Even so, many Utahns probably have meandered through Millcreek Township without knowing it.

It's a bedroom community tucked between Utah's capital and a handful of better-known municipal neighbors such as Holladay, Murray, South Salt Lake and Taylorsville.

Even Millcreek residents wonder about their community's identity. Most say they hail from their neighborhoods - Mount Olympus, East Millcreek, Canyon Rim and west-side Millcreek - instead of their 56-square-mile township.

And sometimes it takes a garbage can to help residents figure out which community they call home, according to the county's township liaison, Rita Lund.

If you have a green can, you live in Salt Lake City. If you have a black one, you are in Millcreek.

But, really, name recognition doesn't matter much to these suburban dwellers, who rave more about their neighborhoods' proximity to shopping outlets and freeway entrances. They speak of peaceful neighborhoods, fresh air along the east bench and a reasonable commute into downtown Salt Lake City.

"It is just a nice area," said retired schoolteacher Margo Hansen, leafing through a magazine in the East Millcreek Library. "People are coming to appreciate the community more than they used to."

A river runs through it

The suburb sprouted along the still-flowing Millcreek Canyon stream in the mid-1800s as pioneers erected flour, lumber and even molasses mills along its banks.

That creek soon powered 22 mills and provided enough water to feed the area's orchards and farms. Many of Millcreek's early churches and homes rose from timber harvested along its banks.

Those waters continue to wind through residential neighborhoods. They pass beside a string of artists' studios on 2300 East, where furniture makers, painters and martial-arts experts have set up shop.

They wander alongside a pumpkin-carriage playground in an East Millcreek park, where the county plans to replace the suburb's library and recreation center with something bigger and better.

What Millcreek hasn't produced during the past 150 years is a downtown.

"This is basically it," said Sharla Aldous, who had plucked a book from the library shelves. "We don't have a center of town."

Although dissected by high-traffic commercial corridors along 3300 South and 3900 South - not to mention State Street, 700 East and 2300 East - Millcreek is missing a main drag that's distinctly its own.

Instead, the township tends to gravitate toward a sleepier street bordered more by homes than businesses. There, on Evergreen Avenue (3435 South), the community seems to cluster around the 7-acre East Millcreek park near 2230 East - home to the neighborhood's library and rec center.

The parking lot is packed. Mothers with children scurry in and out of the library. And businessmen, toting gym bags, spend their lunch hour shooting hoops.

But is it downtown? You bet, according to a 2004 survey included in the township's general plan.

The survey found that 30 percent of residents consider Evergreen Avenue as the "center of the community." The only other contenders were Evergreen and Tanner parks.

With that in mind, the county has begun a massive makeover of the Evergreen complex that could triple the library's floor space, provide meeting space for seniors and update the community's fitness center by early 2009.

County officials rank the project among their chief priorities, Lund said, because Millcreek "needs a place we can call downtown."

Arty avenue

A little-known gem of this community lies less than a block from the East Millcreek Library.

Its orange-brick facade has changed little through the years . . . well . . . save for the bright-colored entryways of red, yellow and green that set the tone for this "Artipelago" in the midst of Millcreek.

Although shoppers are scarce most days of the year, this art studio strip on 2300 East attracts hundreds during its seasonal gallery strolls - the next is scheduled for Nov. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m.

The owner plays jazz. His longest-standing tenant, Vintage Arts, refinishes furniture that has adorned the offices of LDS leaders Russell Nelson and Thomas Monson. But the complex also is rich with history. The site served as the hub of Utah's first "high-tech" boom in the 1920s.

Eccentric inventor and devout polygamist Nathaniel Baldwin operated Baldwin Radio Co. on the property, employing 150 men and women around the clock.

The factory - which relied on the nearby creek for electricity - produced a variety of gadgets, including the first-ever radio headset, known as "Baldy Phones."

Today, painter Stephanie Saint-Thomas calls the old factory home as one of 18 artists who have established studios along the old Millcreek stream. The setting is superb, she said.

"I've always been enchanted by the property," said Saint-Thomas, a Madrid- born artist who completed her first oil painting at age 2. "It's unusual and arty."

Those studios certainly will give nearby Evergreen Avenue a head start if it evolves into Millcreek's downtown, according to Artipelago manager Kevin Flynn.

Super-sized, please

What vexes this east-side suburb - at least the historic core - is the spread of so-called McMansions through neighborhoods untouched by second-story homes.

In this land-starved real-estate market, tiny tract houses are being swallowed up by super-sized homes that snug up to property lines and reshape residents' skylines.

Kyan Skeem lost the morning sun at his East Millcreek home, where his red-brick bungalow stands side by side with a mansion twice as high and twice as long.

Four picture windows and a pair of french doors now overlook his backyard.

Skeem doesn't blame his neighbors for wanting more floor space - "I can understand why people would want a nicer home," he said - but he finds the loss of privacy "obnoxious."

So what of his backyard?

"I'm considering poplars," he said.

The monster-home problem is pervasive in Millcreek Township, where homes range from a meager 440 square feet to nearly 17,000 square feet.

The Salt Lake County Council is considering an ordinance that would bridle the building bonanza, forcing developers to keep their castles compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods.

Still, some residents don't mind the mansions.

Spencer Matheson can see the terraced roof of one such behemoth from his doorstep - standing high above his neighbor's house across the street - but he has no beef with big builders.

It's partly the economy, he said. It's partly Americans' increased appetite for larger homes. Matheson expects Millcreek Township to grow into it. "People want nice homes, big homes," he said. "It does look weird now, but, in the long run, I think you will see these homes do the same thing."

Point is, Millcreek remains a popular place to live. According to a county survey, nearly half the residents would like to stay in the township long term.

What the community lacks is identity.

Just ask west-sider Neketta Spight, who studies dental assisting at Eagle Gate College and lives in an apartment complex near the Jordan River. She never had heard that she was part of Millcreek.

Or ask Janice Lucas, who bought her mother's house at the mouth of Millcreek Canyon. She speaks of the canyon breezes and cooler summer temperatures. But she identifies herself more by the canyon than the township.

It's a community without a name, you might say, but a community that continues to captivate homeowners.

Said Lucas: "I call it God's country."

jstettler@sltrib.com

Making Millcreek home

So why live in Millcreek? Three words: location, location, location.

Those are the findings of a 2004 survey included in the township's general plan. Residents spoke of parks aplenty, easy access to the freeway and a tolerable commute into downtown Salt Lake City.

Here is a glimpse at residents' responses:

* Why live in Millcreek? Location: 44%, Raised there: 18%, Affordable housing: 11%

* Where do you work? Salt Lake City: 38%, Millcreek Township: 13%, Retired: 9%

* How long do you plan to live in Millcreek? I plan to retire here: 43%, 10-20 years: 21%, 3-10 years: 18%

* What distinguishes Millcreek from other communities? Very convenient/easy to get downtown: 16%, Aesthetic area/close to downtown and community facilities: 12%, Neighborliness/ family-oriented: 9%

* Where is the "center of the community?'' Evergreen Avenue (includes the library, park and rec center): 30%, Evergreen and Tanner parks: 10%, There isn't a gathering place: 9%

Source: Millcreek Township master plan