Hi.
Central City is a neighborhood just east of downtown Salt Lake City. It's literally in the shadows of downtown and I guess some parts of this neighborhood are generally referred to as downtown, but technically, it's not - it's its own neighborhood between the Central Business District and East Central, which hugs the University of Utah and is a neighborhood I'm likely to explore in the future.
But that's irrelevant to today's visit to Central City. It's a fairly generic name for a neighborhood, but it central to the city, so, I guess it does in a way make sense. I didn't tour the entire neighborhood, as I only had a couple hours to kill, but it does give you a sense of what the area looks like. It's mostly residential, generally apartment buildings or historic homes turned into apartments - but there is also a huge amount of new development springing up in this area because of its close proximity to downtown and the TRAX light-rail, which runs essentially right through the heart of the neighborhood (400 South - which is as far south as I went). There's also smaller retail, some restaurants and I guess what you'd expect in a neighborhood so close to downtown.
It's also an area of the city that often goes unnoticed, especially here on the forum, as we're all mostly preoccupied by downtown. But I've always liked Central City because of its historic housing stock which is not unique to Salt Lake, but cool nonetheless.
Anyway, enough rambling. Let's get on with the post ... right?
To give you an idea of the area we're dealing with, here is a map of a collection of SLC neighborhoods in and around downtown Salt Lake:
There you see Central City, as I said, east of downtown and that's where we're going today. I should mention I generally focused on the areas between 200 East to 500 East and 100 South on down to, as I mentioned, 400 South.
So...
Here's the Second & Second building. A few years ago, it caught fire ... but they did a good job renovating it. There are apartments above the ground floor.
A mural of the Virgin Mary and below that, one honoring the 100th anniversary of the 1911 handgun ... because, why not!
A cluster of shops as you head into downtown. Bar X is owned by Ty Burrell of Modern Family fame.
The First United Methodist Church with 250 Bell Plaza (or whatever they call it) in the background.
Some older apartments from the parking lot of the church.
The entrance to Bell Plaza.
Notice Rice-Eccles Stadium (home to the Utes) sitting atop the east bench. That's where the University is located.
This project isn't terribly old ... it replaced a dirt lot.
A tourist, whose accent sounded European, snaps a photo of a Salt Lake City fire engine. It was just sitting in the middle of the road. So, I guess no fires today.
This is the current head quarters of the Salt Lake City Police. They're moving into a new public safeties building and the fate of this structure is unclear. I hope it stays because there aren't many examples of international style architecture in Salt Lake.
A random photo of a typical street scene - you can see another mural of an old man ... doing something.
SLC
This neighborhood is littered with these historic apartments. I love 'em, even if they're not as well kept as maybe they should be.
Construction on another residential development - a lot of that going around in these parts.
Shopping cart #1. I don't know what it is about Salt Lake, but there are an abundance of shopping carts throughout the city.
A different view of the apartment above.
The trees blocked this apartment, so, I tried my best.
These are the most common apartments in this area (as well as East Central and the Avenues).
Some have cool names ... this one is kinda blah, but it has a cool knight on it! At least I think that's a knight...maybe it's something else.
Another apartment building ... couldn't make out the name.
I like this style. They're also common in Salt Lake (used to be more common back in the day before they were demolished) - some current developments have tried to kinda mirror this look ... but it hasn't quite worked out.
A new development that just went up not too long ago. You can also see the Cathedral of the Madeleine poking out in the background.
A street view ... nothing terribly exciting.
A cool alleyway that offers some nice density.
A dress shop, I guess. There's a good amount of retail throughout the neighborhood.
People relaxin' on a quiet, warm day.
More apartments ...
The detail is pretty solid on these apartments and I think they've held up pretty well all things considered.
This is another cool apartment building.
Some older homes break up the rows of apartments. My guess, though, is this has been converted into an apartment too.
Like I said, the detail can be pretty amazing on these older structures. Love the lions (?) heads...
heh ... swallow.
Odyssey House, which treats substance abuse in Salt Lake.
Just another random apartment building.
This gives the proximity to downtown. Not far at all. Definitely within walking distance.
Chinese food.
A Catholic mortuary with a crane in the background.
Shopping cart #2.
This is one of my favorite apartments in the city.
A cool older home. Could be a single resident...could be a business...could be apartments. I do not know.
Another cool older home.
Salt Lake City School District.
The Breelynn ... so, okay, some of the names are lame.
Didn't get a good picture of these apartments, but they sit back in a terrace-like area.
A senior living facility, along with one of the small collections of taller buildings in this area.
Yum. The taste of Asia!
A better view of the building - now named the Dan Jones Building, I guess? It used to be the HK Tower...
Trees & a mid-rise apartment building.
A bank!
A cool building housing a gallery.
Hey...how about some more apartments?
Like I said before, this style is very common in SLC. It's not the greatest, compared to some of the others I've shown, but they're serviceable.
Talk about a cop out! No name ... just the address.
At least this one has a name!
An interesting and random sculpture.
Shopping cart #3.
A
A new 7-Eleven and the dome of an old church.
Construction ...
One of the best burger joints in Salt Lake City. Seriously ... if you ever come here, you've got to try it out.
A cool older building converted into an ... antique business?
Waitin' for the bus.
More apartments...
Old synagogue converted into a business.
Red Hanger and the back of an apartment.
Bland apartments.
I liked these homes, so, I tried my best to do a panorama of the street. It didn't turn out as well as I thought it would.
Fire escape.
Antiques...dammit we love our antiques here.
Another cool apartment entrance.
A smoke shop.
I don't know.
Cool little barbershop.
Apartments on Broadway.
The Peter Pan apartments.
The Clairmont.
Just some newer development.
A home ... I assume ... tucked away behind some buildings.
Fancy restaurant.
More apartments...
A Greek restaurant.
A different style apartment than what we've seen...
Sage's Cafe.
Damn hippies.
A little sports bar.
Real Salt Lake logo...
Not only is it a cleaners ... it's a classic cleaners.
The backend of a building.
The Urban Lounge bar ... which is a pretty popular concert venue.
An apartment building across the street from the Urban Lounge.
Downtown seen from an alleyway.
Another new development...
I'm not too keen on the color scheme for this apartment.
$5.29 ... can't beat that.
Apartments and a mural.
A small shopping center.
Some 400 South blight.
STOP
Another smoke shop.
Street sign ... which informs you of the neighborhood you're in.
Salt Lake Coffee Break.
TRAX light-rail zooms on by.
Some more residential...
A garage...cool, right?
Some graffiti on Denver Street.
Looking down Denver Street.
Side of an apartment.
A cluster of apartments.
Hey! I found another one.
A cool mural by a smoke shop.
Sushi, anyone?
It's all Greek to me.
Another old building...some Spanish place now.
Aye...more apartments.
An indoor garden...pretty nifty.
A car wash with, uh, a fairly un-PC Indian as its mascot.
Old and new ... do not like this new development.
More antiques ... but I suspect this area is abandoned now. OH! SHOPPING CART!
This is the apartment complex where Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey lived in Dumb and Dumber.
Antique Row...kinda dead.
Wow! TWO SHOPPING CARTS!
A side of a building...nifty.
Some small retail.
And finally, the Tavernacle!
THE END
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