Ballpark Neighborhood Mapping by David Cosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9 en-us 2023-10-03 04:03:49 UTC 2023-10-03 04:55:59 UTC hello@padlet.com My Experience davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729604729 Ballpark in an interesting blend of apartment complexes sprinkled in with large department stores, a few parks, hotels and motels, and a handful of smaller businesses. This neighborhood is admittedly less well-kept compared to many others in Salt Lake City. Despite hundreds of households existing in this neighborhood via apartments, the general vibe I got from this place is that the area was only designed to allow people to quickly get in, buy their groceries, and get out.

Squeezed in-between two major roads like I-15 and State st, and featuring a line of train routes that allow one to get in or out of the area without having to wait more than five minutes for a ride, it's clear that this area was strategically zoned for shopping. As a result, the expectations for this area as a neighborhood are very low and it's become one of the more "trashy" parts of town.

Fixing up a neighborhood like this isn't easy, but it's definitely doable. I'm no social psychologist, but I believe that as a city begins raising its standards for an area by improving the policing for minor crimes and investing in landscaping, repaving streets, and regular trash-pickup, they can drastically change the atmosphere and expectations for an area. Doing so would also raise property values all around, so in my eyes it would actually be worth it.]]> 2023-10-03 04:04:30 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729604729 The Broken Window Effect davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729606561 You can see the Broken Window Effect very clearly here.
Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one un-repaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing. (It has always been fun.)
- The Atlantic Monthly, March 1982 Issue

And so similarly, in an area that gives the impression that nobody cares about things looking dumpy, places that are run by people who do care see their properties get trashed by the people passing through. This fast food restaurant has done a great job trimming their flower bushes, keeping them healthy, and overall balancing out their landscaping, yet the area still gets quickly strewn with trash.
]]> 2023-10-03 04:07:22 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729606561 Abandoned Buildings davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729608699 Right on the corner of a decently major intersection, and close enough to other significant POIs that it's safe to say the building isn't tucked away where nobody will see it, is a super run-down abandoned building. Looks right out of a post-apocalyptic video game, and 50% of people walking to Walmart will stroll right past it.

Not the only building like this in the area; they seem to be well sprinkled in.]]> 2023-10-03 04:10:29 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729608699 Broken Glass and unkept landscaping davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729609279 2023-10-03 04:11:14 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729609279 Lots of discarded junk all over the place davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729609559 Lots of trash all over the place. I noticed several hotspots where collectively people seem to agree is a designated okay-to-dump-stuff-here spot.

Side note: getting on this train I was started by the train's loudspeaker repeating over and over again "sir, DO NOT bring that shopping cart on my train." I looked behind me and sure enough a man was trying to push a shopping cart full of random stuff into the train from off the platform. He took a few things out from the cart, and then left the rest on the platform. I find it fun to imagine that this shopping cart and the junk surrounding could have a similar backstory.]]> 2023-10-03 04:11:38 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729609559 Foreboding scenery less than 500ft away from an apartment complex davjcosby https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729612285 No trespassing warnings, security cameras, barbed-wire fences, and gnarly asphalt make this place seem like somewhere you'd want to walk a little faster past. I have no problem with businesses valuing security, but this place is right next to some housing that's trying very hard to look friendly, so the two contrast quite a bit.]]> 2023-10-03 04:15:45 UTC https://padlet.com/davjcosby/d53nkunm8er4eks9/wish/2729612285