Tree house and "brownstones"

I decided I needed to get out and walk off some of the holiday treats that have been showing up around the office. As I've mentioned before SLC has huge city blocks and in the southern part of Central city some of the blocks were split into smaller blocks ,  some with alleys and some with both. One of  the streets is Park  St.  Park St. has one the few old row homes common in east coast cities left in the SLC. Park is also home to one of the dozens of pocket parks hidden mid-block in the central city neighborhood that are almost a secret to all but the neighborhood kids that live nearby. Speaking of secrets I wandered across a hidden treehouse today... A big one too with Windows and a full size door hidden, as usual, mid block. As a kid I always wanted a treehouse in 4th grade a friend and I had ideas of taking over our elementary school and creating treehouse sentinel checkpoint that we could rule the smallest country in the world. I wonder what the kids in this treehouse rule over?
 

   As with most older cities the condition of buildings vary but SLC seems to have a higher concentration of absentee landlords who do nothing for their properties besides collect a rent check. I took a picture of one the houses that has looked been a dump for years now. Siding falling off, the roof losing shingles broken windows. Guaranteed that place was bought 20+ years ago with little to nothing done to improve the property. Sure not every place can be a palace but some people don't even try.

Around the corner took a look at a house that had been condemned a couple if years ago but apparently someone fixed it up along with the condos accross the street.

700 east is a 6 lane highway racetrack that allows drivers to connect to I-80  from the east side of downtown. It is NOT at all pedestrian friendly as it can only be traversed every 4 blocks. One of the little quirks and juxtapositions that gets me though is 700 east is one of the oldest stretches of sidewalks in the city with several hundred feet of the original sandstone sidewalks I've mentioned before. The juxtaposition is the slower pace of the past mere feet from the speeding single occupancy suburban assault vehicles whizzing by.

Finally at the corner of 800 south and 900 east is another one of SLCs giant Sequoia trees. This one has been chopped again and again because the power company added power lines decades after it was planted. Then once again a couple of years ago the tree was again threatened by the desire for the grocery store to add a gas station. The initial plan called for the tree to be removed (cut down) but activists stopped the tree death and the Sequoia remains misshapen and butchered as it is, but it is still a welcome sight.