magna

Historically a company town for Kennecott Copper, Magna lies on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley and provides significant opportunities for nearby larger metropolitan centers.

Magna’s Main Street, lined with quaint century-old brick buildings, was once the center of a Kennecott Copper company town and a vibrant shopping district. Though the street has since experienced decades of decline, recent public investments along Main Street have been significant and include a new library, senior center, and pedestrian-scale street enhancements: new curb and gutter, wide new sidewalks, street trees, and lighting.  A bus rapid transit line connects the township to the region's light rail system, giving Magna convenient access to downtown Salt Lake City and other regional destinations.

The Envisioning Centers process enabled residents and Main Street business owners to explore options for Magna’s Main Street area. Together, they developed a vision, Cultivating Community, Captivating Main Street, which emphasizes Magna’s historic character and existing assets, and a desire to provide a family-friendly place for living, shopping, and entertainment.

The community is moving forward with its vision on several fronts. Informed by the visioning process, Salt Lake County convened a group that is working from the form-based code template in the Wasatch Choice for 2040 Toolkit to develop a form-based code for the Main Street area. A citizen implementation committee has commenced work on several initiatives to bring investment and people to Main Street, including a farmers market and a resource guide. NeighborWorks, a national capacity builder with a successful track record in the Salt Lake valley, will help grow leadership capacity in Magna.

visioning images

 

housing analysis sample maps

Within the Magna Demonstration Site, a majority of the homes were valued below $159,910 in 2011 making them affordable to four person households at 50 percent of the area median income or below, with only a few homes in the northeastern section of the catalytic site valued higher.