week and you do not get to give up. And I gave them the honor of dying in the home where they were comfortable. Not in a hospital,” Tina exclaims.

 Inside the home, Tina’s grandkids are busy running around, playing video games, and in between, watching Disney movies. All this madness to cram in that last hour of playtime before calling it quits. One of the grandkids remarks, “boys are gross,” followed by laughter from guests, Pacheco and Qiru. 

Pacheco and Qiru are members of the Rose Park Brown Berets. An activist group that has been speaking against gentrification on the west side. Their message is cut and clear, “gentrification is violence.” 

Tina shows us the amount of neglect on the property. The floor in the kitchen is sinking and the bathroom walls show signs of mold. 

 The basement is encased with spider-webs and more mold has grown underneath the floor due to leaks in the pipes and unprofessional installation. The most disturbing thing of all is the signs of squatting. Packs of cigarettes are lying around and there appear to be messages from previous inhabitants. 

Raccoons have been caught on the premises and there was a squirrel nest in the attic due to a hole on the side of the house. Even after the squirrels were cleared out, a proper repair was never done to prevent it from happening again. Lastly, there are bullet holes through the windows from when Tina first moved in. Nobody, let alone a family of seven, deserves to live under these conditions. 

As far as what renters can do when faced with an unfit property, they are able to file a notice to the landlord under the Utah Fair Premises Act. But that doesn’t mean the problem will be fixed all the time. Regarding the act, Attorney Russell Cline says, “What the law says, generally speaking, is that if the tenant gives a three-day notice, the landlord has the choice of either fixing the problem or terminating the lease.” The problem is if renters are willing to take that risk of filing a notice or being met with the stress of finding a new affordable home as quickly as possible.

 So why are developers rampant in buying the land on the west side? Frankly, because it’s cheaper to buy right now. In Salt Lake City, the median home price is about $480,000. While in Fairpark, it costs about $350,000 — a 16%  jump from last year.  In regards to the rapid change in the housing market, Salt Lake City Councilman Andrew Johnston says, “It’s one thing if you go up at 5 percent per year, but at Poplar Grove, we’ve been over 10 percent.” I mean, I couldn’t buy my house here a few years ago,” Johnston chuckles. 

 As far as where Utah families can go when facing the risk of displacement, there are some options. Recently, the state has opened The Emergency Rental Assistance program, where if eligible, renters can receive help with current and past rent, security deposits, utilities, as well as three months of rent covered under a termed lease. If families urgently need assistance, they are recommended to reach out to the Road Home’s Rapid Rehousing Program for Families.

 Unfortunately, for these families, the longer they wait for these remedies, the moving options get thinner. “There’s really no place for us last seven families to go. We have all tried to relocate and the waiting lists on all the low income is just too much,” Tina says.

 When faced with these pressures Tina finds solace in writing. Below is an excerpt from her open letter titled, Your Money Ends Here.

 So, I ask, where is this affordable housing? Is it over the rainbow? Is it in a different state? Because I don’t see any of it in Salt Lake City and this is truly the reason why each day you will see more and more tents going up all over this city. Tents are truly the new affordable housing for low-income families such as myself. You can get them in any color, and you can even afford one for each child in your home. 

Rose Park’s not for sale 

Names in this article have been shortened and or modified to protect anonymity. 

January 6, 2021

Story by Roberto Elguera

ROSE PARK — It was a gray chilly afternoon on December 19, 2020, as residents and supporters alike gathered together in front of the broken grounds of C.W.’s Ellie apartments to speak out against gentrification in their community. Neighborhood kids laughed, ran around, and handed out hot chocolate. A sweet picture in contrast to the bitter situation. 

The future site for The Ellie apartments on 353 N. 700 W. in Salt Lake City, was once an open field that lived next door to the Country Oaks apartments. But now it is nothing more than piles of concrete and dirt. 

