What is St. George like? (Salt Lake City, Cedar City: sales, insurance, low crime)

[mattsk42]

It seems that this is the only town/city of any size that has little or no snow and temperatures over 45 during the winter. We're looking for a southern-type climate (HOT is good), and would like to stay away from the crime of Arizona and New Mexico, and away from the high prices of California. Is this a good place for a family? How's the education system for a teacher looking for a job?

[poopskooper]

Well, as I mentioned in another recent thread, we like Mesquite. However, we don't really want to be coming across as trying to sell you on Mesquite. We're just mentioning it because it is an alternative and others we've talked to when considering St. George have ultimately decided on Mesquite as a place to settle. We've had stints in both cities years ago and both, in our opinion, are great places to live.

Yes, I'd say generally that St. George is good for families primarily because of the LDS influence. St. George is still predominantly LDS so obviously, many living in St. George are extremely family oriented. I'll let you decipher all the minutia of the pros and cons of being or not being LDS after reading the other threads in the St. George forum. There are many threads here from those asking about how comfortable they'll be in St. George not being LDS.

We'll have to leave opinions on how it is for teachers to others as we've been away from it for decades and really don't keep up with how things are in the schools any longer. Click here for the current open positions in the Washington County School District.

If you'd like to explore Mesquite a bit more, it's in the Clark County School District which is the public school district for Las Vegas and all of Clark county. From what we hear, there are a lot of openings for teachers in Vegas but I believe it's more difficult to secure a teaching position in Mesquite.

Some of the reasons we like Mesquite 1) no state income tax, 2) no sales tax on food, 3) smaller and more community oriented ...still has a very strong LDS influence but not quite as much as St. George, 4) much warmer in the winter with less snow, 5) still close enough to St. George and Vegas so as not to feel isolated but want a smaller to in which to live; again, almost considered a suburb of St. George as many commute in each direction daily.

St. George, however, is bigger and has all the amenities such as all the big box stores, a larger hospital, etc. St. George is also a bit cooler in the summer than Mesquite ...still very hot but not as much so as the elevation is more than 2,700 feet with Mesquite being about 1,600 feet. Mesquite can get extremely hot in the summer sometimes even coming close to the temperatures of Laughlin, LHC, Phoenix, etc.

Both St. George and Mesquite are lower than average in crime. When we lived in Mesquite, it was a very small town and many left their doors unlocked. It's grown quite a bit since and so has the crime rate. St. George too was once had a very low crime rate but as it grows, so does its crime statistics.

Good luck and I hope others will chime in as I'm sure many may not agree with all I've posted here.

[UTES]

My thoughts of St. George:

A clean city that's big enough to have things like "big box" stores and entertainment events without being too big. It's easy to get around and the "vibe" seems to be positive with (overall) friendly people. The mild Winters make up for the hot Summers. The areas of the city that are questionable are relatively few for a city of St. George's size.

When my wife and I were looking at second homes St. George was high on the list. We ultimately went with Las Vegas for tax and other reasons the prior poster noted when describing Mesquite.

Bill

[kcoliver]

Agree with UTES - St. George is close to Mesquite (for night life) and gambling. Only a few questionable areas - nice people, more expensive than Vegas. I'm not sure about teaching jobs, but I do know a teacher that tells me if she ever got a DUI she would lose her job, and salary isn't comparable to many other places, something to think about. Yes family orientated.

[mattsk42]

Thanks, very good info. We're coming from SoDak, where teacher pay is the worst, or very close to it, in the country. Also, I think most teachers here would get fired or looked at very hard for anything even close to a DUI. It's an incredibly clean/traditional state. But thanks for the heads up, that's actually a positive for us.

[markg91359]

Those who have posted before me have done a good job of describing St. George. Let me add a few comments of my own. My wife and I own a second home in Ivins (next to St. George).

