The city opened a new 305-spot parking structure Thursday and also celebrated the one-millionth passenger on Park City's Transit System.

Helping cities deal with a population boom, business growth and extra spending dollars is part of the purpose of the report, which gives city leaders a baseline forecast of what they can expect in the coming years, said Macdonald, who works in the commission's economic and statistical unit.

For places like Draper, sixth on the list with a 9.3 percent change, it's a positive outlook on its future, as it welcomes furniture giant Ikea and looks to develop excess prison land.

"Quite often, you will see the residential development starts the trend, then the commercial development follows," said David Baird, the city's economic development director. "That's exactly what's happening in Draper.

"We have a very rapidly growing residential population. And now we have a rapidly growing commercial base."

Cedar City is growing just as fast, recording 8 percent in population growth last year, said Donna Brown, executive director of the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce.

Residents are seeing an "amazing" amount of retail growth in the Cedar City area, she said, although there is a down side.

"We do have a bit of retail leakage to the St. George area," said Brown, referring to a marketing analysis of Cedar City shoppers and their spending habits that is posted on the cedarcity.org Web site. According to that report, a high percentage of Cedar City residents, more than three-quarters of them, say they drive to St. George at least once a month to make a purchase.

"Cedar City really needs to work on this. We need to shop locally and keep those tax dollars at home," Brown said.

Langston in St. George said she expects the area's growth to slow down somewhat this year, which she sees as a positive development.

"It's out of control. To me, this is the most worrisome thing I've seen since I've been here," she said, adding she moved here there nine years ago when there was little retail shopping to be had. available. "My kids can't afford to live here. I couldn't afford to buy a new house here if I didn't have one already. It's ridiculous."

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