West Side story: what will it take to revitalize Salt Lake's less-than-thriving districts?

• Author: Christensen, Lisa

Utah's economy is booming, and with gleaming towers and bustling shopping centers rising downtown and neighborhoods flourishing in Salt Lake City's eastern and southern reaches, it appears the state's capital city is enjoying the growth fueled by economic success.

But as more polish is rubbed on downtown, the Avenues, Sugar House and other jewels in the city's crown, city planners, entrepreneurs and others are looking to the west to see if that area can be elevated to new heights as well.

The "West Side" of Salt Lake is a generic term that, depending on who you ask, can mean anything from everything west of the freeway to the airport, the Rio Grande-Gateway business district, or the quaint neighborhoods tucked between 1-15 and the industrial district. And for each definition of the phrase, there's someone with a plan to make it a destination all its own, rather than a stop on the way to somewhere else in the city.

BUILDING ECONOMIC VALUE

Lara Fritts, director of the Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development, oversees or is involved with a lot of those plans. The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City is engaged in a number of projects in the various districts that make up the west half of the city, she says.

Special attention is also being paid to the far west area, where acres of open land make for a blank slate for incoming projects. The state prison is set to be relocated there, and UPS is building a new regional center, with up to 700 more jobs and a $270 million investment, to add to the district's growing industrial sector, says Fritts. "It's very different land use," she says, noting that the plentiful land allows for big projects with a lot of stability and skilled labor and blue-collar jobs. "We've been very sensitive to the jobs for all people, knowing that everyone isn't going to be an executive but knowing that everyone should have a higher wage potential than they do today."

Closer to downtown, existing infrastructure and a jumble of business and housing areas make the goal of the city and investors more about renovation and rebranding than construction. In the nearer west areas, the RDA is heavily involved in those fixes and polishes, including improving and establishing North Temple's branding with a beautification project, a forthcoming streetscape project on 900 South, continuing discussions for the vision of the State Fair Park, and adaptive uses of old and historic buildings in the Granary District. In the depot district, a forthcoming community garden, created in partnership with Wasatch Community Gardens, will serve as a training ground for homeless and refugee women, Fritts says.

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