The event was organized by the Rose Park Brown Berets — a community activist group that’s dedicated to spreading awareness and speaking against injustice through community events, artwork, and the use of social media. The speakers of this event consisted of young adults who call Rose Park their home. Each one took turns speaking through a megaphone. Notably, the megaphone had a sticker of  Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal.

Beto, a speaker at the event, shared how disappointed he was with how the city dealt or rather avoided the voices of the people.

“We went to City Council, they told us to go to Planning Commission, we went to Planning Commission they told us to go to City Council. We went to the CEO of CW Urban and he said to talk to your politicians to change the laws. So everywhere that we go they’re basically telling us we can’t do anything about it,” Beto says. 

One of the speakers, Abdi, believes Rose Park’s needs are being overlooked. 

Growing up, Abdi spent most of his youth after school at the Spence Eccles Boys and Girls Club. “It definitely kept me out of trouble and I see that y’know. I see a lot of kids just going to stay out of trouble because they need that,” Abdi says. Today Abdi is a Paraprofessional specializing in physical education. You can still catch Abdi at Spence Eccles, but instead of hanging out, he’s now there as a mentor. Using his skills; he helps the current youth to stay active and healthy.

In response to the Ellie development, he says, “This whole field could’ve been used for something for these kids right here but they want to build their so-called affordable apartments without talking with the people on what they want.”

The current situation in Rose Park mirrors a prior event in Centerville. 

On July 13, 2020, citizens of Centerville protested outside of the C.W. Land offices in light of the proposed sale of the Centerville Mobile Home Estates for the construction of new townhomes.

With the sale now closed, the residents of the Centerville Mobile Home Estates were forced to move by Jan. 4, 2021. Some residents have recently moved in and renovated their homes. Other residents don’t know where to go due to the rising prices of rent. And some leaving behind their homes they’ve been living in for more than 25 years. Due to the costs of relocating a mobile home being more than $15,000 a lot of residents will need to leave their homes behind and start brand new. To add insult to injury C.W. only provided $2,000 to the former residents. 

Centerville Mobile Home Estates was once a community for people from different walks of life to come together, but now it is being replaced by another idea of what a community should look like. What will it take for C.W. to reach out to people and ask them what they need in the community before they build? Or for them to make housing that is both modern and affordable for low-income wages? 

On CW Urban’s website, they state, “We’re a boutique design, build and development firm on a mission to create micro-communities that enhance, strengthen and contribute to the greater fabric of existing communities. Every C.W. Urban property is carefully planned to encourage neighborhood exploration and discovery while creating opportunities for new friendships — we call it building community within communities.” 

It’s hard to see where the line blurs between adding to communities or simply taking away. But one thing’s for sure, the citizens of Rose Park are continuing to speak up on what the neighborhood needs. 

At the conclusion of the meeting, a banner was hung on the fence of the construction site that reads, “Barrio Si! Gentrification No!” 

Shortly after, everyone got ready for the caravan. Flyers were handed out to post on each car with messages like, “Stop The Ellie,” and “Stop Hood Colonization.” And others being more explicit like, “Fuck CW Urban.”

With the sky clearing up and the sun appearing from the clouds, the caravan made its way heading west on North Temple. The caravan stuck to the right lane with the youth in front leading the chants. Chants of “our hood’s not for sale,” and “stop gentrification,”  rang through the streets as the caravan made its way to Cornell Street, 1000 W. Learned Ave, and 1230-1298 200 S.

Drivers passing by honked in rhythmic approval while raising their fists in the air; with some drivers stopping completely to know more. Before heading back to the construction site, the caravan made its last showcase with a flurry of honks and fists raised ever so high, as in to say, “we will not stop fighting.”

To learn more about the Rose Park Brown Berets you may follow them on their Instagram. 

All in all, this event spread awareness to the people of Salt Lake City about a situation that many may not know is happening. 

I’ve sent an email to C.W. with questions about the current situation. I have yet to receive a response.