St. George, Utah

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Unlike many Utah cities, Palm trees are able to grow in St. George.

The Utah Population Estimates Committee stated in 2005 that 65,968 people lived in the city. In July 2004, it surpassed Taylorsville as Utah's ninth-largest city. In September 2005, St. George was declared the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States behind Las Vegas, Nevada. From 1990 to 2000, St. George beat Las Vegas by 0.6% as the fastest growning metropolitan area in the U.S. The current metropolitan population numbers 109,924 residents.

St. George is the population and commercial center of Utah's Dixie, a nickname given to the area when Mormon pioneers grew cotton in the warm climate. St. George's trademark is its geology — red bluffs frame the northern part of the city, and the northeastern edges of the Mojave Desert are visible to the south. Zion National Park can be seen to the east, and mountains are nearby to the north, southeast and west. It is also near Bryce Canyon National Park. The city is a popular retirement destination for many Utahns and is host to the largest Spring Break parties in Utah.

History

St. George was founded as a cotton mission in the 1850s under the direction of Brigham Young, the president of the Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) church— part of a greater church effort to become self-sufficient. While the early settlers did manage to grow cotton, it was never produced at competitive market rates; consequently, cotton farming was eventually abandoned.

In April 1877, the LDS church completed construction of the St. George Temple, the church's third temple and its first temple in the Rocky Mountains.

St. George was the location of the 1998 United States Academic Decathlon national finals.

The city began booming in the mid-1980s, first as a retirement hotspot and tourist gateway to Utah's color country, and then as a transportation center.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 168.0 km² (64.9 mi²). 166.8 km² (64.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (0.72%) is water.

St. George lies in the lowest elevation region of the state, Dixie, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet (900 m). The city is surrounded by mountains and red sandstone buttes, and it lies at the very northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert. The Virgin River flows through the city.

Climate

St. George lies in a desert and averages 8.27 in (210 mm) of precipitation annually. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, except for late April-June. Precipitation mostly comes from the Pineapple Express during late fall, winter, and early spring. The summer monsoon from the Gulf of California can bring localized but often intense thunderstorms from mid-July through mid-September. One such storm dropped the record single day precipitation in the city, with 2.39 in (61 mm) on August 31, 1909. Snow is rare, but not unheard of, averaging 3.2 in (8.1 cm) annually. It has been recorded as early as October 29 (in 1971) and as late as April 11 (in 1927). The record single day snowfall is 10.0 in (25.4 cm), set on January 5, 1974.

		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Extreme Daily Maximum	°F	72	84	91	100	108	115	117	113	109	99	88	75
Average Daily Maximum	°F	54	60	68	77	86	96	102	100	93	80	65	54
Average Daily Minimum	°F	26	31	36	43	51	59	67	65	55	43	32	26
Extreme Daily Minimum	°F	-11	1	12	18	20	35	41	43	25	20	4
Data is for St. George Municipal

		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average Precipitation	in	1.08	1.03	0.93	0.53	0.39	0.19	0.67	0.75	0.60	0.68	0.64	0.77
Average Snowfall	in	1.3	0.6	0.1	T	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	T	0.2	0.9
Data is for St. George Municipal

Economy

Some of St. George's larger corporations include SkyWest Airlines, which has its corporate headquarters in St. George. Wal-Mart has a large distribution center located near St. George. Intermountain Health Care opened a new $100 million hospital in 2003. The hospital, Dixie Regional Medical Center, is a 420,000 square foot, 196 bed facility.

A large part of the economy of southwestern Utah comes from tourism. St. George is in close proximity to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, as well as several state parks and recreational areas. Golf also plays a large part in the city's tourism industry. St. George offers one of the highest number of golf courses per capita in the country. Special events such as the St. George Marathon and the Huntsman Senior Games draw thousands to St. George each year. The St. George Marathon is currently the 13th largest marathon in the country. St. George is the home of the Utah Basketball League St. George Vipers.

Transportation

Currently, an environmental impact statement (EIS) is being completed in preparation for a new regional airport to be built just southeast of the city. The new airport will replace the current and much too small St. George Municipal Airport, which has no room for expansion and cannot accommodate larger aircraft. Plans for the new airport include a single runway capable of accommodating regional jets as well as other larger Boeing-type aircraft. The city is expected to break ground on the proposed site in 2006 with completion of the airport expected in 2010.

SunTran is St. George's public transit system. As of 2005, the system consisted of three bus routes with over sixty bus stops.

Education

Demographics

The land in and around St. George is naturally a vivid red and devoid of most plant life.

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} of 2000, there were 49,663 people, 17,367 households, and 13,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 297.7/km² (771.2/mi²). There were 21,083 housing units at an average density of 126.4/km² (327.4/mi²).

The city is growing fast. A 2004 census estimated the city population at 59,780. Furthermore, the greater St. George area has a current estimated population of around 115,000. Rapid growth is a major problem; the city of St. George alone grows at an average pace of 750 to 1,000 new residents each month. Many of these new residents are retirees who move here because of the mild winters. In September 2005, St. George was declared the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States.

The racial makeup of the city was 92.27% White, 0.24% African American, 1.64% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.59% Pacific Islander, 2.87% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.72% of the population.

There are 17,367 households, out of which 34.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years old or older. The average household size was 2.81 individuals and the average family size was 3.21.

The city resident's ages are spread out, with 28.4% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,505, and the median income for a family was $41,788. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $20,861 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,022. About 7.4% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over.

Nuclear Contamination

A 1962 United States Atomic Energy Commission report found that "children living in St. George, Utah may have received doses to the thyroid of radioiodine as high as 120 to 440 rads" (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).[link]

Noteworthy Residents

• Asia Carrera former porn star.
• Jeffrey R. Holland — LDS religious leader.
• Bruce Hurst — Former Major League Baseball pitcher.
• Doug Jolley — NFL tight end.
• Dan Truman — Diamond Rio's keyboardist; raised in the mountains near St. George.

External links

• [Official web site of the City of St. George, Utah]
• [Zion National Park]
• [Zion National Park Visitor's Guide]
• [St. George Chamber of Commerce]
• [Southern Utah Travel Guide]
• [St. George replacement airport information]
• [Photographic virtual tour of St. George.]
• [Maps and aerial photos] Coordinates: [37.095279° -113.578151°]
• * Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
• * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
• * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
• * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]

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