Salt Lakers still like to go downtown

While downtown Salt Lake City businesses have a smaller customer base due to COVID-19, a recent survey indicates that Utahns nonetheless retain strong interest in the arts, entertainment and dining experiences there.

The annual benchmark survey, conducted by the Downtown Alliance in partnership with Lighthouse Research, shows that the pandemic has reduced downtown visitation in key sectors such as workforce, entertainment and tourism, but interest in downtown arts and entertainment remains above average or at an all-time high. One in five respondents said they would consider living downtown, citing the proximity of downtown entertainment amenities and work.

The alliance described the current situation as a “pandemic pause.” Event and performance venues are inactive and business travel and leisure tourism are below 30 percent of the normal volume.

The traditional downtown customer base of workers, event patrons and business travelers is absent — just one-fourth of downtown office workers are working from their downtown offices — so businesses are turning to regional diners and shoppers. About 90 percent of downtown merchants are open for business and more than 140 restaurants and bars are offering dine-in and take-out services.

“Downtown retailers and restaurants have suffered disproportionately in the pandemic as office workers and visitors have stayed home and event venues have been closed,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. “These businesses have demonstrated creativity and grit in adapting to welcome customers safely.”

The survey showed that, on average, respondents visited downtown three times for dining, twice for shopping and entertainment, and once for religious activities during the past six months.

Looking forward, most respondents — 55 percent — expect to visit downtown at about the same frequency as in the past. Twenty-one percent said they expected to visit downtown more often in the next 12 months and 22 percent expect to visit less.

Among other survey results, the biggest motivators for visiting downtown are performances, concerts and special events, and Utahns also cited the appeal of downtown shopping and dining as reasons they come downtown; the biggest driver for those who would consider living downtown is the proximity to city amenities such as entertainment venues, bars and restaurants, and additional affordable housing would encourage more urban dwellers. While nearly one-fourth of respondents said that traffic was a deterrent to visiting downtown, that was down from 36 percent in 2019.

The survey results are available at https://www.dropbox.com/s/546d1v4b1uoxlm5/2020%20DTA%20Survey.pdf?dl=0.