Written by Paige Marsh.
Ahhhhhh, the golden years. What are you going to do ? Where are you going to spend them? If these are questions that plague you, I have some information you may find interesting.
Utah is a terrific location to move to if you are considering relocating for retirement. “The cost of living is just 3.8% higher than the national average and the median home costs a little more than average, at $216,000, according to Sperling’s Best Places. What’s more, Utah’s unemployment rate, 7.6%, is significantly lower than the rest of the nation, so many retirees may have an easier time landing a “retirement job” to offset the costs.” (Hill, 2012. “Retire Here, Not There: Utah”, SmartMoney.com)
Homes in Cedar City cost significantly less than homes in the bigger towns such as St. George and Salt Lake City. Congestion is not an issue. A heavy traffic scenario consists of being stopped at one of the dozen stoplights in town with more than 6 cars. Cedar City gives you a small town city feel but offers many of the conveniences you find in larger towns such as large grocery stores, movie theaters, and independent department stores like Christensen’s and Bealls. (Although – and you may want to sit down for this – you have to drive to St. George to find the Costco.)
Cedar City is nicknamed “Festival City” because of the number of Festivals held here each year, including the Shakespearean Festival, Neil Simon Festival, July Jamboree, GrooveFest, and Children’s Cavalcade Christmas Festival to just scratch the surface. Cedar City also hosts the Utah Summer Games which turns the little town into a mini Olympic festival each June with hundreds of competitive events being held throughout the area.
Cedar City is also nestled up against the Cedar mountains which offer a vast array of activities for the active outdoorsman including hiking, biking, fishing, skiing and snowboarding, camping, photography, rock climbing, rock scrambling, four-wheel driving, and sight-seeing just to name a few.
The best thing about Cedar City is the town’s temperatures which is something I looked forward to when I moved here from Las Vegas. I was a self-proclaimed “desert rat” and loved everything hot. Then I grew up. It’s amazing how the sun feels different when you are older. I now absolutely love being in a town where you have four seasons, and when you have months when you can just open your windows and doors to cool off your home instead of kicking in the A/C. I like being in an area where you can actually grow a garden in the soils and not have it burn up from the heat. I love being able to have snow in the winter, but not experience that bleak, grey “inversion” phenomenon that the SLC valley has. Cedar City stays bright and sunny even during the winter months. We can have a near blizzard storm on Tuesday, then wake up Wednesday to a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds, where the ground looks like an endless blanket of shimmering diamonds from the white snow.
I have been lucky enough to spend my pre-golden years in Cedar City and have loved every minute of it. If someone can’t find something they are interested in in Cedar City, that person just possibly may not have any interests at all. I myself cannot find enough time to do everything offered that I want to be a part of. You can truly live a beautiful life in this cute little town.
