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Finding an Apartment in Salt Lake City
What You Should Know
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of
Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake, or its initials,
S.L.C. It was originally known as Great Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake City has a population of 178,097. The Salt Lake City metropolitan area
spans Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, and has a total estimated
population of 1,034,484. It is the third-highest metropolitan population in the
interior western U.S. Salt Lake City is further situated in a larger urban area
known as the Wasatch Front, and until 2003 the Ogden-Clearfield metro area
within it was considered part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The total
estimated population of the Wasatch Front is approximately 2,150,017.
The city was founded in 1847 by a group of Mormon pioneers led by their prophet,
Brigham Young, who fled hostility from the midwest. Salt Lake City is now the
headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the L.D.S. or
Mormon Church).
Mining booms and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad
initially brought economic growth, and the city became nicknamed the Crossroads
of the West. In the 21st century the city has developed a strong outdoor
recreation industry, become the industrial banking center of the U.S., and
served as host to the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Neighborhoods
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.
The west side of the city has historically been a working-class neighborhood,
but recently the more affordable nature of the area has enticed many
professionals to the neighborhood. For example, the small, increasingly trendy
Marmalade District on the west side of Capitol Hill, once considered seedy as
few as 5–10 years ago, was heavily gentrified and is now thought of as an
eclectic and desirable location. During the 1980s, gang activity was also
centered in the western neighborhoods of Rose Park, Poplar Grove, and Glendale.
Recently, however, these neighborhoods have made amazing recoveries while other
areas of town, such as the Central City, have come to be known as the poorer
areas of town, despite the more balanced demographics.
Just northeast of Downtown is The Avenues, a neighborhood outside of the regular
grid system on much smaller blocks. This area is nearly entirely residential,
and contains much of the young student-aged population. The Avenues lies along
the southern slope of the Wasatch Range, however, and the further one climbs the
mountains, and passing successive 'benches', the more elegant the residences
become. The Upper Avenues, along with Federal Heights, just to the east and
north of the University of Utah, and the East Bench, south of the University,
contain gated communities, large, elegant, multi-million dollar houses, and
fantastic views of the valley. The separation of income types in Salt Lake City
and Salt Lake county is starker than most all other American metropolitan areas
of similar size.