So I came up with this idea yesterday and mentioned it on Reddit, and the more I think about it the more I like it.
500 S and 600 S are ultra-wide, one-way roads that cleave through downtown and are generally a barrier to pedestrians. In addition, the blocks bounded by these streets have almost no active street use other than the street and parking entrances to the Grand/Little America and the Courthouse. The area south of 600 S is thus effectively isolated from downtown, and this has manifested in it being currently dominated by car dealerships and parking lots. That is now starting to change, and with all of the new development in this area catalyzed by the possibility of a new TRAX stop (650 Main, 6th + Main, the Sears Block, the RL Hotel, etc) perhaps this area needs a rebranding.
Looking at the
map of the neighborhoods of SLC, the area is actually fairly ambiguously categorized at the moment. "Downtown" seems to technically go south to 700 S, at which point the "Ballpark" neighborhood begins even though the ballpark itself is down on 1300 S, a full mile away. The
Granary District sort of overlaps this area too, but it's focus is somewhat farther west and south. On the RDA Project Area Map, the area roughly corresponds to the
"West Temple Gateway" project area but that doesn't include the blocks between Main and State.
My idea is basically to relabel the area from ~600 S to ~900 S, bounded by State Street and 200 W (or some other east/west boundaries), as a new
Midtown neighborhood. The new TRAX stop at ~650 Main could then be called the "Midtown" station, and the area could begin to develop its own character under a stronger identity. What do you all think?