Center Street Refuge

I put down the homework and dragged my husband out of the cadaver lab to check out the last Provo Rooftop concert on Friday, featuring Kaskade. Downtown Provo was particularly packed that night - full of events that varied from a WWE style fighting ring outside of the Provo courthouse, to food trucks of every kind parked all along center street. Mid-night, we went off in search of a bathroom and found a calm place amid all of the craziness that accompanied a wild concert in the middle of Center Street. Provo Town Square has a little entrance right between Comedy Sports and Rewind, and this place really shows the new and old of Provo - the classic city of hundreds of LDS students, and the new "Keep Provo Peculiar" of today, a trendy up-and-coming college town. Although I spend some time Downtown and have discovered many spots throughout my time here that I love, I've never been inside the "Provo Town Square." I thought that it would be larger and boast more events, but it's simply a calm grassy area where you may find me doing homework someday. I saw and discovered creative statues, a "kissing point," a map of every neighborhood in the city, paintings of Provo, and old and new buildings pieced together to create Provo today. I really discovered and noticed how Provo is changing, not only through the people, but the actual bricks and buildings. It's interesting to see this all happening, see a new generation take hold of the events and social media for the city. As each "hipster" shop opens and new event boasts big names like Kaskade, the city transforms. I now follow the City of Provo on instagram, attend Provo events often, and try desperately to keep up with all the creative stores and restaurants moving in every week. But whether it's the little spot my husband and I make our weekly "temple date" with the best papusas for $2 each, or "Rooftop" concerts that moved from a parking garage to a street crammed with thousands of people, I love everything that this city has to offer and will continue to try and see Provo with new eyes - trying to pay attention to all the little things.

A New Look

I have always thought of Provo as a very tidy, clean and safe place to be. However, walking around the Center Street area in Provo opened my eyes to reality. I was shocked at how run-down a lot of areas were and yet I still found it humorous that amongst all of the trash and dirt, there were still things that you could say you could "only find in Provo." 

First, I found a wall with "Graffiti" on it. This graffiti is not the usual kind you would imagine with spray paint, big block letters and declaring a gang's territory. Instead, this Provo graffiti is used with children's sidewalk chalk, in notebook handwriting and used to declare the deepness of a friendship. Although any type of graffiti makes an area look more trashy, the content of the material is very Provo-esque. 

In front of the graffiti were about 10 trash cans filled to the brim. As I mentioned earlier, I have always thought of Provo as a tidy place, but walking these streets really made it look run-down and not well taken care of. 

Continuing on, I found the back of a building where all of the windows were barred up and the bricks very dirty and old. As I looked further, I found a sign on the back door that said, "Pharmacy: Deliverers through garage only." The whole building gave me a sketchy feeling and then the fact that drugs were being delivered to it, made me wonder about the integrity of the area. Do they have barred windows because they have been broken into before and college aged students got high on their drugs? These aren't things I typically think about when I think of Happy Valley. I think of a good little Mormon area, but every area has its problems. 

I passed many homes on side streets that had their front yards filled with trash and storage items heaped into piles. The feeling of disorganization made the homes look more run-down. One home I passed in particular had torn up screens on the windows. It made me wonder about the area once again. I can assume that it is a bad neighborhood and their home had been broken into or it could be that the home is so run down that the screens tore on their own. Either way, it is not the nice and tidy Provo I had a perspective of once before. 

Finally, I found a fire hydrant with a garbage bag duct taped around it, as well as a curious red wire hanging out of the packaging. I'm not particularly sure if this is legal. To my understanding, fire hydrants need to be available at all times for fire trucks - this is why we cannot park in front of them. It may have been done by a construction worker or it could have been a prank. But the duct tape made it look unprofessional and adds to the trashy feeling of the entire area. 

As an overview, I had always thought of Provo as an innocent Mormon area that was well kept. However, walking the Center Street area changed my perspective and made me realize that there may be some sketchy areas of Provo where things are very run-down and not everyone acts with integrity.

Colors of Downtown Provo

I live in downtown Provo. I'm on Center Street two or three times a week and other parts of downtown daily. But, it's a lot more colorful than you'd think. 

Something I wasn't as aware of was the emerging counterculture which includes the Gay Pride nights at City Limits (a local bar) and this red sticker appearing on more cars throughout Utah Valley, which I saw stuck to a bumper, parked on Sunday afternoon. 

In addition to the counterculture is a prominence of Latin American influence, which includes not only restaurants in Downtown, but a budding social atmosphere as well. These ads below direct interested Latinos to entertainment in Salt Lake City, but one annual Latin American festival took place just blocks away, during the evenings preceding this photoshoot. 

Walking down to the next corner, I noticed a Night Depository box, which makes me think the building there used to be a bank. It's now an attorney's office, but I didn't investigate as to whether this box is still in use. (I was fascinated by the faint, cyan hue in the metal and brought that out in post). 

Just West of City Limits is this hard to miss book store, Pioneer Book. My day never short of irony, I hadn't really paid attention to what this was when I've passed it in my car. Unfortunately,  I wasn't able to go in, as it happens to be closed on Sunday (surprise), but I never really noticed the colors before. (I did a little doctoring in each of these photos to bring out the vibrance and you might notice a subtle vignette: this image especially captures what I felt when I noticed the building. I hope to discover more of what' inside, soon.)

