Cedar City? (Salt Lake City, St. George, Logan: real estate market, low crime, house prices)

[CObound]

Can anyone tell me a little bit about Cedar City? Are there many outdoor recreation opportunities around? Is everyone that lives there LDS and if you aren't LDS are you unwelcome? How is the healthcare system, is there a good hospital? Thanks!

[brokencrayola]

My daughter was born in Cedar City and we adopted her at birth. 4 years ago they had a smaller old hospital. They now have a new one although still on the small size since it is not a huge community. The town is predominately LDS.

[NYtoVT]

Just moved to CC in April and so far we love it. There is so much outdoor recreation that it's hard to contemplate doing at all. Hiking, biking, Nationl Parks, fishing, ATV'ing.
Broken has done the hospital. Have never had the fortune (misfortune ?) to need their care so I have no first-hand knowlede. The community is very well represented by the LDS church but the ratio has changed somewhat. That pace has slowed somewhat due to the downturn in the housing market.
From my research into the healthcare system is adequate but a little expensive but not horrible. Average.

[Aerorick]

After living 30 miles from Cedar City for over a year after moving from Southern California I've reached a few cynical conclusions. It is an old town with old families. Many people I've talked to who have lived here, or near here, for all their lives have rarely ventured too far away from the area for any lenth of time. The local economy is fast-food, mom and pop stores, quad dealers and real estate agents. There is a Home Depot and Wal-mart but many people drive 47 mile south to St. George to shop. Like much of Utah there is a sort of unseen presumatly LDS authority that excludes non-members from the economic dynamics of the town. Cedar, again like many small Utah towns, likes to celebrate the past. And unfortuneatly if it doesn't face the fact that the ocean doesn't fall off the earth at the state borders, it's going to fade into the past faster than it is now.

[Blondie-Rabbit]

30 years ago, Cedar City was the larger of the cities in so Utah. The old line families, not the MORMONS were the ones who have kept it that way and will keep it that way until they get voted out of office. St. George and Cedar City actively keep companies out that pay more than minimum or very much above that. Reason is if new companies/businesses come in that pay more, then the old families would have to pay more to keep the employees, which would hurt their profit margin. So the job market is crap. A lot of them are part time, which have no benefits.

The health care is poor. The new hospital has a whopping 43 beds. If anything major happens, they send you to St. George. If they can't handle it, which if it is really major, you get shipped either to Vegas or Salt Lake City. I can't talk about the dr's in town since I have mine in St. Geroge.

As for outdoor recreation, you can't beat the area. For arts, the only thing that Cedar has going for it is the Shakespearan festival. The art scene is limited to a woolworth mentailty of cheap crafts. No real galleries, and if it is made in China it will be sold ahs high art in Cedar.

200 North is known as hamburger highway. There is every type of franchise fast food in town. Think run of the mill steak house type of bland food from the 60's and you have the high end resturants. Ther is one that tries to be different. It is on 150?so. 100 west. There is a Thai resturant coming to town, and supposedly a Japanese steak house.

Cedar is 30,000 people. There are two Starbucks and a coffee house down on the commercial section of main street. It has a University albeit a small one.

House prices are out of sight, with greed being the overriding factor. Two years ago St. George was voted one of the top places to live in the USA. Now it is not even on the list of the top 100. Cedar is touting its real estate market as if it is #1. It might take a few more years for the locals to get a clue in both Iron and Washington counties that the real estate boom died.

Now if you can afford to live there, and you don't mind small town feel, low crime, freindly people who are there to help anytime, lack of good shopping, Cedar is a wonderful place to live.

[jlh0520]

I lived in Cedar City for 7 years and I found it the best place ever to live and raise a family. You will most definitly not get judged or mistreated for being a non mormon there. There is so much recreation around. They have Zions National Park, Cedar Breaks, Three Peaks, Panguitch Lake, Red Cliffs.... and the list goes on. Unfortunately I had to leave for my husband to attend school in Logan, UT. But it's definitely on my list to go back!! It's very, VERY low crime, the shopping facilities are actually going up, there is a new entertainment area in South Cedar City.

