Downtown is no longer just a place to catch a Utah Jazz game, see your favorite play or make questionable decisions at Twilite Lounge.
- Instead, people are increasingly choosing to call it home.
By the numbers: Downtown’sresidential population rose by 9% between 2024 and 2025, according to a new Downtown Alliance report.
Why it matters: Downtown is projected to attract $10 billion in investment over the next decade, driven by the 2034 Winter Games, a new sports and entertainment district, a renovated convention center and other projects, per the report.
- It describes the coming years as the neighborhood’s “most consequential” decade in more than 100 years.
The big picture: Even more striking, Downtown Alliance executive director Dee Brewer said, is that downtown’s residential population grew 63% between 2019 and 2025, reflecting the neighborhood’s post-pandemic shift.
- Meanwhile, downtown has 32% fewer workers than it did in 2019.
What they’re saying: “For decades, downtown was a vertical office park. Bringing residents downtown is changing it into a neighborhood,” Brewer told Axios.
The intrigue: More than half of downtown residents are under 30 and have at least a bachelor’s degree, according to the report.
- The vast majority commute less than 10 miles from home to work.
- They’re more likely to be single and not own a car compared with other Wasatch Front residents.
By the numbers: Consumers spent $2.1 billion on downtown shopping, dining, entertainment and accommodations last year, up 6.1% from 2024, per the analysis…