Finally, as I was headed home, I noticed a little burger joint I'd only heard of in Provo: Tommy's Burger. Apparently, it's an old-fashioned burger and malt shop akin to the celebrated In N' Out fast food chain, also started in California. I was surprised to find this little "vintage" gem hanging on the fence in the rear of the lot. (It's quite a bit more faded in person).  

What this assignment also led to was the discovery of Coca-Cola's dominance in Downtown Provo. What I realized is even if it's a can or bottle sitting in a trash can, you can't help but notice Coke is everywhere. (The 30 or so shots I got there have snowballed into an even bigger side project.)

A New Side to Downtown Provo

I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but while walking through downtown Provo, my inner snob immediately broke out. Everything outside of Center Street seemed to be dirty and rundown and I was quickly turned off by the whole area. I was determined to capture cool shots but was frustrated by the lack of unique, hipster, exciting places to capture. And yet, the more time I spent looking around, the more intrigued and impressed I became with the area. Yes, the general area was definitely far from manicured lawns and brand new cars, however, the people clearly put in effort into making what they had work. Someone had clearly taken quite a bit of time and effort to build a makeshift stand out of cinder blocks and old metal shelves in order to keep their A/C unit running and keep his interior cool and pleasant. Meanwhile, someone else who did not have a stand to put their mailbox instead carefully balanced it on the ledge so he could still receive mail. A blank white wall was not abandoned and left to be covered in graffiti, but instead hand painted to add creativity and color to an otherwise dull space. Though there was trash upon trash nearly blanketing center street, the township tried to beautify the space with benches and trees. Even a man who had his entire store front covered in construction in order to update and upgrade the outward appeal was also putting in the effort to blow away all the garbage from his store before the clean up crews could get there. Overall, I learned a lot about the people that live in downtown Provo. They may not be rich, but they care and they will go to all lengths to appear and function the best they can. This was a surprisingly humbling experience.

Seeing Downtown Provo Like Never Before

Having never walked the streets of downtown Provo before, I discovered many new things about the city I now call home. Something that genuinely surprised me was the amount of businesses that have permanently “closed-up shop.” I took a picture of a googly-eyed newspaper that watched me as I looked into one of the abandoned shop doors that had been covered with tabloids. A nearby colorful butcher shop or “Carnicería” reminded me of my mission to Argentina and suggested a significant Latino culture here in Provo. Later, as we walked past the Provo City Temple, we saw a Latin-American festival which confirmed this observation. In addition to the different cultures, I learned that downtown Provo is home to a myriad of churches other than the LDS faith. An uplifting quote by Martin Luther King Jr. outside the Community Congregational Church was worth snapping a photo of. In a more sketchy part of town, I noticed some boards with the painted words “Provo Police” next to a brick building that I thought were interesting. They suggested to me that police enforcement in that area was more prevalent, which made me steer away from the shadows and walk more quickly away. However, my favorite part of my downtown Provo tour was a sign labeled “Kissing Point” that gave me an excuse to make my wife blush. Downtown Provo is a fascinating place and there are lots of new things to discover for the person who is willing to stop and pay attention.

Perception: New Discoveries in Downtown Provo

I live very close to Center Street and walk up and down the street pretty often, so this was a very eye-opening assignment for me! The first thing I noticed as I walked was this terrible, terrible bush that I've probably passed a million times and never paid attention to but OW look at those thorns! You would never guess that it was covered in thorns because it's not a rose bush and it doesn't look very threatening unless you get really, really close to it or happen to bump into it and feel the sting. Ouch. I also walked past a little table looking thing on University Ave that I had never really paid any attention to before. My husband thought it was a fire pit and I thought it looked like one of those high, cocktail tables from far away. We crossed the street and realized it was actually just a trash can and a place to put cigarettes out...we had just never taken the time to see what it really was! A frustrating discovery was this UPS drop-off located right smack dab on 100 N and University Ave. So all of those times I googled a post office nearby or drove to the WILK to mail my mission letters and packages, there was one right here on the corner of the street...pretty crazy. Another funny discovery was this indoor fountain...As I was casually strolling down the street and examining the different buildings and looking inside, I was super shocked when I looked inside one and saw this massive fountain...right in the middle of the office! Kind of a crazy addition to the room. Lastly, my favorite discovery was these trees. In front of Central Bank, there are probably six of these trees on the sidewalk in front of the building that really give the it a pop of color. Up until today, I totally thought they were real. Then, as I got closer and closer, I realized they're not: the trees are totally plastic. I never would have known if I didn't take the time to get closer and really examine them! Those sneaky bankers...

Downtown Provo

The first and most important thing I discovered about downtown Provo is the restaurant Brassas (or Brasas, depending on which sign you looked at). Though it's nothing more than a glorified taco stand, Brasas is probably the best Mexican food you can get around BYU. I don't live nearby, so I don't spend a lot of time downtown--apparently a lot of people know about the place, though. Then I discovered that there is a Christian church called The Rock that meets every Sunday. I used to go to a church called Rock Harbor so I might have to check that one out! The next thing I discovered was that the grounds to the new Provo temple are closed. That's a bummer. Then by asking an employee who was walking out, I discovered what Nu Skin does. They sell personal care products. I had no idea. Finally, I discovered this really cool pixelated mural of Albert Einstein on the side of a building.