Moving out of here ASAP!!
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6/18/2019
Ok so first off St George is a very beautiful place for Desert scenery. I'm sure most people can agree with that statement, if you have visited or lived here. With that being said there are SEVERAL pro's and con's to living here. My honest opinion is that St George is a wonderful place to visit but I cannot consciously recommend living here for several reasons. I have lived here majority of my life. I was adopted by my parents who moved our whole family to Southern UT from California when I was but a year old. Here are the facts and my two cents...
- St George has had an abundance of growth over the last 20 years. Which is great but at the same time can be very overwhelming to the people who have lived here their whole lives and people who live in these areas where all this major growth is happening. I'm claustrophobic so with growth the city grows but your land and space between each home gets smaller and smaller. Growth isn't always a good thing. When i say growth its Mostly just houses nobody can afford.
- Jobs in St George aren't great. Many employers who are in the LDS faith often times wont hire you if your not of their same faith. If they do hire you expect to be HIGHLY restricted in the work place. Getting a job can be fairly easy if you do the work to find one, keeping the job is a different story. UT is a right to work state and any employer can fire you or let you go with little to no reason at all. Job's here do not pay well at all. Minimum Wage is $7. 25 and alot of places like to pay as close to that as possible. Its not unheard of for someone needing 2-3 jobs to survive out here. My husband has worked at the same place for more than 8 years and during that time he hasn't moved up in the company or received a significant raise in pay. Because of that we are still living paycheck to paycheck in this community and are considered to be in "Middle Class". St George was ranked the second lowest wages in the US last year. So unless you have a well paying job already lined up I highly don't recommend moving here for better work.
-St George has a wonderful public transportation system. The Suntran will take you all throughout St George and to the outskirts of Bloomington, Washington, Santa Clara. The route as also been expanded to include Ivan's now also. As of this last year we now have an abundance of motorized electric scooters to help you get all over town as well. For a small fee the Spin scooters can now get you from one end of town to the other and you can have fun in the process.
- Schools here are great when it comes to the quality of your child's education. We have alot of wonderful special education teachers (My sister is one of them.) The teachers here are so loving and wonderful to the kids I have several favorites here from when I grew up. We have alot of really great private schools which do seem to be better that most public ones in our areas for several reasons. My recommendations are Vista & Tuacahn if you want a private school. Education quality is great but bullying isn't and our schools. Washington School District in General has alot of bullying problems. I grew up highly bullied in these public schools (Tuacahn was alot better for me). My kids have also been highly bullied as well. Getting the schools to protect your kids from bullying is a nightmare. many times the principle and school district wont do anything to help you. Many of my friends have had to remove their kids from these public schools and start homeschooling them in an effort to keep their kids safe. Be very cautious when looking for a school for your kids here.
-St George is VERY HOTT in the summer. Summer months have been known to hit high triple digits in June and July. Rarely snows and when it does its typically a small layer barely covering the ground. Its frosts more than it does snow.
-The Mormon church has a HUGE presence in this whole state but i wanna say the biggest 2 areas is the salt lake valley and St George UT. I was raised in the LDS church all my life and left at 18 for a more christian lifestyle. Many members can be very nice but there are alot that Aren't. they are extremely judgmental and clickish. Growing up I lost alot of friends because my parents didn't want me to socialize outside of our religion. My dating circle was limited to those within the church as a teenager. I have heard several LDS members that have moved here from out of state claim that UT Mormons are different than the rest of the ones in other states because of how judgmental they can be.
-UT is a big REPUBLICAN state. Majority of the state loves Trump and hated Obama. Alot of our politics in office are also VERY MORMON so you can expect most liberal bills to be blocked and anything that doesn't Aline with the LDS church values is gonna get blocked as well because the LDS church basically runs this state.
-St George is a very Clean city. Very little Trash and you actually have to go looking for the homeless. Panhandling on several corners have been outlawed so you don't see alot of homeless asking for money which is nice.
Those are the basics that you really need to know before moving here. This is what St George can offer you though.
-St George is the Gateway to 3 national parks. ( Zions, Bryce Canyon & Grand Canyon.)
-Numerous National monuments and state parks. There are alot of Lakes that are great for swimming, Fishing and Boating. 3 of my favorites are Sand hallow, Quail and Gunlock. Lake Powell is also great but its a ways away.
-If you enjoy snow activities such as snow boarding, skiing and tubing then I highly recommend Brian Head Resort. Cedar Mountain and Pine Valley Mountain is where your gonna get the best Snow around here for Snow Activities.
-We have a handful of good sized libraries for school and summer reading programs.
-We have a handful of recreational centers and Gyms. Several of which have a pool open to the public during the summer months with a day pass.
-We have a ton of Shopping. Several shopping outlets are located in and around St George UT. The Red Cliffs mall is the only major mall here it is 1 floor and has some good stores such as Spencer's, Victoria Secret and Claire's but majority are lame in all honesty and don't have much to offer.
-There's TONS of food options. Grocery stores mainly consist of Lin's, Smith's, Harmon's, Walmart and Costco. eating out though gives you a plethora of options from fine dining to fast food and drive through's.
-There are a crap ton of golf courses around St George. I frankly don't see the need for more than 1 or 2 but there's quite a bit of golf course options if your into that sort of thing.
- Cooler & warmer months bring the St George Marathon, Iron Man & Huntsman world senior games to St George Area. While these might be great for someone involved in the races or for those who like to sit in 90 degree whether and wait for family and friends to cross the finish line. They aren't great for everyone else not directly involved. These events cause Serious traffic issues for those trying to get from one end of the city to the other. So many road blocks and detours absolutely nobody wants to be stuck in traffic in 100 degree weather because people wanna race. Avoid driving or avoid town completely during these events and you will thank me.
-If your moving here for better chances at section 8 housing be aware that getting a house may take anywhere from 8 months to 2 years. We have a bad section 8 housing system. Its highly disorganized and often times cannot find you a home for quite a wait period.
-We have 2 available airports nearby. St George Airport is a joke though so you will want to make the drive or take a shuttle to and from the Las Vegas airport.
-We have like zero night life and your best chance for any nightly entertainment would be either mesquite NV (Roughly 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic) and about 2 hours away from Las Vegas which has a million different things for you to enjoy at night and on the weekends.
- Summer months are great for camping, biking and hiking. we have so many wonderful walking and biking trails in and around St George UT. Camping is great all around this area. Pine Valley Mountain or Cedar Mountain are fantastic for if you wanna get away from the heat. You can hike pretty much anywhere in St George UT. best places are honestly in Zion though so if you visit or do move here make sure to get a season pass and come early in the day because Zions gets Packed fast.
-We have alot of wonderful things to offer family's with kids. So many splash pads, parks and kid friendly museums. Town square is the place to be in the summer time with little's. We have a 2 story library, splash park, children's museum and even a cute little store/eatery with discount candies and foods( check out judds store) all on the same block.
Crime is down over the last few years and overall this is a wonderful place to raise a family if you can afford it, don't mind the bipolar weather and millions of Mormons. However it has offered as much as it can to me and my family and other than amazing friends and family we have no reason to stay so we are planning on selling our house within the next year and moving out of state as soon as possible.
MommaHardy3 | Hurricane, UT