Seeking Input on Living in Nevada or Utah

[ivinsfan]

blueslkyk...these things can change over the years too. After being raised an Army brat and then living in Utah, I ended up living on the same farm in a rural MN county for over 45 years, I'm still here.

Country people are like everyone else, most are nice, good neighbors, friendly and a few are mean spirited jerks. After living among these neighbors and a few people in small towns nearby, I realize these people are nice but very insular. More then a few live on Century farms, or the same town of 500 that Grandma and Grandpa were born in. When I was caught up in raising children, dairy farming, teaching sunday school and doing 4-H things seemed fine. But now with all that stripped away I realize how little I have in common with them.

I happen to think insular is also a good way to describe many LDS, they've never known anything else, see their extended family constantly and are happy, but somehow not engaged with other different people in the outside world or other ways of thinking and feeling. One would think with internet this might change but it doesn't. In my case it's left me feeling a little bit of an outsider in my own neighborhood, kind of like I'm not in on the joke.

The biggest downside for me in this is that at 70 my DH wants to continue farming and continue to live on the place he knows and loves and in my case I realize if he passes before me I'm either going to be pretty lonely or going to have to pack up, sell and move.. Restart my life..it's a stressful thought. I have talked to my DH about relocating now together, but he's not open to that at this point.

I hope you keep us posted on what develops in the next couple years and FWIW I'd love to have you for a neighbor.

 

[braumeister]

I happen to think insular is also a good way to describe many LDS, they've never known anything else, see their extended family constantly and are happy, but somehow not engaged with other different people in the outside world or other ways of thinking and feeling.

I know quite a few Amish folk and would describe their lifestyle the same way. The key word is happy.

 

[blueskyk]

I think another key word is community. Feeling like an outsider is a bummer whether it’s in a new community or an old one. I’m finding it really takes an effort to establish a new community for yourself - it’s kind of my new job now and I’m trying to be really creative about all the different ways I might connect in meaningful ways with others.

As we age I think of building community as a “resiliency” skill.

And, I do not really look forward to the possibility of doing this multiple times as I get older but I can definitely see the potential for that. I think doing it after the loss of a spouse would be at the Master Class level...

Perhaps a really good discussion topic would be all the ways people have built community.....

 

[Teacher Terry]

I would move somewhere welcoming where you can thrive. Life is too short and it would be horrible to be single in that situation.

 

[Rambler]

I really like southern Utah and have stopped while passing thru a dozen times or so. St George is great, but as far as costs are concerned you may want to look just outside, perhaps in Hurricane. You should be aware that the St George area can get pretty hot in the summer...not as hot as Phoenix, but hot nonetheless. If you like a cooler summer and can stand a colder winter, perhaps look about 45 min to an hour north, in Cedar City, where I understand the elevation cools things down a bit, plus, I hear there’s good skiing there if that’s in your wheelhouse (not in mine). You should also educate yourselves on the tax situation. Nevada is generally better for income tax purposes (there are none) but you’d need to research particular homes to get a handle on property tax. We decided on the Phoenix area ourselves...the tax situation is better, electricity is cheap, but you do use a lot of it in the summer. Newer homes are significantly better insulated and cheaper to cool than even 10-15 year old homes are here. We did try Nevada...we bought a home in Sparks, had it for 16 months, but ultimately sold it because even though the little development we were in 10 miles north of the city was quite nice, we didn’t like the overall environment. We are much happier in Phoenix than we were in Sparks, but, St George area was on our short list. Phoenix won out for the taxes and 9 months out of 12 of generally great weather.

 

[zippy2020]

Although a topic for it's own subject, retirees with good pensions/retirements are leaving California in droves and taking billions of dollars with them. As a public retiree from the Bay Area with a large CalPERS pension, I've seen countless friends pull up and move to places like Oregon, Nevada and Arizona. It wasn't to many years ago that people would have laughed at that thought.

Oh, I don't know about that "too many years ago people would have laughed...."

On a 6 week 2010 swing through the PNW, including a stopover in Victoria/Vancouver Island Canada, it seemed like every place we visited was full of Californians who had moved.

That included the tea shop owner in Victoria (from Concord CA) and the B&B owner in Bandon, OR (from Daly City CA).

My aunt sold her Beacon Hill Seattle home 35 yrs ago to a Californian for what she thought was a super-duper price, and of course it's worth way more now.

