St. George’s Changing Age Demographic

When I moved to Southern Utah in the early 1990s, it had a reputation as being the place where "old people came to die."

* An 85-year-old walks into a St. George restaurant with a parrot on his shoulder. The hostess asks: "Hey, where did you get him?" The parrot answers: "At a nursing home, they're all over the place here!"

I was in my late 20s and had a young family and our first house was in a retirement community (they hadn't qualified for that designation when we purchased the home).

I always used to joke that the place we lived was full of people who got to the end of their lives and were angry because they didn't accomplish what they wanted.

* Followed my 79-year-old neighbor home from Tuacahn the other night. I knew it was him because he wouldn't break the speed limit and had his blinker was on the whole way.

A few moves and three decades later, this county has changed. Instead of mostly old people and retirement homes, St. George has become a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and fitness freaks.

Still, it is a perfect place to retire and I've found that I relate much more to the retired set than I do to the buff crowd.

* Golfing at Sunbrook, a retired couple tees off at the first hole. She goes first and nails a beautiful drive a couple-hundred yards down the course. Although it was a decent length, the ball bounces into the rough and finally into the trees. "I don't see so well anymore honey, did you see where the ball went?" "Yes," he replies. "But I can't remember."

Well, whatever the age, Southern Utah has become incredibly attractive to everyone.

* I hate it when people asked me if I did anything exciting over the weekend, like I'm over here skydiving or something. I'm old. I went to Walmart, did some laundry, ate too much food and took a nap.

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau tell us that the percentage of people in St. George that is over the age of 65 is at an all-time low of 21.5 percent.

That means nearly 80 percent of our population here is below retirement age. That's about 80,000 of us.

I guess the STG tagline should be: "St. George -- It's not just for retired people anymore."

* My grandmother has a bumper sticker on her car that says, ‘Sexy Senior Citizen.’ It’s hard to think of my dear old granny in that way. What is she doing? Out entering wet shawl contests? Wheelchair racing? Teeth swapping? Makes me wonder where she got that ten-dollar bill she gave me for my birthday.

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