It may not seem like it, but most of Salt Lake City sits west of the freeway—waaaaay west.
Small Lake City
By Bryant Heath
We all know that Temple Square marks the heart of Salt Lake City's street grid, but where do you think the actual geographic center of the city is?
Recently, I took a census of some friends' responses and Liberty Park was the most common answer, which makes sense, because it feels very central. All were surprised when I informed them that the actual answer is about four-and-a-half miles away, just north of the Utah State Fairpark at roughly 1300 West and Walnut Drive.
This is the point where if you lifted up our entire city and placed it on the tip of your finger, it would balance. The reason the center lies so far west is because—unbeknownst to many—Salt Lake City stretches way out there. We're talking miles and miles beyond the airport to streets like 7200 West and 8000 West. A portion of SLC even borders Magna ... Magna!
What's out there? There's a surprising lot, actually.
Yes, you have the rows of identical warehouses that stretch endlessly toward the horizon. But even dotted within these dystopian monstrosities are gems, such as the ultra-sleek, low-profile building of bioMérieux's original west side campus on 4800 West and 1100 South and the Price Realty-owned distribution centers that are distinctly marked with colorful shipping containers embedded into their facades and scattered throughout the trendily-named "Northwest Quadrant" area.
If you grew up in Salt Lake County, odds are that one of your first forays to the far west of SLC was on a school field trip to the Lee Kay Ponds on California Avenue (and 5800 West), near the newly constructed Mountain View Corridor. Squeezed between a gun range and the Salt Lake Valley Landfill, this conservation area is popular with birds and bird watchers alike, who both seem content with not making the long commute out to the Great Salt Lake wetlands.
If you head farther west along California Avenue—where the asphalt turns into a dirt road and then the dirt road turns into a dirt "road"—you come across the Salt Lake City Model Plane Airport. It was here that I took my drone for a quick flight to head even farther west and capture the dried-out tailings ponds and the smelter stack from the nearby Kennecott mine operation (photo above), all which lie just outside our city's borders.
Although the "Think About It" sign on the building is only half of a gigantic HR memo meant for employees ("It's Your Safety" adorns the other side), it does seem like an appropriate message for the area as a whole. Despite the Northwest Quadrant being out of sight and out of mind for many, it still is a part of our city, after all.
Small Lake City is home to local writers and their opinions.
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