Walkable/ Bikeable neighborhoods in St. George (high schools, move, pine)

[dogmom]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Dogmom, did they ever put the virgin river trail back together after the floods from a few years back?
I used to take that trail every evening with my bike back when i lived there. That was a great trail.

try this link:
http://www.sgcity.org/parks/trails/

[Mlindie]

I love to bike too. The nice thing about St. George is that most neighborhoods are bike friendly. You could even live in downtown and still have a nice quiet community and ride your bike. Most neighborhoods are close to great biking trails. Some of them run along the river. As far as water recreation. You have Quail lake, Sand hollow and Gunlock and of course don't forget Lake Powell (just 2-3 hours away) breath taking! and Lake Mead about 1.5 hours. There are also several other small reservoirs that are great for fishing all within 1 hour or less. Endless opportunities for boating, fishing etc.

[Chickrae]

wow really so you can bike in the town and down by a river etc. I will totally love that. I love biking also!

[Mlindie]

I love old St. George (downtown area). The trees are huge and the historic home are nice to look at. There just really aren't any BAD areas of town. There are a few areas I would avoid, but most of St. George is nice. There are problems in any town and St. George is facing some growing pains. The police aren't used to having gang issues (mostly coming in from California and Mexico) and I'm not saying all mexicans!!! Most of the imigrants in the area are hard working, friendly and family oriented (some illeagal immigrant issues). The police also have a drug issue to deal with. The police in St. George don't get paid that well and most of the fire department is still volunteer. It will take some time to progress. Anyway it is bike friendly just about everywhere and the trail system is GREAT and they are adding more every year.

[Chickrae]

That is the second time someone has mentioned gangs in St. George. I wonder why all of a sudden they have come there. Seems like Las Vegas would be more apt to have them, but I guess every city has its areas you want to avoid. I have only driven through St. George on my way to somewhere else so I am excited to visit and really take a look around and get familiar with the area. Of course the end of August I am sure it will be really HOT outside

[illinoisboy]

Originally Posted by Chickrae

That is the second time someone has mentioned gangs in St. George. I wonder why all of a sudden they have come there. Seems like Las Vegas would be more apt to have them, but I guess every city has its areas you want to avoid. I have only driven through St. George on my way to somewhere else so I am excited to visit and really take a look around and get familiar with the area. Of course the end of August I am sure it will be really HOT outside

Just by driving from the LV airport to St George, I could tell that Vegas has some pretty horrible gang problems. Graffiti everywhere. I mean, I have seen it on bridges, on trains, on office buildings, but never had I seen graffiti covering an entire rooftop! However, by the time we made it out of town, through Mesquite and into St george, things really started to get alot better. The city (atleast downtown) was very well landscaped, there was virtually no graffiti, and there were many, many families out walking around, plus some kids hanging out by the movie theater, just having a good time. The only not so good looking area I saw was along the freeway and above the mall. Hopefully this is where the scumbags are living. (it was pretty close to Washington) But, as Mindie said, St George is going through some massive growth, and with growth comes more crime, but for the most part, I think it is still a very safe town, even with all the new people coming in. The way I see it, people come to soUtah for the great outdoor oppurtunities, and quality of life. This is no Las Vegas. It is still a relativly small city with nothing much extrodinary to offer besides it's surroundings.

Remember to keep in mind that increased crime is nothing unique to St George. It is happening all over the country, even in rural Iowa.

Hopefully, some locals can give us some info on how bad the problems really are?

[dogmom]

We have lived in the St. George area for 3 years....we came from California..we don't see much gang activity. There are gangs EVERYWHERE folks. We don't see the grafitti and gang signs we did in our old digs...

some parts of town are better than others..maybe rent first so you can decide where it's best for you..

[blueandgold]

O.K. st george has one real gang. the paladins. they are a gang. mostly greasers. not a big problem. just dont go anywhere at night where their name is posted. alleyways etc... they ruff people up on their turf, they might sell drugs on the side. pretty harmless though. another problem. in recent hiking of mine in st. george i have noticed alters, pentagrams, and other devices of the occult. it is harmless though i am sure. the largest gang in this town is the police. i would strongly disagree with moving here if you are below the age of 21 or have teenagers. the cops shake me down excessivly.

[stycotl]

the paladins! ha! do they have wizards and stuff too? that's rich. the lord of the rings version of west side story?

[sisterbear35]

My cousin was a teacher at Dixie high, he graduated from there and went back to teach. Sadly there is a gang problem and that is why he left teaching. At all three high schools, dixie, snow canyon, and pine view there are issues. It is certainly not as bad as Vegas or LA but it is here. One thing about St george is that the way it was developed, you have 500k+ homes in a small neighborhood, and then 50 apartments go up rightr behind it, then a few retirmentment homes, then some trailers, there is no one good neighborhood or a neighborhood of all single family homes.
The whole soci-economic issue is dealt with very badly. I consider myself middle class, and his school class had girls wearing $300 designer dresses in kindergarten and kids that were homeless. This just gets worse as kids get to high school.
I have seen tagging on walls in almost every section of town, it does seem that gangs live more prominently in downtown green valley and dixie downs but with the weird housing I don't feel there are many safe areas like 10 years ago.

As for biking they are making a new trail through the flood area along dixie drive. They have already put in some nice park areas and rest stops.