It could happen. While trying to battle massive homes in well-heeled neighborhoods, City Council members are exploring ways to build new suburban-style homes - ones with four or five bedrooms, two-car garages and big back yards - in a depressed area near downtown.

Councilwoman Nancy Saxton is pitching the experiment for part of her district between 500 and 800 South and 200 and 500 East to lure middle-class families back from the suburbs.

And Councilman Dave Buhler has given the concept a name: urban homesteading.

The land won't exactly be free, but the city's Redevelopment Agency is trying to find ways to make it inexpensive enough to compete with places like South Jordan's Daybreak, where four-bedroom homes run as low as $173,000. And while these houses would be suburban in size, the lots would be smaller and the design would be more urban-like.

"If you go to Eagle Mountain or Herriman, you're still going to get more house for your dollar," said Councilman Carlton Christensen. This "would at least give a family the option to stay in an urban area."

Council members are in the early stages of the discussion. They don't know how much money they will spend or what properties they will buy. The RDA would likely assemble a couple of parcels and sell them as one lot to private developers. It may buy vacant properties or existing homes. The sellers would have to be willing, since RDAs no longer have the power of eminent domain.

Until now, city officials have focused on building multi-family housing downtown, from low-income apartments to upper-end condos. That's good for empty nesters, singles and couples. But Salt Lake City is losing families. Two elementary schools have closed. And the citywide population continues to drop. At 178,605, it's down 3,138 from 2000.

The area slated for the experiment already has homes. Some are unkempt, while others are shabby. Thomas Mutter, chairman of the Central City Neighborhood Council, supports Saxton's plan. Homes on the edges of downtown may be quaint, but they're small - even for couples, Mutter said. "Everybody notices there's a lack of families downtown."

But he and a group of residents, who have been working with Saxton on the plan, have concerns about tearing down viable homes to simply replace them with homes. And the bigger houses might price out residents now living in the neighborhood.

"Maybe that's the trade-off to get the people back downtown," Mutter said.

Real estate broker Linda Wolcott said there is a demand for large, affordable homes downtown, noting police officers with families can't afford the city's larger homes. But she questions if the idea is feasible. Downtown property is pricey. And families want to be by other families, not apartment complexes.

"That's why Daybreak is so successful," she said. "Everything is brand new and everybody there is kind of like you are."

hmay@sltrib.com