People who live in two Salt Lake County neighborhoods less than 20 miles apart have vastly different views out their windows. One, in West Valley City, is mostly in a built environment with backyard views of public storage and loading docks for strip malls, offering residents few opportunities to step out their front doors into nature. In the other, along Salt Lake City’s East Bench, residents can walk to a trail leading up Grandeur Peak or be in Millcreek Canyon within minutes.
These two neighborhoods illustrate that where Utahns live, who their neighbors are and how much money they make often determine their chances of enjoying the health benefits of Utah’s nature-rich landscape. Access to green space — trees and grass and natural beauty — isn’t just a nice thing to have. As Shane Moore, director of parks and community services in St.
George, said, there is “a definite correlation between mental health and access to open space.” The urban areas where most of Utah’s population lives are not rich in health-supporting nature, such as mountains and national parks, according to an analysis by NatureQuant , an Oregon-based company. That’s particularly true in areas that are historically underprivileged — whether by way of their economic status or demographic diversity.
Applying NatureQuant’s measuring system — a “NatureScore,” a value between zero and 100 based on environmental conditions and other metrics — to the two Salt Lake County neighborhoods .
