Survey criticized for claiming Salt Lake City may become "like Detroit"
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A new building under construction on April 3, 2024 in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
A survey commissioned by a mystery client warned respondents last month that downtown Salt Lake City "could turn into Detroit" if the proposed downtown sports and entertainment district falls through.
State of play: Critics online called the survey question "hilarious fearmongering," accusing it of unfairly portraying the Midwest city with outdated stereotypes.
- "Downtown Salt Lake could turn into Detroit where companies stopped investing in the city — businesses leave, jobs disappear, poverty and homelessness run rampant and the city becomes an empty shell of itself."
- "How important, if at all, is this consideration to you and your opinion about the project?" a portion of the question reads.
Zoom in: The survey appears to have been conducted in collaboration with two market research firms: Y2 Analytics and Clear Insights, KSL.com first reported.
- A partner at Y2 Analytics told KSL.com the survey is associated with a message testing study for the unnamed client, with terse questions designed to measure their effectiveness "in each direction."
- Y2 Analytics did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
- Smith Entertainment Group and Salt Lake City, the parties that crafted the agreement for the proposed district, say they have no ties to the survey, per KSL.com.
Reality check: The question ignores the obvious fact that Detroit opened its own publicly financed downtown sports and entertainment arena in 2017.
- Little Caesars Arena, where the NBA's Detroit Pistons and NHL's Red Wings play, has helped spur the city's well-known post-bankruptcy economic growth.
What they're saying: Devon O'Reilly, of the Detroit Regional Chamber, tells Axios the survey is "the exact opposite" of what's happened in Detroit.
- Detroit's move to build Little Caesars Arena pre-COVID was a timely pivot for downtown toward more residential units and hotels, O'Reilly says, while other cities have since struggled with a glut of office vacancies.
- "That's a very 2014 diatribe," he says of the survey question.
By the numbers: Downtown developments currently under construction in Detroit represent more than $2.7 billion in investments, according to the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
- About 500 new residential units have been built downtown in the last year and another 272 are under construction.
The latest: The Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday approved the proposed stadium plan and a .5% sales tax increase to help pay for the project.
- SEG would receive up to $900 million in bonds to help pay for the district and to cover the stadium's renovations to accommodate the Utah Jazz and the new Utah Hockey Club if the plans ultimately stick.
- And the city would regain the funds through the tax hike over 30 years.