Salt Lake City Living

Were it not for the quaintness of the architecture, the lazy trees that line the streets, the proximity to downtown Salt Lake City and the University of Utah, or the historic undertones that ooze from every crack in the sidewalk, the Avenues might be just another place to call one's home. But, the fact remains, the Avenues possess all this and more, which is why, in large part, property values in the area continue to rise like houses up the hillside.

Salt Lake City has many informal neighborhoods. The eastern portion of the city has higher property values than its western counterpart. This is a result of the railroad being built in the western half as well as scenic views from inclined grounds in the eastern portion. Housing is more affordable on the west side, which results in demographic differences. Interstate 15 was also built in a north-south line, further dividing east and west sides of the city.

Pioneers came into the Sandy area in the 1860s. It was a farming community with few people and widely spaced homes. When mining began in the nearby canyons and the railroad arrived in 1877, Sandy changed from a quiet agricultural village to a booming mining town. There were three smelters and two sampling mills here for testing the ores brought down from the mines. The railroad station was located almost directly across the street from where the Sandy Museum is now. In those days the museum building was a ZCMI Co-op store where the farmers, miners and even local Native Americans came to buy or trade items. It is said that Sandy got it’s name from the nickname of the red-headed train engineer called ” Sandy” Kinghorn.

On July 29, 1847 a group of pioneers known as the Mississippi Company, led by John Holladay, entered the Salt Lake Valley. Within weeks after their arrival, they discovered a free flowing, spring fed stream, which they called Spring Creek (near Kentucky Avenue). While most of the group returned to the Fort in Great Salt Lake for the winter, two or three men built dugouts along this stream and wintered over. Thus, this became the first village established away from Great Salt Lake City itself. In the spring, a number of families hurried out to build homes and tame the land. There were numerous springs and ponds here and grasses and wild flowers were abundant, making this a most desirable area for settlement. When John Holladay was named as the branch president of the Church, the village took upon itself the name of Holladay¹s Settlement or Holladay¹s Burgh.

Cottonwood Heights is located on a large sandbar left over from the ancient Lake Bonneville that filled the Salt Lake Valley centuries ago. It is located between the two most majestic features along the Wasatch Front ­ Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. This sandbar rises hundreds of feet above the valley floor. On the North it tapers gently to the valley floor allowing a gradual, nearly nondescript access from the lower to the higher ground.

Sugar House is located within the Salt Lake City grid system roughly from about 500 East at its western edge to 2100 East at the east and 1300 South to 2700 South north to south, and is mostly to the boundaries of Salt Lake City. Many local businesses as well as private residences, although not strictly located within the bounds of Sugar House, use the name because of the area’s name recognition. The business and commercial center of the neighborhood is located at 1100 East 2100 South.

South Jordan was settled in 1859 by Alexander and Catherine Lince Beckstead. Like many of the first settlers in the Salt Lake Valley, their first home was a cave dug out of the river bank. These first homes were “a good sized room” (14 ft. sq.) dug into the hill, with large sun-dried adobe bricks on the front wall. Large logs covered with plants, willows, and mud and dirt formed the roof.

Half an hour from Salt Lake City, Draper is famous for its hang gliding and paragliding spots, but the less daring will find plenty to do as well. 70 miles of biking and hiking trails criss-cross the city, and a new outdoor amphitheater with grassy terraces offers shows and concerts. Residents get a great view of the Oquirrh Mountains, too. Local employers such as eBay and Edwards Lifesciences are adding new jobs, and the growing suburb is about to get its own high school.