Considering its historical reputation as the place to find "adult" entertainment, you have to look closely to find State Street's wild side these days.
Tucked within walking distance of courthouses, city parks and shopping centers are a handful of strip clubs, adult bookstores and novelty shops, but there are fewer than 12 in all.
At the northern end of the corridor is Bob's Magazine and Video, at 360 S. State, which carries hundreds of regular titles like Life, Newsweek and National Geographic.
But most people don't come to Bob's to view wildlife of the Serengeti.
It is the store's 140 other selections that keep a steady stream of mostly men finding their way to the "adults only" section. In here, magazines like Hustler, Barely Legal and Family Lust crowd the shelves.
While the store's videos and DVDs consist only of "cable version" titles — where sex is implied — Bob's printed material is more blatant.
"To me it's just a business," said Muhammad Iqbal Sial, owner of the store. "People from all walks of life are our customers, not just the uneducated."
Sial describes his magazines as "soft-core" compared to other material found around the country. Besides, with the advent of the Internet and satellite television, he said, people can find more explicit pictures in their own homes.
"I would actually like to be in some other kind of business, something more modern like auto sales or computers," Sial said. "This business has been affected quite a bit by the Internet and other factors."
Those other factors include a crackdown by Salt Lake officials enforcing Utah's anti-obscenity laws. Bob's was hit with fines of up to $25,000 this year for selling non-cable-version movies.
Sial's brother, Altaf Hussien Sial, ran a separate adult bookstore at 777 S. State but closed the business earlier this year. A third brother continues to run a Bob's Magazine and Video store at 1207 S. State.
Less than two blocks away, Hyatts Magazine Store offers a wide selection of adult movies and magazines. Farther south, in Murray, is Sam's Magazine and Video, tucked in the back corner of a strip mall on the corner of Vine and State.
Sam's offers adult titles only. The store's frosted windows carry a sign prohibiting those under 21 years of age from entering, a marked contrast to the insurance office, barber shop and wireless phone center adjacent to the store.
Just down the road from Sam's is Southern X-Posure, a strip club where a sizable lunch crowd gathers early to watch women wearing only neon pasties and G-strings dance under flashing lights. Other strip clubs include Dream On, the Million Dollar Saloon and Trails II.
Doctor John's Lingerie and Novelty Boutique in Midvale once sold pornographic videos and sex toys but discontinued their sale after Midvale city officials said the store needed a sexually oriented business license.
In May, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the findings of a district court that issued a permanent injunction against the store banning the sale of sexually oriented items.
That issue is still being challenged, according to Andrew McCullough, an attorney representing Doctor John's.
Even with the handful of adult clubs and bookshops, State Street's image and reputation remains rather clean.
All of which means that, compared to cities like Atlanta and San Francisco, State Street's problems these days are miniscule, said Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom.
There was a time during the 1980s and 1990s when prostitution on State Street was mainstream, he said, but prosecutors clamped down.
"We went after this in a really systematic way," said Simarjit Gill, Salt Lake City prosecutor and a special deputy district attorney. "We were on the Western circuit. At that time we probably prosecuted well over 50 to 60 pimps. I think we made a significant impact. We're not seeing the pimping and out-of-state circuit girls here with the same volume that we had."
E-MAIL: danderton@desnews.com