From Deseret News archives:
A boom in Dixie Land rush: Historic growth setting records
It was August 1971 and Carter, a Brigham Young University student at the time, remembers dreaming that he was standing at the intersection of 300 West and St. George Boulevard in downtown St. George, looking across his native city and marveling at what he saw.
"I could see homes as far as I could see," Carter said. "Thousands of homes."
Back then, Washington County's population of 14,000 was roughly one-tenth of its current size. St. George was viewed as little more than a dusty stopover between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. There were no gated communities, no million-dollar homes and certainly no traffic jams.
But the city was about to shake off its small-time status. And for Carter, whose dream convinced him to quit college and take over his father's St. George-based title company, the timing could not have been better.
Today, Washington County is the fastest-growing county in the state. With a growth rate of 8 percent for the 12 months ended June 30, 2005, the county ranks as the nation's fifth-fastest growing county, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
And this is no dream.
"In absolute terms there has been no period like the past three years in Washington County history," Wood said. "It's a frenzy. That's all anyone talks about is housing prices and how much money they have made."
Upscale gated communities like Entrada, Northbridge Estates, Stone Cliff and The Ledges offer million-dollar views with million-dollar price tags.
In less than 25 years, more people will live in Washington County than in Weber County, according to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. By 2038, more than 600,000 people will live in Washington County, outnumbering those living in Davis County, according to Carter, who believes the state's population projections are too conservative.
Carter may be right.
In 2005, more residential building permits were issued in St. George than in any other Utah city, Wood said. About one in every seven new residential units built in Utah in 2005 was in Washington County, and that figure was one of every six in 2004.
Comments
- Today on TV 12:49 a.m.
- Wanted: Bank robber with bad breath 12:40 a.m.
- Philippine police clash with clan 12:28 a.m.
- Officer responding to call killed 12:28 a.m.
- Editorial: Fine-tune state workweek 12:18 a.m.
- Let's keep energy money in the U.S. 12:18 a.m.
- How to pay for the war 12:17 a.m.
- Feast of Guadalupe nourishes soul 12:17 a.m.
- Obama's strategy is a road map 12:17 a.m.
- Letters: 'Political priestcraft' 12:17 a.m.
- BYU and Utah's bowl games
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations
- BYU professor remembered
- The forgotten ship: USS Utah
- Branch president without a congregation
- Utahns want health care reform bills
- BYU basketball: Cougars crush Dons
- Kurt Bestor: Joy for the world
- Jazz upset by Wolves
- Urn of baby rests with sailors
- Letters: Liberal because LDS
257 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
214 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
189 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
130 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
113 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
110 - Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
105 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
97 - Harpring's NBA career is over
95
Trolley Square's annual Holiday Open House will feature visits with...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Sorry earlier I meant to say that tracks seems to travel at 35 miles an hour...
'Peter Frumhoff, the director of science and policy at the Union of...
The Non-BCS crowd ought to create their own title game...their own brand, and...
That's the whole of your defense of GOP resistance to badly-needed ethics...
Your criticism should hardly be focused on Bennett alone. What about all the...
'Wired's Threat Level blog reported on November 20 that Gavin Schmidt, a...
The reality of climate change is supported by multiple lines of evidence and...
I had the priviledge of staying in the LeBaron home on severl occasions as I...
So the unemployment rate has dropped to "just" 10%, huh? I wonder what that...
Ahh for the love of money...what money can buy!!!



You can be the first to comment on this story.