[Blondie-Rabbit]

Originally Posted by jlh0520

the shopping facilities are actually going up, there is a new entertainment area in South Cedar City.

The entertainment is a Golds Gym, and a 8 screen theater complex that is owned by thge same 6 screen theater owners that are in the north end of town. They play the same movies at both sites. As for the shopping, Yeah a Walmarts, and a lot of empty retail space. There are some businesses, but they are small and geared to selling mostly the same things you can get at WalMart. That is why for real shopping most go either to Vegas or SLC.

[Rik Sorenson]

Originally Posted by Aerorick

After living 30 miles from Cedar City for over a year after moving from Southern California I've reached a few cynical conclusions. It is an old town with old families. Many people I've talked to who have lived here, or near here, for all their lives have rarely ventured too far away from the area for any lenth of time. The local economy is fast-food, mom and pop stores, quad dealers and real estate agents. There is a Home Depot and Wal-mart but many people drive 47 mile south to St. George to shop. Like much of Utah there is a sort of unseen presumatly LDS authority that excludes non-members from the economic dynamics of the town. Cedar, again like many small Utah towns, likes to celebrate the past. And unfortuneatly if it doesn't face the fact that the ocean doesn't fall off the earth at the state borders, it's going to fade into the past faster than it is now.

Well said. Having lived in Utah as an active LDS member, what you say is true.

There is the assumption that all LDS'er think alike. That is no more true than other religions. There is a wide range of opinions from members. However there is a wider range of attitudes in CA LDS'er.

The best thing I can say about CC is the road south.

[Aerorick]

I was told soon after I wrote that post that indeed there is truth to what I said about 'powers that be'. But that not all the 'Old' families were LDS. I accepted that as it really didn't matter. There is still an established way of doing business in small towns in Utah like Cedar City. That being said I think the sometimes posted attitude of 'Utah, Love it or Leave it' may be counter-productive to the economic health of this state. And Cedar City in my view is a good example of what I think is happening in Utah.
No local economy can stand by itself. It can't keep passing the same money from hand to hand before some folks have most of it. It needs income from other sources. The Shakepeare Fesitival is in full swing in Cedar and is a great example of that. However attendance is arguably down and after it's over the town is pretty much if on it's own for winter. And more than ever, local folks take their money to St. George and Vegas for the largest purchases. What's left is Wal-mart to take everything else to pay China and send to Arkansas.
The southern states of TX,TN,AL,GA and KY were in that position 20-30 years ago and knew it. They responded with open arms and tax incentives to entice permanent sources of outside money, jobs and taxes to them. And if one was to look at the companies and auto assembly plants that moved to the cities of Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Louisville etc. they'd see that it worked in spades. College grads stay near home because they don't have to move out of state to find work. Wages are quite livable because a skilled and educated workforce come to the area instead of bailing out.
Where is this all going? Well for one, everytime one sees an out of state license plate try thinking there's money being spent that wasn't here before. And when one sees a house being built for a Californian or anyone else try thinking there's $150,000 that wasn't in Utah before.
Or for some locals, keep thinking you don't need anyone or anything's money from the outside. And in time you won't go anywhere.

[Blondie-Rabbit]

Aerorick, I agree. The big thing Mayor Sherrat has on tap now is they are going to reopen the iron mines. Bottom line is they ware going to exploit the people in the area desperate to make more than 8 or 9 an hour and have some full time work with benefits. I stil say other than the festival Cedar has the woolworth mentality, yet they want to be Santa Fe high arts.

Back in the late 80's Cedar had a major problem with a big down turn in the economy. A lot of people moved to Vegas just to find work of any kind. With what is happening now, it could just be a repeat of what was going on in 1987-1990