Main Street has drawn banks, retailers, and heavy foot traffic through the blocks just south of Temple Square. Take a breath and you can imagine why: the few blocks immediately south of Temple Square have long drawn banks, major retailers, and heavy foot traffic through the city’s history. To your right—one block east—runs State Street, wider and faster, built for the long-distance automobile traffic that moves away from downtown because of its width, speed limit, and restrained cross traffic.
Look south along Main and you’ll notice how the long southern extension, past about 500 and 600 South, lives forever in the shadow of that rival thoroughfare. Main Street’s reach doesn’t stop in the city; it extends farther south into South Salt Lake, Millcreek, and Murray. In Murray the street actually begins at a four-way intersection with 4500 South and Auto Boulevard; Auto Boulevard acts as a southern continuation before curving east to meet State Street.
There’s even a proposal to extend Main a short distance south of that intersection, displacing the north end of Auto Boulevard and then splitting into a new one-way pair. This street's character keeps shifting as you go: busy and grand near Temple Square, then quieter as it stretches south through Millcreek toward Murray.