Murray has clean streets full of familiar faces, lots of green and quite a bit of autonomy for a city that's only 9 square miles.
But that's what makes Murray Murray. And that's why Murrayites love it."Economic powerhouse," "small-town atmosphere" and "in the center of everything" are some of the superlatives old-timers give as reasons to stay, without batting an eye when they say they've never even considered leaving.
It's also why "people and businesses continue to flock to Murray," Mayor Lynn Pett said last month in his State of the City address.
"It's in an excellent location, in the center of transportation between I-15 and 215, in the center of the state's most populous county," Pett said. "We have lower utility rates, lower property taxes and our own high-quality school system. Murray's just a great place to live."
Murray locals echo those sentiments.
"We're unique," said Faun Bagley, a resident of 31 years. "We live right here in the center. We have our own everything. It's a neat little place to live."
Historical records show that Murray was settled by 20 LDS families as early as 1860. Back then, it was known as South Cottonwood. In 1902 the area incorporated with less than 5,000 residents. The new city's name would honor Eli H. Murray, territorial governor of Utah from 1880 to 1886. Murray's name had graced the local post office for a number of years.
At one time, Murray had to annex people in to claim its autonomy. But in the past 30 years, the city has doubled its population. Its most explosive growth was between 1950 - when 9,006 people lived there - and 1960, when the census recorded a whopping 16,806 residents.
Today, more than 33,000 people call Murray home, up 28 percent from its 25,750 record 15 years ago.
Pett, now in his second term as mayor, has lived in the city since he was a lad of 9 years old. He's now in his 35th year in Murray government.
"We've experienced quite a bit of growth. Just a lot of people want to live in Murray," Pett said, attempting to get to the heart of the influx. "I didn't think we had that much space left."
The Department of Public Works confirms what Pett and many lifers would never believe otherwise: 1994 was Murray's busiest construction year to date. Residential and commercial building totaled more than $46.7 million at year's end. In 1991, those same receipts totaled a mere $18.8 million.
"People are building more expensive homes now. It's something we haven't seen before," Pett said, noting that homes in the city now go for $100,000 to $300,000.
Such numbers are lost on Charlotte Cox, a 38-year resident of Murray. She and her husband settled west of State Street shortly after their marriage. She says they bought their house for $15,000 back in the days when downtown Salt Lake City was a long ways away - before the freeways came and open fields spread out all around them.
Now there's revenue-generating Burlington Coat Factory and Toys 'R' Us nearby. They're surrounded by an unprecedented number of eateries, and the house next door just sold for $115,000.
"I still like living in Murray," Cox said. "The people are friendly and it's small enough so that you see people you know wherever you go.
"We are a self-contained system: We have our own library, fire and schools. We are Murray City."
There is a certain Murray pride that comes with recognition from the Utah Arts Council for continued cultural excellence, a school district that bests older, larger ones in the state and nation, a fire department ranked seventh in the nation for competitive skills and producing the Salt Lake Valley's model of what the Jordan River Parkway can be with preservation efforts. Murray residents also boast about the accessibility of the City Council.
But growth in and around Murray has brought unwelcome problems.
"It's not the growth in Murray City that affects Murray City, it's the growth around Murray City that affects Murray City," Pett said. "Everybody's going through Murray, so we get the brunt of traffic. It would be easy if you just had to plan for your own citizens."
To alleviate some of the congestion primarily along 900 East and State Street, city officials are studying a plan to extend Main Street, which ends abruptly at 4500 South. Pett admits the expansion to 7200 South "is a big project for a little city to take on," but he says the expansion is a "high priority" and the city is looking at it in the budget this year.
In 1994, Murray collected $10.4 million in gross sales tax receipts. It also welcomed the $2-million renovation of Kmart, a new LDS chapel on Vine Street, a couple of major office buildings and a new strip shopping mall at 6200 South, which includes Blockbuster Music, Computer City, Ultimate Electronics and Men's Warehouse stores.
The Larry H. Miller Group's automotive dynasty along State Street continues to provide the bulk of Murray's sales base, though. The Miller businesses generated 14.12 percent of the city's total sales receipts last year. At $1.5 million, that was more than twice what the second place Pace/Sams Club produced.
"Simply stated, people and businesses do not relocate in undesirable areas," Pett said last month in his address. And former Murrayites want to come back.
"Once you live here, you always kind of belong to Murray City. There always seems to be that real pride," he said, beaming.