Living in Detroit(suburb)ugggghh... (Salt Lake City, St. George: construction, college, vs)

[trebliwad]

Me and my soon to be fiancee (i've been looking at rings recently) and her daugher (10) are looking to get out of here. I know that the grass always seems greener on the other side, but St. George seems very appealing. The kid loves nature, animals and the outdoors, as do we.
To get an idea of where we're at, here's several things we aren't happy with here in Detroit: concrete-too much of it!; foreign and urban lifestyle/culture intruding on our lives; long, cold winters; last but not least, the depressed economy...
I could easily list many other things but I think everyone gets the point. So, does anyone have any first-hand comparisons between SW Utah and industrial Midwest?? My gf is a newly graduated RN with hopes to work in a hospital setting. I am in limbo between continuing my career in construction or finishing college.
A little more about us: we like sports. I enjoy a good rec league of baseball, volleyball, basketball, etc. We enjoy the nightlife but have slowed down considerably the past couple years. We have a good young dog who would love a more outdoor setting.
We want a strong lifestyle for her daughter and any future kids but are worried about jumping into something too fast. We'd love to visit, just waiting for those golden paychecks to come in. So I figured I'd get a headstart.

[palepeople]

Well construction has pretty much come to screeching halt in the SW and while St. George has amazing outdoor activities, it is also extremely hot and dry (110 in the summer). I also understand that it can be difficult for new grad RNs to get a job unless they have clinical experience (at least that seems to be what is happening in the Las Vegas area).

I don't mean to be discouraging, because the St. George area is great - I just wanted to give you some things to consider.

Good Luck

[Kady1]

Saint George is not a good place for children to live.
They will be ostracized by the predominant religion here.
Adults can handle it much better than the children.
Good luck....

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by Kady1

Saint George is not a good place for children to live.
They will be ostracized by the predominant religion here.
Adults can handle it much better than the children.
Good luck....

Please don't take this as fact. This subject has a spectrum of opinions on not only the threads in the St. George forum but some of the other threads in the Utah forum about the being LDS/not being LDS issue and how it pertains to non-LDS children.

I believe the prevailing opinion contradicts this member's first sentence. I'm going to urge you to do some more reading and researching before making a final decision based on only one opinion.

[trebliwad]

Thank you scirocco22. I appreciate your point of view. Actually, I've been reading St. george threads for a couple months now and have noticed that topic is a trend (LDS vs non-LDS). In reality, we have pretty high respect for any religion with good intentions to follow God's will and live a life as such. We ourselves are Christians and aren't easily swayed by criticizm. As for children, they'll have to deal with adversary at some point so i''m not too worried about that. I was a victim of that myself as a youngster.
But on the other hand, if there is such favortisim as to who gets a job over who, then i could see that as a problem. I'm a firm believer in our nations standards of freedom of religion and speech, but also confident in our nations ability to preserve rights. I'm sure that corners of society such as St. George have adjusted accordingly.
If I am way off in my assumptions, please, someone correct me....

[Kady1]

Of course there is favoritism........

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by Kady1

Of course there is favoritism........

Yes, I agree to a certain extent. There was a good thread discussing this but I can't seem to find it right now. If you want to call it "favoritism," then, yes, since I believe the LDS population is still the majority in St. George and since most small-medium sized businesses are owned by those who are members of the Church, networking does take place and job-openings are first heard by word-of-mouth, etc., then a person who is not LDS will have a more difficult time finding the more desirable jobs. So I agree that a person who is not LDS might be at a disadvantage when seeking job.

trebliwad, believing "in our nations standards of freedom of religion and speech" is admirable. And I'm not saying that a business person who is LDS will intentionally discriminate towards those who aren't but, again, there is that networking and word-of-mouth aspect that play into the reality of the situation. I hope that doesn't discourage you from considering a move but we do have to be realistic.

[trebliwad]

Ok. Let me paint a picture of where I'm at now, and why I don't feel worried about this. Michigan is a very liberal state. It's also very diverse. Up until recently U of M had to enroll a certain number of minorities to meet a quota. This meant that my above-average tests scores couldn't compete with a minority's below-average score. There are certain areas around Detroit that are of a predominant ethnicity, where outsiders may not be accepted. Work is so cutthroat right now that I wouldn't be surprised if many of these people stole from their mothers.
I guess what I'm saying is that there is adversity(favoritism) everywhere. Some worse than others. I think that if you live somewhere where it all boils down to the 'people' then that is a positive thing.
Which leads me to my next point (because I'd really like to move on to a different topic). How are people in St. George? Are neighbors friendly or do they avoid eye contact? Is it a laid-back area or rush, rush? Any input is appreciated.....

[scirocco22]

Well, I don't want to dominate giving you responses so I'll chip in a few words here and I'll give others a chance to voice their opinions.

To me, St. George is just like anywhere else. I'm one who doesn't like to paint the people of a region one in one particular manner. Many threads in the city forums here at C-DF tend to do that. I get frustrated with, as an example, the "Seattle freeze" thread that's been going on for years in the Seattle forum. People have the tendency to categorize everybody that lives in a particular region a certain way. In all the places I've lived and visited, I've met all kinds of people and it doesn't really differ too much from one place to another. You have the "avoid eye contact" -types anywhere. I've encountered those types of people everywhere I've gone. I've also met very friendly and warm people in those exact same areas. To me, there's going to be standoffish and "avoid-eye-contact" types everywhere you go as there will be warm and friendly people too.

St. George is no different. I don't live in St. George proper but those I've met there have been friendly. If you walk down the isle in the Smith's supermarket, everybody isn't going to nodding and saying hi, naturally. The store employees won't either. But everytime I've asked an employee for help, they've been more than friendly which is more than I can say about some other places I've been. If you wave at people who live on your street, they're more than likely going to wave back.

Are the people laid back or rush rush? Again, I've met some really laid back folks there and I've met and observed those who are always in a hurry. It's like anywhere else. If you have to juggle a job and raising kids, then you are going to be "rush rush." If you are are retired and don't have to work or are not raising kids anymore, then you tend not to be rush, rush. There are lots of retirees in St. George as well as those who are raising families. Of course, most retired folk are laid back because they don't have much to do anymore. There are a lot of retirees from Salt Lake City living in St. George because of the weather.

So yes, I've seen plenty of laid back folk there. And I've seen plenty of those who tailgate you and are obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. St. George is in between being a small town and a big city. As it grows, the big city characteristics start to be seen more frequently. More traffic and actually traffic congestion, more crime, more rude behavior.

I'm sure there will be those who respond to your inquiry by saying "everybody in St. George is cold and unfriendly." But I'm sure you're intelligent enough to know that not "everybody" is that way. It's just like saying that "St. George is not a good place for children to live." Not everybody will agree with either statement.

[trebliwad]

Again, thank you scirocco22 for taking time to answer my q's. I appreciate your honesty and I agree with you. I've read posts from other cities where people will just rant and rave on how wonderful their city is...this simply can't be true for everyone all the time.
So, I guess my next step would be to take some time to visit so I can form my own opinion. If any other questions come to mind I'll be sure to ask.
Thanks again.