'The reality is that the Ballpark Neighborhood is a wonderful place to live, recreate and invest,' writes Bill Davis.
The Salt Lake Bees open their season at Smith’s Ballpark, May 6, 2021.A recent article in the Sept. 13 Salt Lake Tribune titled “” takes the negativity of this interesting and rapidly developing neighborhood to a new level.
For two or three years now, all we have heard is what a crime ridden s-hole this area has become. You would think it’s the murder capital of the Wasatch Front. Sure, it’s got problems — like most areas of this city or any city. I’m not advocating for the Salt Lake Bees to leave and the ballpark to be torn down. I’ve enjoyed walking to the games for years now. The reality is that if both things happened, this would not destroy the neighborhood. It isn’t “a little scary to think about” nor would it be a crushing blow to the neighborhood. This is nonsense. The reality is that it could be a huge opportunity for the area.As the article pointed out, the Bees play 75 games a season there.
Well, that didn’t really happen for a couple of reasons, among many. First, the city, which owns the stadium and the large empty surface parking lot to the north, didn’t own any other property surrounding it. So it couldn’t really force any development to happen.