WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- Bob Farnsworth remembers his children sledding down a hill on 5600 West -- all the way to 3500 South.

"You think they could do that today?" Farnsworth asked. "No way."

That was 54 years ago, when he first moved into his house along 5600 West. Then, it was a gravel road.

Now the street has grown to four paved lanes, and fields owned by Farnsworth and his six neighbors are surrounded by houses. The growth that transformed his rural lifestyle into suburbia came slowly, but in the past few years he has seen his part of West Valley City grow into an ever-expanding business district.

It all changed in 2003, with the arrival of Wal-Mart.

"That's what kick-started everything," said West Valley City Manager Wayne Pyle, who said he once thought the area -- full of salvage yards and empty fields -- "would look like (that) until forever."

In 2000, there were only 32 businesses along 5600 West (State Road 172), from 2100 South to 3500 South. There are now 98. The city's share of sales tax revenue almost quadrupled in those seven years.

Pyle said the economic downturn occurring nationwide hasn't been reflected in what's happening in the 5600 West corridor -- neither has the housing crisis.

"We've seen an overall slowing of residential building permits (in West Valley City), but not in this area," Pyle said.

Apartments, townhouses and single-family houses are all being built south of 2700 South. There are even designs for a church and a library.

That's part of the overall plan for 5600 West: Stores on the street and homes farther in, creating a place where "you live here, work here, shop here," Pyle said.

And that's largely what the area has become for Phillip Gonzalez. He moved to his home on 3300 South more than six years ago -- not because it seemed like things would stay the same or maybe grow, but because he got a good deal.

"We just kind of got lucky; we didn't know all this stuff was coming," he said.

Although he worries about keeping his three children safe with all the traffic on the street, he says he and his wife enjoy the area.

"Everything that we need is right here," he said. "Pretty much in walking distance."

But that was exactly what several longtime residents were hoping to get away from.

"We kind of felt like pioneers," said Marlene Pinkney, who moved to 5600 West nearly a half century ago. "We dug the foundation; he built the home," she said referring to her husband, LaMar. "It was a great place to raise children."

Pinkney said she didn't mind some of the development that happened around her, like more houses and the Albertsons.

"We really expected to live out in the suburbs, but the city just pounced on us. We're right in the middle of a big city," Pinkney said. "But I guess that's progress."

She and her husband have received a few offers to buy their land -- where they still have some chickens and a goat. They don't want to sell, but she's tempted, given the uncertainty of the road's future.

For example, she wonders whether the freewaylike Mountain View corridor will be built on 5800 West, or whether 5600 West will become a busier road.

And she wants to know if the city will widen the street again -- taking more land off her front yard. The couple lost nearly 16 feet when it was enlarged four years ago.

And there aren't any answers -- not from city officials or even the Utah Transit Authority.

While there are proposals to amend the Wasatch Front Regional Council's transportation plan to include a mass-transit corridor along 5600 West, a decision won't be made until its meeting later this month.

West Valley City is going forward with development, hoping mass transit will catch up.

"If I were king for a day, I would have built the transit first," said Mayor Dennis Nordfelt, adding that stores and homes must create demand before it's built.

Pyle said the hope is to ease traffic flow until bus rapid transit (BRT) comes in. The goal: alleviate the "classic problem" of growth.

"It's good and wonderful ... then pretty soon no one can get around."

According to UTA Deputy Director Mick Crandall, if 5600 West is selected to be a transit corridor, the road might not need to be widened. The shoulder could provide enough room for the bus and, later, light rail.

If approved, BRT-lane construction could start, "I'm guessing -- more than three years away, less than six," Crandall said.

But development won't wait for mass transit to catch up.

"The second-largest city ought to have more than one commercial center," Nordfelt said.

City officials hope commuters en route to Magna and Tooele won't just drive past West Valley City, but actually stop in -- and spend money.

All of this comes at a cost. Some small-business owners feel pushed out.

Charles Butcher bought the land for Chick's Auto Wreckage because he was told "nobody would ever bother you out there 'cause the land is worthless."

The prediction was wrong, and Butcher said he and other salvage yard owners have had several problems with the city trying to pass ordinances to kick them off their land near State Route 201.

"They've been fighting to get us out and put big stuff in instead of us little guys," he said.

Butcher is moving out. The fields just north of 2700 South on the east side of 5600 West were recently sold, and he and wife Kathy are moving from the red-brick home they have rented for the past 23 years.

"They're tearing it down -- it's really sad," Kathy said. "The kids grew up here. Half of them cried when I told them."