Ivins, Utah (St. George, Hurricane: accent, Mormon, pronounce)

[dogmom]

I think some of it has to do with what Cool calls the 'luck of the draw'. It's just impossible to know the religious makeup of a particular neighborhood before you move in...I mean how can you find out...it would not be ethical for an agent to tell you, but then don't start me on unethical stuff right now.. We were very unlucky in our move here, the next development over might be totally different..I don't know...there has got to be some where that non lds kids can meet other non lds kids...i know when my boys were little (we lived in SoCal) there were a group of us moms that met at a hospital class and we are still friends over 27 years later. That group saved my life with my little ones..maybe there is something here that will work for those who need to meet folks somewhere else besides a church.

Purple..how could anyone not come to the kids' party...you have awesome grandkids! I don't think they are ever going to deal with some of these issues. Might be your neighborhood is more diverse..seems so. maybe more friendly? seems so. Now I am getting depressed because I WANT to live in your neighborhood...sell, house, sell!

In summary...Utah is beautiful. Stunningly beautiful...Hopefully we can all just learn to get along, as Rodney King would say...have a great evening all!

[d0nbennett]

We moved to Ivins a year & a half ago for the same reasons you state. While our kids are grown, we are friends with several neighbors with non-LDS children [and those who are LDS]. While I've seen/heard about some of your concerns, my observations suggest it's largely overstated. In fact, there are quite a few non-LDSers here and in St. George. Last estimates had it at around a 60/40 split!

Non LDS kids are friends with LDS kids, and are often invited to attend some of the LDS-based activities. [E.g, last summer, our neighbors' boys were invited to a swimming party / picnic at a nearby lake.] If you are worried, there's no pressure to "convert" at these events.

While going through some growing pains, this is a great place to live and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. The city is well-run and local growth plans are in place. In addition, the city subscribes to the ideals of "Vision Dixie" which is a Washington County based plan for managed growth [which may reach as high as 700,000 within 15 years - all of Washington County].

With the new airport to the SE of St. George and the highway and development plans, anything east of I-15 will likely become congested. Given the boundaries of mountains, the Shivwits Indian reservation & St. George city, this area will remain relatively uncongested and "uplevel suburban". Services are nearby, but not in your backyard as in most communities [as is typical].

If you come, sell your home first, then buy here. There's an unusual amount of inventory and, while not as bad off as most regions, prices here have been reduced.
Don

[alicenevada]

I have 3 boys- ages 1, 4, and 8. We too are considering a move to the area. However, since we have LDS in our family and are ourselves Jehovah's Witnesses, we do not anticipate any problems. Even though we are from Tennessee and live in what is known as 'the bible belt', I haven't had any problems w/ my son feeling left out or mistreated. You would think that since we don't belong to a Fundamental Christian religion like the majority of our neighbors, he would have experienced some problems but he hasnt. His teachers are very respectful of our beliefs and his fellow classmates are curious, but not antagonistic.

The Mormon families I know are likewise very respectful of my beliefs. I can't imagine that they would be so different in Utah.

[WildWestDude]

Wow, came back from a trip to St George area.
It seems that some try to keep Ivins a secret.
Great views, nice little town, seems like a small Scottsdale.
Hate to think what will happen if the word get out more.....


here's what wikipedia sais:

"Ivins is near Tuacahn (an outdoor arts and amphitheater) and Snow Canyon State Park which draw many people to the area. There are many new planned developments some with golf courses near or in Ivins joining the earlier Kayenta and Padre Canyon developments all with lovely homes and families."

[Chickrae]

Did you like Ivins. When I go there in two weeks there are a couple homes I am looking at in Ivins. I heard it was pretty close to St. George. Is it right off I-15 or more west...east?

[WildWestDude]

I just drove around Ivins a bit. It is very scenic with many hues of red and located right next to Snow Mnt Park. Similar to Summerlin in Vegas which is also right next to a park but Ivins of course is much smaller. It is just NW of St. George, not far at all.

