Southeast Ogden

Southeast Ogden

Jackson Yeagley

Ogden City is a city that has existed officially for over 150 years with its founding dated formally as 1851 and the earliest census data having the new town at 1,464 people in 1860. Ogden's total population in 2021 is estimated at 86,798 Southeast Ogden is as the name would subject the most southeastern part of the city with the area being primarily housing, mostly on the higher end side, a small amount the shops and restaurants, and the home to weber state university the main attraction of this part of Ogden as well as a big magnet for new residents seeking a receive higher education and thus has greatly influenced the development of the area. Though Weber is not seen as a major college but more of a commuter school akin to the 13th year of school but has still influenced the site to be a hybrid of a college town and a normal city. The area immediately around the school is full of students and renting properties for the coming and going of students. But the farther you go south the more and more luxurious the houses become.

Southeast Ogden is one of the most recent in terms of development with many houses being built within the last decade and many more currently under construction. The southeast section of Ogden boasts some of the newest and grandest homes within the entire city. With prices for houses averaging between 800,000 and 1 million dollars. Even just across Harrison Blvd you see the price disparity with most not even passing 600,000. The majority of the neighborhood is housing with a small percentage of the area devoted to shops and restaurants primarily on the main street of Harrison Blvd which is the most western part of the neighborhood. Out of the 86,798 people living in Ogden, 8,939 people are estimated to be living in the southeast neighborhoods.

Southeast Ogden is an area still being developed and thus many of the houses are very new with a sizeable chunk being developed or cleared and waiting for development. This area more than likely than any other section of Ogden will look the most different in 10 years.

The oldest part of South East Ogden and one of the oldest places in Ogden, in general, would be Weber State University with its founding in 1889. Being built only a few decades into Ogden's life. Colleges almost always have a profound impact on the town they are located in, the likes of Snow College and Utah State mold their towns around them becoming college towns, but due to Weber State catering heavily to commuters this effect is lessened for Ogden. But for South East Ogden many of the houses close to Webers campus are rentals often used by students and many of the other permanent houses are owned by professors and other workers. So Weber has a massive influence on South East Ogden if not the whole of Ogden.

Weber State University (1966)

The Growth of the City

Nowhere in Ogden is more apparent than in SouthEast Ogden that of growth. In its more obvious sense, you can see the physical growth of the area with the numerous ongoing developments and the clear area surrounding which are just screaming to be developed. The predominant trend in this area is big luxury houses only for the wealthy. The city is clearly planning this area to be where the rich life and the area to hopefully attract more wealthy people to Ogden, likely also fighting the persona that Ogden is a bad city with a lot of crime. This part of the city will contribute greatly to the social organization of Ogden. Bringing in more wealthy individuals and likely white individuals will surely elevate the negative persona. But it will likely also have a side effect of furthering the divide between, the wealthy and the poor having clearer and clearer lines of wealth. Look no further than Weber state itself. SouthEast Ogden primarily consists of class houses with pockets of the middle class toward the west especially when you cross Harrison. To the north SouthEast Ogden officially ends at 36th street and on the other side is a night and day difference of class and wealth. We will have to wait and see how this ongoing growth continues to affect the region and its neighboring sections.

(This is the Mt Ogden Section)

Neo-Bohemia

SouthEast Ogden is one of the clearest examples of Neo Bohemia, which is the idea that cultural innovation can still persist in older city neighborhoods. While southeastern Ogden is primarily middle-class to upper-class housing that does not mean they are not low-income houses. The majority of these lower-income houses are in the westernmost part of this neighborhood. It is still encompassed within southeast Ogden nowhere is more apparent than within the part of this neighborhood with all the new housing is the concept of Neo-Bohemia. Ogden as a whole is a very old town as for as a city in the U.S. go and many of its neighborhoods look that way. There is a distinct history to Ogden in every neighborhood like that of 25th street or the railroad. This however does not create a positive outlook of Ogden to outsiders. Southeast Ogden is Ogden's attempt to bring the city up to a better and newer standard and to remove any notion of negativity that is commonly associated with Ogden. This a very much still in progress time will tell how well this area can bring a new culture to an aging city.

South East Ogden Sacred Structures

South East Ogden’s most recognizable structures would be the Dee event center and Weber State University. If you look at a Sacred Structure according to Randy Hester's definition “They are places that have become so essential to the lives of the residents through use or symbolism that the community collectively identifies with the places.” From this frame of context both Weber State and the Dee event center would classify as a Sacred Structures, but why?

Weber State Univisery is a college that has existed for over 100 years and consistently sees the movement of students and professors coming and going to school here some living within the area while many commutes to school every day. While some schools like the University of Utah or Snow college will mold their city around them and the city will become more and more influenced by their school, Weber State on the other due to its nature as a school where many will commute to school has far less influence over its city at least compared to cities like Ephraim and salt lake. Though that does not mean the school has no influence on the city just less.

Weber State together with the Dee Event center has become the go-to build for many big events from graduation, sporting events, or any number of events. It's hard to imagine Ogden without the Dee Event center. And while the influence of Weber may be lower it difficult to picture just how different Ogden city as a whole would be without the school, much less South East Ogden which outside of Weber and the Dee is primary housing.

Walkability

Something to keep in mind when designing a city or thinking about moving to one is how walkable that city is, or at least the specific area you are in. South East Ogden primary consists of housing ranging from the lower class, middle class, and especially upper class, with a number of stores and restaurants, within its boundaries, but due to a relatively low number of them and the neighborhood being so spread out to due suburban sprawl the overall walkability of the area is one of the worst in the city. Sitting at 11/17 despite being the 3rd most populous neighborhood. It is very difficult to live in this area without owning a personal vehicle.

That is not to say that this area is unwalkable, the criteria for a walkable neighborhood focus more on how easy it is to accomplish needs like shopping and other errands by walking. The neighborhood itself is a very pretty neighborhood, boasting many brand new houses that all have an extravasate taste to them with none looking the same, during the time of researching this area I would consistently see people walking their neighborhoods by themselves with others or their pets, it is far from a dead quiet neighborhood. But that is it, it is far from quiet being a relatively new neighborhood with many houses being new. That also means that many more are scheduled to be built so for the foreseeable future this area will be covered with construction and renovations. But that is temporary compared to the great houses they build.

References

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ogdencityutah https://www.walkscore.com/UT/Ogden/Southeast_Ogden

https://www.liveutah.com/ https://bestneighborhood.org/

NEO-BOHEMIA: ART AND NEIGHBORHOOD REDEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO RICHARD LLOYD

The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project Ernest W. Burgess https://www.visitogden.com/about-ogden/ogden-history/ https://www.walkscore.com/UT/Ogden/Southeast_Ogden https://bestneighborhood.org/race-in-ogden-ut/ https://discoveringogden.blogspot.com/