Funny story - she moved into a senior living condo development (still in Beacon Hill), in a cozy 2 bd 2ba. It was brand-new and when I visited her, she said they were trying to sell the four top floor units, which were also 2bd 2ba but much bigger square footage, for the "ridiculous price" (her words, she couldn't imagine anyone paying so much) of $200K.

Those four units were the only ones with 180-degree views of either the span of Puget Sound or part of the Sound and the entire city northwards!

I told her I could sell my little cottage in the San Francisco Bay Area and buy two of those units. I probably should have, LOL.

 

[MichaelL]

You just haven't been paying attention. There are tens of thousands of full-time non-LDS missionaries all over the world.

I guess I should have said that the Mormons are the only ones that have approached me or rung my door bell. I've seen them and talked with them all over the world, even at the end of the world in Ushuaia. I know that there are other groups but they don't seem so active. Sometimes I see JWs but they just stand there. I've seen Christian groups traveling to someplace where they have some kind of project going on. My cousin ran an LDS mission for a few years and told me about it. They are focused on recruitment. Several of my cousins did their missions and they told me all about their experiences.

 

[Clone]

You should be aware that the St George area can get pretty hot in the summer...not as hot as Phoenix, but hot nonetheless.

Wait a minute- We just bought a place in the Phoenix area. Nobody said anything about it being hot in the summer! Did we miss something?






As I sit here looking at a 6' pile of snow, wondering why someone else is sleeping in our place in Arizona...

 

[ivinsfan]

Wait a minute- We just bought a place in the Phoenix area. Nobody said anything about it being hot in the summer! Did we miss something?






As I sit here looking at a 6' pile of snow, wondering why someone else is sleeping in our place in Arizona...

Don't feel bad... Arizona got some snow just yesterday, it caused massive pandemonium.....some of the interstate is closed..I just read that Flagstaff got 36 inches of snow in one day.

 

[timo2]

Regarding the concept of moving to an area with a dominant religion or culture: I have had the same experience whether it was LDS, Southern Baptist, or Roman Catholic area, or just a totally different secular culture. That is, one is in the minority. No matter how nice and caring the majority are, one is still in the minority. Many people in the USA have not experienced that. So the majority folks should not be offended by the reactions of a new resident's feelings. It is human nature. I moved 35 times in the 15 years (for my jobs) after I graduated from college. It took a while for me to figure it out (especially since I have sensory issues anyway). My advice is not to worry about the dominant culture and go where you wish. You and they will adjust.

 

[Earlygirl]

St. George, Utah versus Nevada

Yes, renting would have been a good idea - when we looked at the area we had a very difficult time locating a rental that would permit two large dogs (we didn’t see any, in fact). In the over all financial analysis, renting seemed like an extra expense we didn’t need as we sold our mortgage-free home and purchased a home here for cash. We estimated renting would have cost us about $24-36k for a year.

I absolutely want to say there are many great things about the area - when my husband left the house with his cell phone on top of the car and lost it somewhere along his route a jogger found it and turned it in to the local police who then took the time to charge it up, look through the contacts to find “Mom” and called his mother to let her know they had his phone. We had already purchased a new phone because, where we came from, returning a lost phone was highly unlikely. This is only one experience of several that have helped us appreciate the goodness and kindness of the locals.

Honestly the real difficulty has occurred because my work involves spiritual activities across different faith traditions in an effort to celebrate and join in what we have in common without anyone trying to get each other to change teams. In one group I had a Buddhist, a couple of Catholics, a few Methodists and a “spiritual but not religious” all learning about silent prayer (The old saying being “we all agree in silence”) And simply, there was far more interest in reaching across these boundaries in my old location.

This discussion has helped me review and identify my own sort of “confirmation bias” in selecting a retirement location - we all see what we want to see and minimize the rest (perhaps it’s a little like getting married in that regard...I know several people who wish they had only rented a spouse for a year[emoji4]). The power of this phenomenon alone is probably a good reason to rent first!

We just finished our first year here. We’ve agreed to give it another couple of years and then reassess.

I currently live in St. George, Utah and was born and raised a Mormon, though I do not practice anymore.

I think it would have been difficult for you to get a handle on the culture here in Southern Utah, without living here first. But I understand why you didn't want to spend the money on rent, and you are right, rentals are hard to come by that will allow large dogs. And it is a beautiful area.

