A majority of Salt Lake City residents believe that the closure of the downtown Road Home shelter later this year and the opening of three smaller resource centers in its place will help address homelessness, according to a new poll.
Some 41% of the 444 residents who were surveyed last week said they expect the move will “probably” improve homelessness, while 14% thought it “definitely” would, according to The Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll. About 34% of residents overall believe the new centers likely won’t improve the situation.
The results suggest that while respondents support the shift to a dispersed service model, they recognize it won’t end homelessness in the city, said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.