In a lengthy Salt Lake Tribune article on proposed commercial development around Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus, reporter Brian Maffly reports on similar urban revitalization efforts by Arizona State University in downtown Phoenix, Ohio State University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The full article can be read here, but one thing that stands out is the reporter’s description of the area surrounding downtown Phoenix:
…Still, downtown Phoenix remains an island surrounded by urban decay. The once-glamorous Westward Ho is now a senior center with a transmission tower clinging to its top floors. Blocks of abandoned real estate sprawl north of the new campus, filled with shuttered businesses and dilapidated apartments, fenced-off cinder-block compounds with names like The Edgewater. In the midst of this wasteland is a tiny bustling cafe, Matt’s Big Breakfast, where the sight of diners waiting on the sidewalk offers a glimpse of what could be in the downtown.
Downtown Voices Coalition 