A Neighborhood with Two Histories
Lake Park is one of West Valley City’s more unusual neighborhoods because its identity is shaped by two very different stories. One is the long agricultural history of the west side of the Salt Lake Valley. The other is the modern story of office campuses, golf courses, wetlands, and carefully planned suburban development.
Today, Lake Park is generally associated with the area around Lake Park Boulevard, Bangerter Highway, 2400 South, 2700 South, and the broad business and residential districts west of the Jordan River. City planning maps identify both a Lake Park–Northwest Quadrant and a Lake Park–Bangerter planning district, reflecting the area’s size and varied character. ([wasatchchoice.org](https://wasatchchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/westvalleycity.pdf?utm_source=openai))
For longtime residents, Lake Park can feel less like an old-fashioned village and more like a neighborhood that grew in stages. Yet its open spaces, tree-lined streets, water features, and connections to nearby parks preserve something of the valley’s older landscape.
Before Lake Park: Farms, Wetlands, and West-Side Settlement
Long before modern roads and office buildings, the land that became West Valley City was part of a much broader landscape of wetlands, river bottoms, pasture, and irrigated farmland. Indigenous peoples, including Ute and Shoshone communities, lived in and traveled through the Salt Lake Valley before pioneer settlement. Archaeological discoveries in the West Valley area include evidence of temporary camps and stone-tool use dating back thousands of years. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/1175/Timeline?utm_source=openai))
After the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s, settlers gradually established farms west of the Jordan River. Early communities such as Granger, Hunter, and Chesterfield developed around irrigation canals, family farms, dirt roads, and small local gathering places. The region remained largely agricultural well into the twentieth century.
That rural background still helps explain Lake Park’s spacious layout. Instead of developing as a tightly packed street grid, portions of the area were assembled from large tracts of land. Open land, drainage areas, and natural features remained part of the planning conversation even as development accelerated.
How Lake Park Got Its Name
The modern Lake Park name appears to have come from the planned Lake Park Corporate Center rather than from a historic pioneer settlement bearing that name. Developed in the late twentieth century, the corporate center was planned as a large office and recreation complex near Bangerter Highway and 2400 South.
An early description of the project called it an approximately 600-acre business park built around a 27-hole golf course designed by Johnny Miller. The development was promoted as an office campus with landscaped grounds, lakes, trails, and preserved habitat. ([deseret.com](https://www.deseret.com/1999/9/14/19465634/w-v-getting-legacy-complex/?utm_source=openai))
That combination of water, open space, and business development gave the name “Lake Park” a natural appeal. Over time, the name spread beyond the corporate center and came to describe the surrounding neighborhood and planning district. In other words, Lake Park is a relatively modern place name, but it was chosen to emphasize the landscape qualities that developers hoped would distinguish the area.
The Turning Point: West Valley City Takes Shape
The decades after World War II brought major change to the west side of the valley. Industrial growth and suburban expansion increased the population of Granger, Hunter, and surrounding communities. New subdivisions replaced many farms, while businesses appeared along important corridors such as 3500 South and Redwood Road. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/our_community/about_us/history_of_west_valley_city/index.php?utm_source=openai))
Residents eventually organized to address concerns about infrastructure, growth, public services, and the uneven distribution of parks. Those efforts helped create the Granger-Hunter Community Council in 1964. After an earlier failed attempt, West Valley City incorporated on July 1, 1980. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/our_community/about_us/history_of_west_valley_city/index.php?utm_source=openai))
Lake Park’s development belongs largely to the next chapter. As West Valley City matured, officials and private developers looked for ways to attract major employers while also creating recreation areas and better connections between neighborhoods. The Lake Park Corporate Center, Presidential Business Park, and the entertainment district near what is now the Maverik Center became important examples of that strategy. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23718/2025-General-Plan—Introduction?utm_source=openai))
The Corporate Center and Stonebridge Golf Course
The Lake Park Corporate Center became one of the neighborhood’s defining landmarks. Its broad office campuses helped bring regional and national employers to West Valley City, including Discover Financial Services, Intermountain Health Care, Rocky Mountain Power, and other major companies. City planning documents describe the area as largely developed for office and business uses, with additional hotels, medical facilities, and supporting services. ([ob.wvc-ut.gov](https://ob.wvc-ut.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?doctype=2&id=7687&utm_source=openai))
Stonebridge Golf Course added another layer to the neighborhood’s identity. The original Lake Park concept included a 27-hole course, landscaped grounds, and lakes intended to create an attractive setting for both workers and visitors. In 2002, West Valley City purchased the golf course to preserve recreational opportunities and protect green space. ([digitallibrary.utah.gov](https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/aw-server/rest/product/purl/USL/s/1db60471-8677-42a2-9d3f-6b9153cc1687?utm_source=openai))
That decision mattered because Lake Park could easily have become an entirely commercial district. Instead, the golf course and surrounding open areas helped maintain a sense of breathing room. Even residents who do not work in the office parks often experience the neighborhood through its wide roads, views across open land, and recreational spaces.
