Walkabout #2 (Districts-Avenues)

Bryn, Marie, Maddy, Tim, and Alessandro went on their walkabout to the Avenues, where they uncovered the quaint mysteries of one district in Salt Lake City.
The overall layout of the Avenues is a stark contrast to the layout of the rest of Salt Lake City. The blocks are smaller, about a fourth of the size and the landscaping is very different. In most of SLC (especially downtown) the plant "growthage" is kept very under control; the foliage in the Avenues almost had a jungle-like feel to it. As we walked down the sidewalk overhanging branches of trees reached out to grab our hair, and bushes growing to the side tried their best to trip us. Another structural difference in the Avenues is the street names. Instead of your average names like Oak or Washington the north-south streets are letters going from A to U. The streets running in the east-west direction are numbered 1-11 progressively. This layout made it very easy to navigate. The Avenues felt like a segregated community all to itself where the people could live and thrive.
The houses are one of the most definitive characteristics of the Avenues. The Avenues was the first neighborhood of Salt Lake City, and the houses represent this beautifully. The progression of history can be seen in the architecture of the houses; the designs ran the gamut from Victorian-style to modern-looking homes. Those built in a modern style, though, obviously stuck out. The eclecticism of the Avenues is not limited to the houses. The Avenues does attract a wide variety of people, although there is a general characteristic that can be applied to Avenues-dwellers. Many residents of the Aves are young-to-middle-age, relatively well-to-do people, including many families. The Avenues are also considered a hotspot for liberalism in the city. Amid these stereotypical Avenues-dwellers is a healthy population of college students. A good amount of apartment buildings, duplexes, and houses for rent, plus the prime location in proximity to both downtown and the University, make the Aves an attraction for college students. Many doctors live in the Aves as well, partially because of the Avenues' relatively high expense of living, but mostly because of LDS Hospital's location in the heart of the Aves.
You can almost think of The Avenues as a small town in and of itself--sort of like Sugarhouse to the south. In a neighborhood where you've got your own hospital, grocery store, elementary school, and plenty of cafes and restaurants, you've got a place you never want to leave. Of particular interest are Jack Mormon Coffee and The Indian Market and Grill. We encountered Jack Mormon pretty early during the walkabout, and Tim insisted that we go inside. He loves iced coffee for some reason that he can't explain, even to himself. We indulged him. Inside we met the proprieter, who explained the history of the cafe to us: Jack Mormon's been owned by the same family ever since it opened. While making Tim's coffee he told us how his brewing methods differ from other cafes in Salt Lake. Whatever those methods were--an expensive imported machine was mentioned--they work. Tim wouldn't shut up about how great his coffee was. We wandered into the Indian grill near the end of our travels. Maybe we should've avoided it altogether, though. The food smelled and looked great, but none of us had any money to spare. Luckily, the owner was nice, and didn't mind us ogling his samosas. He sent us smiling on our way with to-go menus. We finished the walkabout by visiting a church. The church was built right up to the curb; the trees and shurbs hid it from plain view. We entered the bottom floor and they told us that they were offices. We were surprised. They redirected us upstairs where the owner has his office. He was on the phone when we came in, and he welcomed us to look around. The altar was taken down and the wall was faded. The pane window had Romans 4:25 written and depicted. The technical details were interesting, but the most interesting part about his office was the fact that he had two parrots. He let us feed them and told us of about his wife and the history of the church. He uses the large space of the church to hold a long track with a motorized cart; he is a programmer specialized in positioning software. Three of us also went up to the tower; two stayed down because the ladder was very unstable. Up in the tower, so much of the Avenues was visible. The tower was completely open to the outside air, with no form of guardrails to keep from falling. The ground looked so far away, and there was a feeling of pure adrenaline, a feeling of anxiety and delight, while sitting along the edge of the tower. The tree branches were alongside us, and we were above the windows of surrounding houses. The wind was so much stronger up high. Although exhilirating, after taking a few pictures, we climbed back down. The tower was one of the highlights of the class so far, the freedom to explore something unique to the city and the avenues in particular.