Respectfully, I would pick St. George over Mesquite as a place to live. The environment is much more family oriented. Any Nevada city is full of casinos and Mesquite is no exception. This is always going to draw tourists and a transient population which may not be the best thing for you or your family. The temperatures are very, very hot in Mesquite in the summer as one poster pointed out. Absence of an income tax means less infrastructure and important government services. St. George has excellent infrastructure with even a municipal bus service now. The St. George area has an excellent outdoor theater, Tuacahn Theater, in Ivins. This is a huge outdoor theater that is drawing high quality entertainment. The red rock areas and canyons surrounding St. George are prettier than the area Mesquite is in. IMO, the hiking is better. Hiking trails are better in St. George in the sense there are more of them, they are better developed, and better maintained. One of the parkways, the Snow Canyon Parkway, is very well landscaped and very beautiful when the desert plants bloom. St. George has Snow Canyon State Park which is an excellent place to spend an afternoon hiking and climbing among red rock formations. Dixie State University in St. George has become part of the University of Utah and students will be able to attend college there and transfer all their credits to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. St. George has good to excellent medical care. The new hospital is about five stories tall. The only medical specialty I didn't see while reviewing a list of physicians in St. George was neurosurgery. Prices are a bit cheaper for everything, but housing in St. George because the cost of living and wages in Utah are less than in Nevada. St. George is closer to national parks like Zion National Park (about 60 miles away) than Mesquite is. As far as crime goes, I had a conversation with a deputy sheriff in St. George. He told me that crime was a very minor concern and he couldn't really say there was any bad neighborhood in the whole area that he would truly advise anyone to avoid.

I'd pick St. George, but I also admit I am biased.

[Lurker21]

I was raised in St.George and my husband and kids and I just recently moved back east to further his education. I can say that growing up there was great! It was safe enough to be able to ride my bike all over town, lots of extra curricular things to do and the climate was good if you can handle the heat. I am 25 so this wasn't that long ago. A couple downsides would be that drugs are becoming a major problem in the area. My brother is a cop there and so I have heard all about it. Another downside in my eyes would be diversity. Education really isn't all that important (people usually just go to college to party and get a business degrees that they don't really end up using. Construction is the main "career" and since 2008 it has been tough on a lot of people. Going along with the diversity thing is the fact that the majority of people are white and LDS. Now that isn't necessarily a bad thing (I am also white and LDS) but I prefer to raise my family in a more diverse area. To answer your question on the education system for a teacher, I have a few friends who are teachers in the area and they really enjoy their job. And even though the pay isn't as high as other areas it definitely isn't the lowest! So overall I think St.George is a lovely place to live if you are looking for a very suburban family oriented place to live. It just didn't match my families criteria anymore

[silverspoons]

I agree a lot with lurker21, we thinking of leaving now as well.

I would think it would be very hard to get a job as a teacher here unless it is an undesirable position. My husband has lived here all his life and I moved her from the East 10 years ago. I picked the best area for school desert hills/sunrise/Bloomington hills/little valley washington fields. There are veteran teachers that live right next to the schools and the new teachers all have had some special "in". I have watched relatives , family and friends get hired. In secondary schools it is male dominant and very clicky. My husband grew up with a lot of the teachers at one school,odd somehow they all got hired on together. I would not say the teacher quality is bad, but as the economy got very bad a lot of people went back to teaching and the selection process seems biased.

Yes the weather is great, cost of living low, and the city has the basics of what you need. There is not much else. You won't find a non-lds museum, you don't see little fairs of festival or cultural activites. there is not really even a mall(it is being remodeled again, but has been half empty for a decade with no food court or basic stores. If you have any special medical needs or any come up be prepared to make a 9-10 hour trip to SLC. There are very few insurance providers in Utah and one large HMO that rules the south. I know the plan most teachers I know have most care is out of SLC unless rountine or emergency.

I lived in SLC for a few years (actually for medical care because I was sick of the 10 hour drives) and it was better there. Sure it snows, but not much and it melts by afternoon usually (not like what I saw growing up in New England with ice storms and snow on the ground for weeks). There is so much more to do in SLC. I would not go to mesquite or clark county. My BIL moved from CA to teach there and even in Summerlin (an upscale community) it was rough.

IMO St George is fine for a few years. See the beauty of the area, but not a long term place to raise a family or have a lifelong career.

[Chickrae]

I would pick St. George for all the reasons others mentioned. That's where we are retiring so we bought a home there 4 years ago. For now we are up in beautiful Cedar City 40 miles north of St. George and also a 20 degree temperature difference. Good luck!

[fittj]

Originally Posted by silverspoons

If you have any special medical needs or any come up be prepared to make a 9-10 hour trip to SLC.

9-10 hours?!! Wow, how fast do you go, 20 mph? It takes me about 4 1/2 to 5 hrs. ...Or maybe you're talking round trip.