Senior citizen Peggy Hostetter moved from Seattle to an apartment in downtown Salt Lake City’s west side eight years ago, just as crime began to worsen at The Gateway shopping center and surrounding Rio Grande neighborhood.
Her dreams for retired life in Utah's capital gave way to routine fears for her personal safety. "It almost immediately started to change my world," said Hostetter, now 81.
She began noticing store after store abandon the mall and saw litter, human waste and discarded needles accumulate on the sidewalks along 500 West. The adjacent Road Home homeless shelter was overflowing, she and others recalled, and Hostetter had the police on speed dial for when she witnessed drug deals from her apartment window.