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SLC neighborhood guide: central and south Salt Lake
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Home of the Salt Lake Bees at 1300 South and West Temple
This is the final installment in a seven-part series highlighting Salt Lake City neighborhoods. Today we will examine the Central and South Salt Lake portions of the city. Please don’t confuse my terminology with the City of South Salt Lake – we are only reviewing Salt Lake City proper up to its southern boundary.
This series is design to help people get to know Salt Lake City a little better and learn which neighborhoods are right for them. Here’s the outline of where we’ve been and where we’re going with respect to this series:
1. Sugar House
2. The Avenues
3.Downtown SLC
4. Emigration / Foothill / Bonneville
5. Federal Heights and the University of Utah
6. Rose Park
7. Central and South Salt Lake – today
The lay of the land
This last neighborhood should arguably be split in two. But seven neighborhood guides sounds better than eight doesn’t it? This last neighborhood includes everything west of 700 East and south of 500 South (on the East side of I-15) and south of I-80 (on the West side of I-15). It’s a huge area, and accounts for the entire southwest corner of Salt Lake City. But the city only goes to 2100 South in this area, so it’s not as big as you might think. South Salt Lake, West Valley City, and Magna hedge this area.
Housing
This neighborhood has a few distinct housing areas. There is Glendale, which is west of I-15, and then there is Central Salt Lake on the East side of I-15. The homes in these areas are usually older homes with much more affordable prices than most of the other neighborhoods in the city. As referenced yesterday in the Rose Park edition, the affordability of these homes does come with a few caveats as detailed in this story from the Salt Lake Tribune. As the story notes, however, the neighborhood has been coming together in recent years and been making strides in increasing overall safety in the neighborhood.
To check housing prices you can check the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service and look at the 84101, 84119, and 84115 zip codes. Portions of 84105, 84106, and 84120 are also located in this neighborhood.
Commercial
This neighborhood’s big commercial area is in the region of 21st South and 300 West. While it doesn’t come together as a cohesive element, this “Big Box Mart” type area does have a lot of quality stores for residents. Costco, Ashley Furniture Warehouse, Office Depot, and a lot of other big boxes dot the area.
State Street also runs through this area from north to south providing a number of unique retail stores, including a bunch of the city’s finest tattoo parlors. It may not be Pottery Barn, but it’s surely interesting.
In addition, a lot of commercial activity is in the 1300 South area between I-15 and State Street. This area features the ballpark (1300 South and West Temple, home of the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees) as well as one of the strangest Wal-Mart locations you have ever seen. The Wal-Mart has two story structured parking with a front door that faces in under the parking garage. Weird! But you do what you have to in order to get in the right area. This Wal-Mart serves much of central Salt Lake.
On the west side of the area, Redwood Road also has a number of unique retail locations along it. The further west you go in the area you tend to see more specialty shops catering to specific ethnic groups in the area. Asian stores become common, including my favorite type of food – Pho the Vietnamese noodle soup. Delicious.
It should also be noted that a huge portion of the west side of this area is a commercial area with a lot of industrial warehouse space. Vast portions of this neighborhood west of I-15 are taken up with enormous tilt-up buildings and are interspersed with small subdivisions here and there.
Schools
There is a three-fold school issue in this neighborhood. The kids east of I-15 go to Highland High School. West of I-15 goes to East High School. The third, and more realistic option, is for many of the kids on the west side of I-15 to try to go to Granger or Hunter High Schools in Granite School District. These schools are much closer, and although they are in West Valley City to the south, probably represent the neighborhood better in terms of the socio-economic and ethnic groups in the neighborhood. As always check Salt Lake City School District’s web site for more information.
Transit
Currently Utah’s north south TRAX line runs through the area just east of I-15 at about 200 West. There are stops at 21st South and 1300 South in the area. Frontrunner will be passing through the area as it gets built in the next few years, but unfortunately it will just be passing straight through the area! Frontrunner will stop downtown and then again at 5300 South in Murray before heading further south. So residents in this neighborhood will continue to rely on TRAX and the UTA bus system for their transit needs.
As far as buses go, this neighborhood is well served. UTA provides service along California, Redwood Road, 900 West, State Street, 500 E, and 700 East. Check out the UTA system map here for more info.
Cultural
As with Rose Park, this neighborhood is very diverse with large populations of a number of ethnic groups. The Tribune article cited above shows that this neighborhood can have rough elements at times with significant amounts of gang activity. That notwithstanding, there are a number of charming subdivisions in the area that feature unique places to raise children.
Religious
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has multiple congregations and services at all of the following locations: 1250 West 1400 South, 1301 South 1200 West, 934 West Fremont Avenue, 1172 Glendale Drive, 1455 South 1700 West, 1883 South West Temple, 1750 West 1500 South, 784 West 700 South (Deseret Dairy), 751 West 700 South (Welfare Square), 1401 West 700 South, 1665 Bennett Road, 1535 Edison Street, 1999 West 1700 South
• Baptist – Calvary Baptist located at 1090 South State Street
• Baptist – First Vietnamese Baptist Church located at 1235 California Avenue
• Jehovah’s Witnesses located at 1606 South 1000 West
• Oasis a Vineyard Church located at 1945 South Redwood Road
• The Rock Church located at 195 West 2100 South
• Foursquare Church located at 1068 Jefferson Street
Favorites
Calvary Baptist Church (1090 South State Street) is a treasure in central Salt Lake, just a stone’s throw from downtown. The Church has been led for the past 35 years by Pastor France Davis, who is a giant in the local community. Pastor Davis has done a lot for his church and the local community. As one simple example, Pastor Davis has been teaching a class on African American Experiences at the University of Utah for several years. I took this class back in 2002 and it was truly eye-opening to learn at the feet of a man who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. As part of the class we attended a service at Pastor Davis’ church, and it was a great experience. Calvary Baptist’s congregation is largely African American, and as such the church serves as much more than a place of worship. It is also a center of the African American Community in Salt Lake City as well as a repository for African-American culture. Obviously people of all backgrounds are welcome to come and take part in the worship services.
International Peace Gardens , located at 1060 South 900 West, has to be one of my favorites. The gardens were founded “as a citizenship project and as a lesson in peace and understanding between nations.” The garden itself was dedicated in 1952 and contains a separate area for several countries including Great Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Finland, Italy, Lebanon, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Scotland, china, the USA, India, Canada, Wales, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Korea, Russia, Ireland, Vietnam, France, Tonga, and an African area. The garden is host to many celebrations and events, my personal favorite being Norwegian Independence Day. On the Saturday in May that is nearest to May 17th (Norwegian Independence day) there is a celebration in the morning in the garden. It features music, food, entertainment, and speeches by some of Salt Lake’s most distinguished Norwegian-Americans. It’s great, and there are a number of these each year held by SLC residents who hail from these nations, just check the website for details!
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