What would be best for us in Northwest Arizona?

[apple92680]

I'm sort of surprised OP hasn't investigated St. George, UT?

It has "the look" and climate of Arizona, and is also very close to Las Vegas (about the same as Kingman).

Additionally, lots of recreation in that part of Utah (Zion, Lake Powell, Sandy Hollow, Quail Lake, etc)

I know Utah is known for Mormonism, but lots of Mormons are LGBT-friendly now. I googled "St George, UT, LGBT" and saw a surprising number of support groups and agencies, and there is a local PRIDE event every year.

Another benefit of St George is that it has a State University campus, so that will bring in an element of tolerance and open-minded attitude that you won't find in Mohave County, AZ.

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by apple92680

I'm sort of surprised OP hasn't investigated St. George, UT?

It has "the look" and climate of Arizona, and is also very close to Las Vegas (about the same as Kingman).

Additionally, lots of recreation in that part of Utah (Zion, Lake Powell, Sandy Hollow, Quail Lake, etc)

I know Utah is known for Mormonism, but lots of Mormons are LGBT-friendly now. I googled "St George, UT, LGBT" and saw a surprising number of support groups and agencies, and there is a local PRIDE event every year.

Another benefit of St George is that it has a State University campus, so that will bring in an element of tolerance and open-minded attitude that you won't find in Mohave County, AZ.

I actually love Saint George Utah, that is why I was asking about the northwest part of Arizona, or as close as I can reasonably get. My problem with Utah is that my mother that lived in Utah for 10 years. She bought a business from a retiring Mormon lady, and over the years had many people walk out of the business when they found out it was non-Mormon owned.


While I know things have changed over the last 20 years, if I do have to get a job or go back into business for myself, than I cannot have a large percentage of the population that will never do business with me.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by jwiley

I actually love Saint George Utah, that is why I was asking about the northwest part of Arizona, or as close as I can reasonably get. My problem with Utah is that my mother that lived in Utah for 10 years. She bought a business from a retiring Mormon lady, and over the years had many people walk out of the business when they found out it was non-Mormon owned.


While I know things have changed over the last 20 years, if I do have to get a job or go back into business for myself, than I cannot have a large percentage of the population that will never do business with me.

Utah has changed A LOT. SLC, while still having a large LDS population, is much more diverse now. St George is NOT like SLC, pretty much Nevada North but they are having a water issue after their recent building boom. I read somewhere they are trying to build another "straw" in Lake Powell to supply the town with water...not sure how well that is going to go over.

This is the only place I have been to where entire neighborhoods are dedicated to Vacation homes, i.e. you can't live in a home year round in those neighborhoods. They were built specifically as rentals/investment properties and the CC&Rs are written to support that. I don't think anyone would care if you are LDS or not in that town.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by jwiley

I actually love Saint George Utah, that is why I was asking about the northwest part of Arizona, or as close as I can reasonably get. My problem with Utah is that my mother that lived in Utah for 10 years. She bought a business from a retiring Mormon lady, and over the years had many people walk out of the business when they found out it was non-Mormon owned.


While I know things have changed over the last 20 years, if I do have to get a job or go back into business for myself, than I cannot have a large percentage of the population that will never do business with me.

I have always wondered about that some say that's not true in larger cities I have heard of getting employment in Salt Lake can be a problem. Maybe small towns everyone knows who belongs to the church who doesn't. Even with those people walking out she still was able to stay in business?

Small town business's would be difficult if your from out of town I would imagine. St George isn't all that small we have LDS towns here like snowflake but I'm not sure if the people act that way maybe they do.

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by kell490

I have always wondered about that some say that's not true in larger cities I have heard of getting employment in Salt Lake can be a problem. Maybe small towns everyone knows who belongs to the church who doesn't. Even with those people walking out she still was able to stay in business?

Small town business's would be difficult if your from out of town I would imagine. St George isn't all that small we have LDS towns here like snowflake but I'm not sure if the people act that way maybe they do.

She was in the hotel business in a well known hunting/fishing/outdoor recreation area of eastern Utah. Her clients were out of towners. What I did not know prior to her buying the hotel is that some church members will stop into the local church to get referrals. My mom bought the business from a Mormon women, when people would check in they would ask about her, when they found out my mom had bought it they would turn and walk out. Some would say they only stay at Mormon owned hotels when possible, and would apologize but leave all the same. My stepdad had to continue working 4 years into what should have been retirement to feed the hotel. It was his dream to own a hotel and live in that area, but he was on the road for 9 months out of the year keeping it going. They sold out to a Mormon couple who paid it off within 2 years.


Of course larger cities are going to have less of those issues, although local people will know which local business owners go to their church and are involved in the religion, but with enough people it is not going to kill your business. The issue is if I leave my current position it will be to go into a franchise which assigns territories of 1 million people, meaning realistically that I would be working a lot of small remote towns as southern Utah is basically 1 territory.

At my age I cannot afford to take a huge risk by moving to that type of area and not have a couple of real career options. A mistake can easily result in a delayed retirement at this point.

[kell490]

Originally Posted by jwiley

She was in the hotel business in a well known hunting/fishing/outdoor recreation area of eastern Utah. Her clients were out of towners. What I did not know prior to her buying the hotel is that some church members will stop into the local church to get referrals. My mom bought the business from a Mormon women, when people would check in they would ask about her, when they found out my mom had bought it they would turn and walk out. Some would say they only stay at Mormon owned hotels when possible, and would apologize but leave all the same. My stepdad had to continue working 4 years into what should have been retirement to feed the hotel. It was his dream to own a hotel and live in that area, but he was on the road for 9 months out of the year keeping it going. They sold out to a Mormon couple who paid it off within 2 years.


Of course larger cities are going to have less of those issues, although local people will know which local business owners go to their church and are involved in the religion, but with enough people it is not going to kill your business. The issue is if I leave my current position it will be to go into a franchise which assigns territories of 1 million people, meaning realistically that I would be working a lot of small remote towns as southern Utah is basically 1 territory.

At my age I cannot afford to take a huge risk by moving to that type of area and not have a couple of real career options. A mistake can easily result in a delayed retirement at this point.

Business is a big risk I could do it if I was young no family to worry about live on very little money. I know someone who actually slept in his office started a business. The landlord had no idea he was living there he saved lot of money young guy no kids or wife at that time. He went on to make lot of money and sold it retired at 48.

[xrilander]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

You come from a conservative area, but that is not the kind of place you will find in Havasu or anywhere along the river. The people who live there moved there from somewhere else because they liked the culture. The culture is hostile to anything not evangelical, hard core right wing. It is conservative on steroids, if you will. It is 1953 there.

It`s a F-J-B/Let`s Go Brandon type of area, just check out the boat flags on the river. I moved over to California side of the river to escape most of the ignorance while home, but I still need to go to AZ for work and shopping. Expect dirty looks and coughing on demand if you dare venture out with a mask on. Keeping your mouth shut works fine for me, no desire to have a battle of wits with the unarmed.