Cottonwood Heights, Utah

Cottonwood Heights, Utah
City
The old Cottonwood Paper Mill built in 1883 by the Deseret News in Cottonwood Heights.
Nickname:  city between the canyons
Location in Salt Lake County and the state of Utah.
Country	United States
State	Utah
County	Salt Lake
Incorporated	January 14, 2005
Named for	Cottonwood trees
Area
• Total	6.8 sq mi (17.6 km2)
• Land	6.8 sq mi (17.6 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	4,823 ft (1,470 m)
Population  (2012)
• Total	34,017
• Density	4,052.9/sq mi (1,564.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
Area code(s)	385, 801
FIPS code	49-16270
GNIS feature ID	1440025

Cottonwood Heights is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States, along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies south of the cities of Holladay and Murray, east of Midvale, and north of Sandy within the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Following a successful incorporation referendum in May 2004, the city was incorporated on January 14, 2005. Cottonwood Heights had been a Census-designated place (CDP) before incorporation. The population as of the 2010 census was 33,433. This is a significant increase over the CDP's 2000 census count of 27,569.

The corporate offices of Dyno Nobel, Extra Space Storage, JetBlue Airways, Overstock.com and Fusion-io are located in the city. [1]

In 2007, Money magazine rated Cottonwood Heights at #100 on their Best Places to Live list. [2]

Geography

As the city's name suggests, its geography is dominated by a high ridge separating the valleys of the Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks. At the eastern edge of the city, these valleys narrow into the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons within the Wasatch Mountains, respectively; this is reflected by the city's official nickname, "City between the canyons". The ridge is covered in suburban housing, but most commercial development has been restricted to the lower-lying areas north of the ridge (along Fort Union Boulevard, in Fort Union itself, and near Big Cottonwood Creek and the "Old Mill" in the northeast corner of the city).

State Route 190 and State Route 210 run near the eastern edge of the city and provide access to the canyons; they are the only state routes that enter the city. Interstate 215 runs along the northern border of the city and State Route 152 touches the city at a point. The city is building a multi-use trail along the full length of Big Cottonwood Creek within its borders.

Cottonwood Heights is in the Canyons School District; Brighton High School is the only public high school in the city. Butler Middle school is the only middle school in city limits.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 6.8 square miles (17.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1980	22,665		—
1990	28,766		26.9%
2000	27,569		−4.2%
2010	33,433		21.3%
2012 (est.)	34,017		1.7%
source:

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,569 people, 9,439 households, and 7,249 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,052.9 people per square mile (1,565.4/km²). There were 9,932 housing units at an average density of 1,460.1 per square mile (563.9/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.57% White, 0.70% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.28% Asian, 0.32% Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 1.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.07% of the population.

There were 9,439 households out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.2% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $62,814, and the median income for a family was $70,083 (these figures had risen to $65,463 and $81,715 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $43,114 versus $31,046 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,935. About 2.8% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 0.7% of those age 65 or over.

Police services

One of several vehicles used by the Cottonwood Heights Police.

On January 8, 2008, the Cottonwood Heights City Council voted to create its own police department and withdraw from its current contract with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department. By June 2011, their operating budget had increased $600,000. Mayor Cullimore confirmed that his officers are writing more traffic tickets since splitting from the County. In a report and interview the mayor denied that his police department was overzealous in their writing DUI tickets for residents who had only had one or two beers. Utah Stories found that the DUI conviction record for Cottonwood Heights is in fact the worst in the state, 18% of all DUI tickets written by CHPD were thrown out of court for lack of evidence.

Local media

• The Cottonwood/Holladay City Journal, newspaper, tabloid style newspaper covering local government, schools, sports, and features. Delivered to homes directly monthly by the USPS. Managed and Operated by Loyal Perch Media.

External links

• Cottonwood Heights City Official Website