Kajsa Vlasic: Personal Blog No. 1

Whenever I travel to a new city, I always find myself wandering into a local coffee shop to get a sense of the community and the people who inhabit it while enjoying a cup o' joe. I have lived in Salt Lake City for the majority of my life, but I still find it interesting to explore our community through our variety of cafes. I oftentimes find myself studying in a cozy corner late at night and on the weekends, bunkered down with my textbooks and an Americano or a mug of green tea. Over time I have come to notice the differences in people who make their way through these coffee shops and how cafes are an incredible way to learn m

ore about the different neighborhoods of Salt Lake, or any city for that matter.

Local coffee shops are inviting meeting points in communities. They offer a neutral setting for people to gather and catch up, read the morning paper, or stop by on the way to work.

By watching people who enter coffee shops it is easy to get a sense of the part of the city where it is located. Downtown coffee shops tend to get business workers running in at lunch time, Sugarhouse cafes tend to gather younger people (college students, young adults and young

families), and cafes like Two

Creek in the Avenues are hits among neighborhood residents.

Coffee shops also tend to reflect the neighborhoods where they are located and the kinds of events that take place in these areas. Cafe Marmalade, located just below the Salt Lake Pride Center, brings in local young bands, has Poetry Slams and is open to the LGBTQ community of Salt Lake. Cafe Nostalgia, located on 100 South and 300 East, is a quiet downtown cafe that allows for easy studying and working for both students and working adults. Cafe Mestizo in Rose Park is part coffee shop/part art gallery and hosts Chicano art exhibits in this culturally diverse part of town.

My favorite cafe is the Salt Lake Roasting Company, located on 400 South just off of the Trax line. The two-story building offers a quiet upstairs to hide out in and watch traffic on the busy street below. Because of its central location (a block away from the Main Library) and easy access from the University of Utah, the SL Roasting Co. receives a high amount of traffic from college students and people who work downtown. The upstairs is relatively quiet and is where most people work on their laptops

for hours. Downstairs is a bit more active and loud with people catching up and spending time getting to know each other. The building is permeated with the aroma of roasting coffee and the quiet background music creates a very peaceful atmosphere.

My neighborhood cafe, the Coffee Garden, is located at 9th & 9th. The Coffee Garden is a very easy-going place but is quite a bit more lively than the SL Roasting Co. Its location in the 9th & 9th neighborhood makes it a very accessible and family-friendly spot. I find it harder to study there, but it is a wonderful place to catch up with friends.

Coffee shops are charming places that serve as a great way to view communities and the people who inhabit them.