Meanwhile, Utah State Tax Commission figures show that the mean adjusted gross incomes for residents in the two ZIP codes that make up most of the downtown, Central City and People's Freeway neighborhoods climbed by more than $10,000 from 1995 to 2005.

With the exception of a decline from 1999 to 2003 following an economic bump coinciding with the Olympics, downtown incomes have steadily risen from year to year. And advocates for low-income residents wonder whether the future downtown will include places for poor people to live.

In 2005, the RDA closed down the Salt Lake Blue because upkeep had become too costly and the building was deteriorating to unsafe levels. Even some of the residents doubt whether the other two downtown SRO hotels should stay open.

"Tear it down," said Greg Young, 50, who has lived at the Regis off and on since 1983. "It's just too expensive to fix it up."

Young does maintenance work at the Regis to help him pay his rent, and he said the building is full of old wiring that wouldn't stand up to code if it hadn't been grandfathered in. Much of the plumbing needs work, and if one resident turns on too many fans in the heat of summer, the whole building's power goes out.

Young's is one of the nicer rooms in the Regis. While most residents of the SROs have to share common bathrooms with their neighbors, Young's room has its own small bathroom. His windows are large and look over State Street.

Kicking back with a cold beer and dressed for bed on a recent afternoon — he works at night and sleeps in the day — Young acknowledges that "it's tight" to try to find affordable housing in the city, especially downtown, which is a must for many residents who need easy access to transit so they can get to work, doctor's appointments, the Veterans Administration and other services.

"People will find something. For some people, it will be hard," he said. But he added, "This is prime real estate here. Knock it down. Put something nice in here."

A community

The people who live at the Regis and Cambridge come from a variety of backgrounds and live there for a number of reasons.

Some are working their way out of homelessness. Others are patients of Valley Mental Health or have various emotional or physical problems. There are veterans of wars, seasonal or temporary workers, elderly people on Social Security, undocumented immigrants and erstwhile criminals.

Sargent has lived in Utah since 1971, and a good chunk of that time has been at the Regis. But at other times, he has lived in more traditional apartments and has twice owned his own home.