Connecting people through nature and our waterways

Salt Lake City

City Size: 110.8 square miles [01]
Population Count (2020): 205,439

Creeks: City Creek, Red Butte Creek, Emigration Creek, and Parleys Creek
Total Stream Length: 35.9 miles [02]
Buried: 14.1 miles [03]
Impaired: 9.3 miles [04]

Diversity Index (2020)*: 63 [05]
Housing Affordability Index (2020)**: 98 [06]

 

As the capital of Utah, Salt Lake City serves as the social, economic, and cultural center of the state. It is the largest city in both size and population [01].

Salt Lake City features the longest stretches of creek, including City, Red Butte, Emigration, and Parleys. They flow through many parks and natural spaces—Memory Grove, Miller Bird Refuge and Nature Park, Wasatch Hollow, and Hidden Hollow, to name a few. The City holds the most buried and impaired creeks.

Early colonial settlers used the creeks as a source of water and industry. This shaped the waterways. Pollution from industry and development degraded water quality. Creeks were channelized to control flooding. Banks became steep and eroded. This led to the burial of creeks, dubbed a nuisance, in the early 20th Century.

 Opportunity Areas

Opportunity Areas
1. North Temple
1. North Temple

As Salt Lake City develops, daylight City Creek along North Temple and create a trail connection to the Folsom Corridor between West Temple and 400 West.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: City

2. Folsom Corridor
2. Folsom Corridor

Revitalize a rail corridor into a multi-use trail and daylight City Creek, connecting east and west-side neighborhoods.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: City

3. Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Miller Park
3. Bonneville Shoreline Trail to Miller Park

Create a trail connection between public spaces along Red Butte Creek, form partnerships with University of Utah for research, and create angling opportunities at key locations.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Red Butte

4. Bonneville Golf Course
4. Bonneville Golf Course

Create a protected trail connection along Emigration Creek, restore riparian habitat and the floodplain, replace or remove aging infrastructure, and stabilize streambanks.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Emigration

5. Wasatch Hollow to Westminster
5. Wasatch Hollow to Westminster

Create a trail connection between public spaces along Red Butte Creek, form partnerships with University of Utah for research, and create angling opportunities at key locations.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Emigration

6. Herman Franks Park
6. Herman Franks Park

Daylight Emigration Creek to activate and enhance the park space, create a community amenity, and improve connectivity to Liberty Park through a trail and signage.

Category: 100-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Emigration

7. Sugar House
7. Sugar House

Culturally daylight Parleys Creek through signage and art in the Sugar House neighborhood of Salt Lake City.

Category: 10-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Parleys

8. Ballpark
8. Ballpark

Daylight Red Butte, Emigration, and Parleys creeks and increase the urban forest as Salt Lake City’s Ballpark neighborhood experiences growth and redevelops.

Category: 100-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Red Butte, Emigration, & Parleys

9. 1300 South
9. 1300 South

Daylight Red Butte, Emigration, and Parleys creeks east of the Three Creeks Confluence along 1300 South, enhancing east-west connections to the Jordan River.

Category: 100-Year
City: Salt Lake City
Creek: Red Butte, Emigration, & Parleys

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Sources

  1. Esri, Forecasts for 2020 and 2025 with converted Census 2000 data into 2010 geography (2021).

  2. Salt Lake County, Stream Care Guide (2014).

  3. Seven Canyons Trust, Creek Channel Alignment Data (2018).

  4. Utah Division of Water Quality, Beneficial Uses and Water Quality Assessment Map (2016).

*Likelihood two persons chosen at random belong to different race or ethnic groups, ranging from 0 (no diversity) to 100 (complete diversity).

**Ratio of median household income to median home value. A value of 100 means a typical family has exactly enough income to quality for a mortgage on a typical home. Above 100, the typical family earns more than enough and, below 100, they do not earn enough.