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

I just drove around Ivins a bit. It is very scenic with many hues of red and located right next to Snow Mnt Park. Similar to Summerlin in Vegas which is also right next to a park but Ivins of course is much smaller. It is just NW of St. George, not far at all.

We drove all over Ivins and loved it too. I agree not far from St. George. We are looking at homes there and Coral Canyon found some we liked in both places.

[WildWestDude]

Great, let us know what happens!

[Chickrae]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

Great, let us know what happens!

I will. Still haven't heard back from the short sales we put offers in on....may be a very long process.

[jbkmam]

First of all if you have kids you NEED to look at schools not neighborhoods. Unless you homeschool (or can afford the VERY FEW private options) schools should be your number one option. I have visited every school in the district.
Why Ivins? It looks that cute? compared to scottsdale? years ago it was a trailer area and there are still scattered trailers and drug issues (but this is the case in most areas down here) and areas where people yards look like junk yards. You might not buy next to these folks, but they are a few blocks over. Also the sand blows like crazy and it is hard to keep outdoor living spaces clean.
Red Mountain elementary in Ivins is okay. Test scores aren't top notch, but the staff cares. The issue is the middle school and high school are NOT acceptable to me and to most. I would never let my kids go to snow canyon, never. My kids attended arrowhead (in santa clara, and were not lds and never had an issue though I let my kids go to scouts at the lds church and partcicpate in things like halloween parties etc) and arrowhead again was okay but I could not send my kids to snow canyon middle or high school. Ivins, santa Clara and dixie down go to this high school. It is like a gang zone at the school, with low test scores, ESL issues, and very little college prep (I had a niece that graduated from there 4 years ago and they had after school groups to plan weddings and they encouraged my niece to get married over college I was so mad).

Now the schools that were best to me were bloomington hills and little valley. Both are pretty LDS. Little valley is newer and more expensive and most homes look like the same stucco boxes and bloomington hills has older homes with more charecter. Both feed in to the same high school and middle schooll which are top notch and even though they are more lds, I did not see one gang issue at desert hills schools. Old bloomington also has a good school (near the country club) the test scores show lower but that is because they are a special ed hub.

I recently bought in bloomington hills. I tried the short sale process and is just does not work. 43 offers, not one came through, almost all full priec and we had good $$ downand credit. I just had to wait till the homes went to foreclosure and finally got one I was watching.

The only reason we are in st george is because my husband is very lucky to have a secure job with insurance and we have some family here. If his job we gone, I would not stay.

St george is not the same place my husband grew up in 225-30 years ago. It is not the same place I moved to 8 years ago. It has alot more crime, schools have gone downhill, gang issues , it is not the same retirement utopia it was. I also do not think it is going to change. The government is spending a large portion of money here on the illegal issues to help them stay. Currently there is one school dixie downs that is dual emersion (kids are forced to learn spainish and vice versa) and 2 more on the way, these schools offer free health care, music programs, travel and double the staff. My friend enrolled her child to learn spainish and I went to this school, over 700 non english speaking kids and a handful of english speakers. 8 years ago this school has less then 50 non-english speakers and 25 years ago there were none. I am not trying to be anti-anything, it is just that all schools are suffering from funding because of all the money pumped into this program. The average student gets $3400 a year spent on them, it is the 2nd lowest in the county. Remember watching idol givesback and they visited the applichian mountain range and showed poor schools they get 2 times more money then washington county schools.

As for lds issues, my husband grew up lds and I did not. My kids have never had an issue. If you are active in another faith, I have not seen anyone have issues. In you are not going to any church and sitting out back drinking beer you might be approached. I have found letteing my kids partciapate in a few things at the lds church like scouts and father son camping trips has been beneficial. No one has every asked us to church in 8 years. Also teaching your kids a few basics about the lds church is good, like kids get baptised at 8 and about missions, and what the temple is.