From Deseret News archives:

St. George metro area growth ranks 2nd in U.S.

Published: Thursday, March 27, 2008 12:29 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
ST. GEORGE — Former St. George city councilman Larry Gardner remembers when the first stoplight at Main and the Boulevard went up, putting the proverbial brakes on the teenage ritual of cruising the main drag with friends.

"Back then we would call it 'dragging Main,' even though we were really dragging the Boulevard," says Gardner of the 1960s, when St. George was small enough for everyone to know everyone else.

Times have changed. The booming St. George metropolitan area is the nation's second-fastest-growing, according to a census report released today.

Still, the estimated 5.1 percent growth St. George saw from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, is a slowdown. In the previous year the metro area, which encompasses St. George and Washington County, saw a 6-percent rise in population and was the nation's fastest-growing. This year, St. George was surpassed by Palm Coast, Fla., which grew by 7.2 percent.

The census estimates released today are for metropolitan areas that comprise one or more counties with a core urban area of at least 50,000 people. Estimates were also released for micropolitan areas with cores of 10,000 to 49,999.

Story continues below
Nationwide, the estimates show a temporary slowdown of a long-term migration pattern from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. It's a result of the housing bubble crash and slowing economy impacting people's mobility, said William Frey, demographer for the Brookings Institution.

"People continue to want to live in the West," Frey said. "This is basically a result of the housing market functioning in a way that has gotten out of control and the financial markets not working correctly. ... Eventually that's going to clear up."

In general, the estimates indicate Utah's metro areas weren't as hard hit as areas such as Las Vegas and Phoenix, said Pamela Perlich, senior research economist at the University of Utah. She pointed out that St. George was one of only four metro areas in the top-10 growth that had also been on the list in the prior year.

The estimates also indicate New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are starting to recover from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans saw an influx of 38,000 people and ranked eighth in overall growth. On the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Gulfport-Biloxi and Pascagoula metro areas also saw population growth.

In Utah, Perlich said while growth is likely to slow somewhat, "the trend remains quite positive."

The Provo-Orem metro area, which ranks eighth nationally in growth since 2000, ranks 34th in its one-year growth of 2.6 percent. And the Ogden-Clearfield metro area ranked 26th with 2.9 percent growth.

Recent comments

Thanks for the "duh!" I didn't get what you were saying until you...

Re: Confused | March 28, 2008 at 11:03 a.m.

Yes temps are at night, and mornings like 100's are during the...

Confused? | March 27, 2008 at 5:23 p.m.

Tempertaures in the teens and 20s? When? At nighttime in January? You...

To Fact: | March 27, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

Most Utahns unhappy with Obama

But the nooooo the GOP passes over Sec. Condi Rice, Sec. Colin...

yes a saw a similar recipe on youtube on Utah Homes & Garden Television......

Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?

I wish we were hearing about how good the last drive of the game was and the...

Hatch: Abortion amendment may fail

I would like abortion to be the right of the individual not the government....

If a person needs an abortion, I feel it is betterr than an unwanted birth....

The senate bill already prohibits taxpayer money from being spent on...

Are you REALLY so desperate for attention that you'll troll the DN website...

Thank goodness it'll only be for one term.

3,396 comments now. And to the 10:17 comment above, I'm not "whining about...

you already own utah. why do you need another state?

Advertisements