I agree that Mormons are wonderful people, and they do have a unique culture. One thing to understand is that they are raised from the cradle that Mormonism is the "only true religion." Mormonism discourages participation in other kinds of spiritual activities, while at the same time greatly encouraging proselyting.

I feel that it is unlikely that Mormons would want to participate in the type of spiritual activities that you enjoy. There are quite a few people in Southern Utah that are not Mormons though; as the area grows it is becoming more and more diverse. However, I don't know if the population base is large enough that you could find enough people to participate with you? That is a good question, I guess.

I have toyed with the idea of moving to Mesquite because Nevada is a tax-free state. Someone mentioned that the medical care in St. George is superior to Mesquite. Since it is only 40 miles away, couldn't one use medical care in St. George, rather than Mesquite? Just wondering if residency in another state would not allow this. Does anyone know?

 

[ivinsfan]

Welcome Earlygirl, would you consider posting an intro in the Hi I am section?

It might be complicated to get SGU health care while living in Nevada....I don't think distance is the issue as much as traveling to a state you don't reside in...insurance rules and all that.

 

[Earlygirl]

Welcome Earlygirl, would you consider posting an intro in the Hi I am section?

It might be complicated to get SGU health care while living in Nevada....I don't think distance is the issue as much as traveling to a state you don't reside in...insurance rules and all that.

Yes, I could do that. Thanks for the response on the healthcare. I guess I should do some research on that.

 

[RobLJ]

It's an 8 hour drive from Reno to LA, so that may eliminate it immediately. I would not live in Vegas, due to the heat in summer: here in Reno we hike throughout the year, and I also ski (Mt Rose is 30 minutes away) and fly fish (our house on the West side is 1/4 mile from the Truckee River). I used to drive from Riverside to Colorado but that was 30 years ago, and while I like St. George it also can be quite warm in summer. Someone suggested Cedar City which was the town north of it that I couldn't quite remember but liked.
Reno has a lot of summer events (tourism) and I also drive into Oakland a few times a year to see the Astros (we moved here 3.5 years ago from Houston and love it here). We considered Flagstaff and Grant's Pass, OR, along with the Olympic peninsula as alternative sites, but decided on Reno.

Also, our oldest son, his wife, and new grandbaby are 3.5 hours away in the Central Valley, and our youngest is a 12 hour drive away in Seattle--driving 12 hours by myself is not a big deal to me, but that's just me. So a lot of this is idiosyncratic.



Reno is getting hotter along with the Sierras; we had almost 20 days in July and August above 100 last year, but unlike Houston, almost every night it dropped into the low/mid 60s. (And it's a dry heat; we were still able to hike although we did drive up to Tahoe in the worst heat.) Housing has gone up in cost about 40-45% since we bought in 2015; that could be an important factor, I suppose.

 

[kite_rider]

There are a few things about living in a predominately LDS community that might not be obvious beyond the well know coffee / alcohol situations. If you have children and want to get involved with the community at all; they will be involved with the LDS church. I grew up in SE Idaho which is about as Mormon as it gets. My cub scout troop was tightly intertwined with the local LDS church. My piano teacher held all of our recitals at the local LDS church. Every middle school and high school in the area has a Mormon church right on the property line. Most all of my friends went to seminary (or whatever you call it) at the Mormon church many mornings before class, you almost feel left out if you don't get involved (I didn't).

My stepsister was a life long United Methodist, however when she married a divorced Mormon she found it almost impossible to have any type of life with her new husband without joining the church. In fact, his family pretty much made that mandatory. So now she is very active with her local LDS church even though I don't think she would have chosen that path without the coercions.

Finally, in my pre-FIRE life I was hired into a tech company in Albuquerque, NM. The only other non-Mormon in the entire engineering team was my boss who would tell me (usually at a BAR) that he was brought by upper management to diversify the group amongst other things. They were based in Orem, UT prior being moved to Albuquerque and had a very long history of hiring only other Mormons (all white guys FWIW). This was awkward for me, and as a manager I had some unique challenges. One of the most memorable was to very delicately inform one of my older employees that it wasn't appropriate to be writing a Mormon history book during work hours. He was a high ranking member of the church and apparently none of my coworkers would dare challenge this project.

Overall, my LDS neighbors and coworkers were good people and I got along fine. However, if you get involved with the community at all, you will be part of the LDS system if you want to or not.