Local graphic designers rebranded 22 Salt Lake City neighborhoods. Here’s what they look like.
Many of Salt Lake City’s neighborhoods lack a clear and branded identity that can be seen in other U.S. cities, so a group of local graphic designers set out to change that.
As part of Salt Lake Design Week, designers picked 22 of the capital city’s neighborhoods and set out to brand them with new logos, banners, swag and more.
The idea was spearheaded by designers at Third Sun Productions, and it attracted designers who felt the need to celebrate the rich history that at times feels lost among Salt Lake City.
Here are the 22 logos for the official (and unofficial) hoods in town. (Let us know what you think, and support local artists).
The 15th and 15th neighborhood generally follows 1500 East between 1700 South and 1300 South, as well as the residential streets on the hills to the east and west.
This wealthy neighborhood has a strong, if small, commercial node filled with local businesses and restaurants, and historic surrounding homes.
Ballpark, sometimes referred to by the name that invokes the interstate system, People’s Freeway, runs from 900 South to 2100 South, State Street to I-15.
The neighborhood is home to the Salt Lake Bees stadium, and has attracted the interest of developers who are bringing mid-density buildings to the area.
9th and 9th, east of Liberty Park, includes a successful and highly walkable mixed-use node that’s centered at 900 S. 900 East.
The neighborhood includes small businesses, restaurants and a lonely bar, and will soon include a mixed-use trail that will connect the city’s east and west towns for people on foot and on bike.
Bar Block may be better known by its historical nickname: Whiskey Street. It includes a cluster of bars and restaurants on Downtown’s Main Street, north of 400 South, but certainly south of the City Creek mall.
It’s not entirely clear which mile of breweries this refers to, as the brewery boom that started several years ago in SLC has made its way to South Salt Lake.
Both towns have stretches of streets lined with breweries — Level Crossing, Shades and SaltFire Brewing in South Salt Lake, plus a couple options in Salt Lake City just outside Downtown.
The neighborhood west of The Avenues and east of Marmalade overlooks the entire Salt Lake Valley. (Although the community council boundary includes a portion of the Marmalade neighborhood on the valley floor).
Central 9th, one of the city’s newest neighborhoods, is also one of the few that has its own branding.
The small, mixed-use and growing area boasts a TRAX station, dense apartments/condos, restaurants and more. It also falls in the shadow of the overbuilt 900 South ramp to I-15, a piece of infrastructure that neighbors are fighting UDOT to remove or shorten but which thrives nonetheless.
This large neighborhood includes much of the east side of Salt Lake City, above the Wasatch Fault. Its community council boundaries span from 1300 South to I-80, Foothill Boulevard to the city’s limits in the Wasatch Mountains.
Fairmont. Enough said, right? Actually, it can be a bit hard to pinpoint this neighborhood’s boundaries, as many who live in it say they’re in nearby Sugar House.
While there’s no community council boundary to rely upon, this neighborhood surrounds Fairmont Park and the Forest Dale Golf Course south of I-80. Take a walk on the S-Line trail, head south on 900 East and enjoy Fairmont until you hit 2700 South.
Note the one word. This neighborhood runs from 600/700 North to North Temple, 500 West to the Jordan River. When people stand in line at the Red Iguana, they’re actually waiting in Fairpark.
The boundaries of this neighborhood largely mirror those of the Ballpark neighborhood, but on the city’s west side. Glendale runs from about 900 South to 2100 South, I-15 to the city’s western boundary far west of Downtown.
The neighborhood has a bit of everything – single-family homes, apartments, industrial, wasteland, open space and the Jordan River.
Dare we put this in the little-known neighborhood category, or not? Guadalupe sits wedged between I-15 and the railroad tracks along 500 West between 500 North and North Temple.
It had been considered a part of the Capitol Hill neighborhood before Salt Lake City was divided in two with the arrival of the railroad in 1870.
What remains of Salt Lake City’s Japantown includes the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple and the Japanese Church of Christ along 100 South between 200 West and 300 West.
It also has been home to conversations about displacement of late, as a major new development threatened to displace the Japanese community before the developers and community leaders worked together.
Some residents within the Liberty Wells neighborhood might tell people they live either in or near Sugar House or in “the Sugarhood.” All we can ask is why?
The Liberty Wells neighborhood includes the entirety of Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park and spans 700 East to State Street, 900 South to 2100 South. It is not Sugar House. It is not the Sugarhood. It has been home to LDS Church presidents, Brigham Young’s farm, three — now undergrounded — mountain streams and more.
This historical neighborhood is also one of the few with its own existing branding, hanging from street poles. Perhaps Emma Shipley’s clean design could provide an updated look.
Poplar Grove, another of Salt Lake City’s west side neighborhoods, is Glendale’s neighbor to the north, and equally historic.
One of the neighborhoods blessed with the Jordan River running through its center, Poplar Grove runs from 950 South to I-80, I-15 to Redwood Road. Go enjoy a ride in the new bike lane on 900 West and check out the 100-year-old Chapman Branch of the Salt Lake City Library.
Poplar Grove will soon be linked to the east side by a multi-use trail quickly being built on 900 South, which will connect it with Central 9th, the Maven District and 9th and 9th. That might help people realize Poplar Grove is actually at the doorstep to Downtown.
This west side neighborhood, which is home to iconic WWII-era single-family homes, starts at 600 North and runs to the city’s northern boundary, I-15 to Redwood Road.
We’ve refrained from commenting on design aesthetics so far, but can’t help but note how beautiful this team’s logo would be on street signs throughout this neighborhood.
Yet another unofficial neighborhood in Salt Lake City. St. Mary’s lies above Foothill Boulevard near the Hogle Zoo.
This new logo invokes the former entry gate at the College of Saint Mary-of-the-Wasatch, before it was demolished to make way for new housing in the 1970s.
The debate is unsettled as to whether this should be recognized as an official Salt Lake City neighborhood or not. The endearing slang term generally refers to the residents west of Sugar House (also known as Liberty Wells).
Regardless, we’re not here to settle this debate, and people genuinely seem to enjoy the term. So why fight it?
Here’s an updated look to a neighborhood that’s rapidly growing up. It’s not the Sugarhood, it’s not Fairmont, it’s not Liberty Wells. It’s Sugar House (two words), it’s historical and it’s experiencing growing pains as developers rush to build housing and change this neighborhood from one centered around a suburban mall to a livable, walkable urban neighborhood.
Hold onto this one, as Swedetown is a historic neighborhood in far northern Salt Lake City that fell victim to industrial “progress.”
The Swedish settled this area that’s now a few homes surrounded by industry on all sides.
Salt Lake City’s first neighborhood, and, despite its presence running up a steep hill, one of its most walkable. The Avenues are blessed with small blocks, historical homes and charm.
U. probably already know where this area lies. Here’s an updated look for the University of Utah.