Streets and Places That Tell the Story
Several streets help define Lake Park’s modern geography:
- Lake Park Boulevard serves as the neighborhood’s most recognizable namesake road.
- Bangerter Highway connects the area with communities throughout the western Salt Lake Valley.
- 2400 South and 2700 South provide important east-west access to offices, homes, schools, and nearby recreation.
- Corporate Park Drive reflects the district’s business-oriented development.
- Parkway Boulevard links Lake Park with Decker Lake and other destinations farther east.
Nearby Decker Lake is especially important to understanding how the area has evolved. Located near 2300 Parkway Boulevard, Decker Lake Park is a roughly 52-acre regional park centered on an urban wetland and open-water lake. A paved walking loop follows the shoreline, creating a place for walking, birdwatching, fishing, and quiet reflection. ([saltlakecounty.gov](https://www.saltlakecounty.gov/parks-recreation/parks-trails/all-parks?utm_source=openai))
The lake also connects to the wider trail network. City plans identify a walkway around Decker Lake and links to the Crosstowne Trail, which is intended to connect the Jordan River Trail with areas farther west. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/2180/General-Plan—Parks-Recreation-and-Cult?utm_source=openai))
From Business District to Complete Community
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Lake Park became more than an office address. Residential development filled in around the business center, with single-family homes, apartments, schools, and neighborhood services appearing on land that had once been farmland or open acreage. Many homes in the broader Lake Park area date from the 1970s through the early 2000s, reflecting the neighborhood’s gradual suburban buildout. ([neighborhoodscout.com](https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ut/west-valley-city/lake-park?utm_source=openai))
The area has continued to change as West Valley City has grown more diverse and more connected. New housing, hotels, medical offices, and educational facilities have joined the older corporate campuses. Nearby TRAX and station-area planning around Decker Lake have also encouraged attention to walking, transit, and mixed-use development. The Decker Lake area now includes offices, residences, hospitality uses, the Maverik Center, and recreational amenities within a connected urban district. ([wvc-ut.gov](https://www.wvc-ut.gov/DocumentCenter/View/23734/2025-General-Plan—Station-Area-Plans?utm_source=openai))
What Makes Lake Park Special
Lake Park does not have the same nineteenth-century storefronts or unmistakable pioneer landmarks found in older Utah communities. Its heritage is subtler. It is the story of farmland becoming suburbia, suburbia becoming a city, and a modern business district being designed with lakes, trails, and open space in mind.
The neighborhood’s character can be found in the contrast between Lake Park Boulevard’s office campuses and the quiet edges of Stonebridge Golf Course; between busy Bangerter Highway and the calm walking path at Decker Lake; and between the planned landscape of the corporate center and the older agricultural patterns still visible in parts of West Valley City.
For longtime residents, that blend is what makes Lake Park memorable. It is a place where the west side’s rural past has not disappeared entirely—it has been reshaped into parks, waterways, streets, workplaces, and neighborhoods that continue to grow with West Valley City.