Cedar City - Preskitt

[SGVgunner]

Any ex- (So) Californians out in the Cedar City to St. George areas or Prescott AZ areas?

I'm a few years away from retirement and me and the misses are looking at southern Utah or the Prescott Valley area.

Not really interested in Nevada or the greater Phoenix area just want a slower pace, less traffic but still be within a 6-7 hours from the SoCal area.

Pros/ Cons?

[SVT-40]

Lots of threads about Prescott. Use the search function and search " Prescott".

[borderguy]

St. George has some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. Just got done moving my daughter from there. Sky high cost of living as well.

It's best to visit the places you're interested in before you retire to better get an idea of what they're like.

[Dan_Eastvale]

World of difference between Cedar City and St George

Cedar City lots of Ice and Snow. Pretty area.

St George much lower elevation... Desert environment. Minimal occasional dusting of snow. Uncontrolled growth. Prices out of line. Lots of CA retirees and COVID inspired remote working homebuyers who don't want ice and snow. Too crowded for the infrastructure.

[colossians323]

St. George has some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. Just got done moving my daughter from there. Sky high cost of living as well.

It's best to visit the places you're interested in before you retire to better get an idea of what they're like.

We hear that a lot and start laughing compared to Cali traffic.
The other day I was heading home from Cali through the SF area and went a little over 2 miles in 1 hour with no accidents

[Rune14]

Payson sounds right for you...

[EASonBASS]

Buddy of mine retired in Cedar City a couple of years ago. Loves it. Nice house that backs up to BLM land.

Does lots of side-by-side trips with friendly neighbors.

[SGVgunner]

St. George has some of the worst traffic I've ever seen. Just got done moving my daughter from there. Sky high cost of living as well.

It's best to visit the places you're interested in before you retire to better get an idea of what they're like.

Ive been through St. George and camped in Hurricane/ Sand Hollow so I'm familiar with the area and traffic as well. Seems like with all the growth in that area housing prices will continue to rise. I kind of liked the Cedar City area due to the higher elevation and what seems like a bit more country like living. Properties are priced a bit lower than St. George with larger lots for building out.

As far as the Prescott area, I have a couple of former co-workers that have retired out there and its kind of what you make it. One belongs to a local car club, works pt at a machine shop and is involved with his HOA group with the other spending most of his time in his workshop. I guess thats retirement.

[sigstroker]

Cedar City can get very cold in the winter.

[highpower]

OP needs to get out of his Commiefornia cocoon and actually go and see different places. I went across the country four times checking out different areas before I ultimately found where I wanted to settle.

When all you do is ask what others think, all you are going to get is someone elses opinion.

[SGVgunner]

OP needs to get out of his Commiefornia cocoon and actually go and see different places. I went across the country four times checking out different areas before I ultimately found where I wanted to settle.

When all you do is ask what others think, all you are going to get is someone elses opinion.

Great advise. I actually just got back from a week in Prescott looking at properties in the Williamson and Prescott Valley areas. I plan on visiting Cedar City later this fall to get a better feel for the area.

I definetly know the northern Arizonans are pro 2A and are not happy about out of staters driving up the cost of housing.

[SGVgunner]

Buddy of mine retired in Cedar City a couple of years ago. Loves it. Nice house that backs up to BLM land.

Does lots of side-by-side trips with friendly neighbors.

Thanks, definetly some of the pluses living in the country.

[toro1]

Just for a reference point, I live in Prescott (Williamson Valley) and had in laws in Cedar City-

Cedar City- Nice town with most major stores. It is close to all of the scenic things in Southern Utah including Bryce, Zion, etc. If you haven't gone over the hill to the valley Highway 89 goes through, you should as it is beautiful thru there. If I was going to relocate to southern Utah I would consider Cedar City, Kanab, and Hurricane.

Prescott- It has a quaint downtown that always has something going on during the summer. Prescott is an incredible car town and every non winter weekend has some car event. There are literally hundreds of miles of dirt roads around Prescott so if you are into off roading, you can keep yourself very busy. The health care is a bit lacking as Dignity Health is the main show in town and they are not very patient focused. Most people I know go to Phoenix for major surgeries. As for Williamson Valley we love it here, but if you get too far out it can be a bit of a drive to the store. It can also be that way in the outlying areas of Prescott Valley. Some other areas to consider are Cottonwood and Clarkdale. They are bit lower than Prescott so are a few degrees warmer.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

ETA- In case you were not aware and plan to take Social Security at some point, Utah taxes SS where AZ does not.

[Dan_Eastvale]

Need to visit different areas in the appropriate season first
Central/Northern Utah, Idaho, et al in Winter. St George in Summer.
Southern US in Summer as well

Prescott appears to have ideal weather for SoCal retirees

Everyone definitely can find the time to visit areas first

[ProRoad]

We're actually moving to Cedar City from Santa Clarita this week. I was always interested in the town as we would travel to Idaho for family visit and Elk hunts and always had a hotel stop In Cedar City. We didn't want to leave our Grandkids in Cali but we are priced out and the Actors strike totally killed my savings. So this is an emergency move and we are going to rent. We found a nice, newer 3 bedroom in a gated 55+ community for $1625 a month, that's half of what I have been paying. I work totally remote in Visual fx so hope to recover this year and buy a home when Trump wins again..
I really like cold weather and the wife does not. I ride bicycles and Cedar is Paradise for mountain and gravel cycling. I hear Coyote hunting is great an hour or two north. Cedar is 6.5 hours from our family and that seems a nice enough compromise that my wife agreed to the move. She has PTSD from being robbed at gunpoint twice (banking) so she may even start leaving the house again as the Mormons are not so scary, even when they wear a mask. Oh, and they have a Sportsman's Warehouse and a Cal Ranch store! There are more mom and pop restaurant's (search cedar city restaurants on youtube) and new, unlived in houses than anywhere else I have ever looked into. Ask me in a year... gas is 2:54 lmao.