Cedar City: Growth to Ghost Town?

When I graduated from high school my grandmother asked me what I was going to do. I was about as resolute as Larry King when it came to life decisions, and yet I had an answer – “I plan to go to college in a small town. As long as it has at least one stoplight, I’ll know it’s not too big and it’s not too small.” Through a string of unseen events, I did end up living in a town with no more than a couple of stoplights. SUU was my destination and Cedar City, Utah would shortly become my new town -- not too big and not too small.

The charm, landscape, scenery, central location between family in Salt Lake and Southern California, and most certainly the lack of traffic lights, had me head over heels in love with the area. Each and every individual star glimmered brightly in the dark sky while nothing took away from the illumination like it does in big cities. It took a 4-wheel drive and some “diggin’” to get to the top of Leigh Hill to get to the best view – when vacant land and shrubbery were all you could find surrounding the Redmen water tower.

Permanent residency somehow found its way into my life’s decisions when I married a Southern Utah native with roots deeper than the Mariana Trench. We only lasted 11 months on our own out there in the big, bad metropolitan world – even the furthest edge of Vegas was too populated for our taste. We planted ourselves in the Fiddler’s Canyon area for a few years, and then opted for a .25 acre lot in Mesa Hills subdivision – it was a steal by today’s standards.

Building a home near the newly developed residential plots where ATVs, Jeeps, and 4x4s once dominated the land was definitely not included in the non-plan delivered to Grandma five years prior. But build it we did! And so did all the other newcomers and life-long residents. The night sky brightened a bit and part of the firmament faded, but the opposite effect was taking place on the ground – in the earth, there was a different kind of “diggin’” going on. Excavation, concrete, framing, plumbing, electrical and all the trimming’s – growth was happening right before our eyes and would you believe it…traffic lights began to pop up all over the city!

Most of Utah, particularly the southern part of the state, experienced much of the same thing. In the short span from 2000 to 2003, Southern Utah’s beloved St. George was the nation’s second-fastest growing metropolitan area, second only to Greeley, CO. Numbers and neighbors were pouring in. Investors responded with residential, commercial and industrial ventures.

 

With residential building permits steadily rising and commercial bids filling up inboxes and flying through faxes statewide, many existing construction contractors experienced the greatest growth in company history. Meanwhile, new contractors were springing up rapidly, hoping to catch the wave; frequently succeeding. Flashy new cars; speedy, souped-up hi-performance boats; diamond-shielded RVs with all the bells and whistles; bikes and trucks and toys for girls and boys – the automotive industry was on its way to record sales and promising forecasts. RV, motorsports and used auto dealers saw the opportunity and seized it.

Ambition breeds innovation; innovation breeds success; success breeds growth; growth breeds more growth – this may as well have been the mantra of the initial half of the decade. But does growth really breed more growth? Rather, did growth really breed more growth?

“In economics, recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity over a period of time.” Wikipedia successfully conveys the description of a recession, but the obscure network of complex relationships , executive decisions, and real effects of a “business cycle contraction” can no more be foreseen than can a natural disaster. There are signs – even familiar warning signs and trends. The forecast comes, but only once the storm is set in motion.

Car lots with a shiny, clean rainbow of inventory seemed to reveal more and more empty parking spaces until many were left vacant, exposed and void of the thriving business they had been accustomed to.

 

  

 

Vast showrooms buzzing with seasonal shoppers began to display nothing but For Lease signage and bare floors. Favorite restaurants were cleaned out on one final, terminal evening - the ghosts of empty booths and tables left abandoned - longing for the party of four that comfortably dined in their vinyl seats. The food industry -- one of the toughest small businesses to manage with one of the toughest success rates. They fought the good fight, but for many, recession won the battle.

 

 

 

And the housing market – the homes in which family meals were held around the dining room table; prayers were said beside the bed frame; bubble baths and hot showers were indulged in; now, overgrown and unkempt, grass that was trampled on, plucked out and mowed by 14 year old boys – these cozy domains are now transformed into empty shells owned by institutions who make really terrible neighbors. Real estate signs abound, incessantly marketing foreclosure and short sale deals and steals.

 

 Just recently in June 2010, our community watched with regret as some of her commercial staples and mainstays fizzled and faded. Even national chains and household names are not exempt from the crisis. Closeouts of all inventory were offered; receipts were thrown away – all sales are final.

 

Perhaps an overabundance of local general and trade contractors had accumulated as a result of the home building boom. Hopes of raising families and providing jobs to skilled workers were dashed when lenders tightened their standards and many buildings were never built due to the lack of funding approval. Where local building had declined, there was still work to be obtained, but from a distance. Contractors with the ability to secure work in other cities, counties and states were forced to do so when new construction came to what seemed like a stand still. Some are still making it, but most did not. Skilled tradesmen have been left to fill the void with few options – relocate, underemployment or unemployment. An unprecedented interest has been taken in bankruptcy services.

 

Mayor Burgess reluctantly reported a 10.5% decrease in sales tax revenues in the May Festival City USA newsletter. Appropriately attributed to the recession, the discouraging statistics are accompanied by severe drops in building permits, slowed real estate activity in certain sectors and disheartening unemployment rates. In what has seemed like a recent domino effect of businesses closing their doors, it was refreshing to read that 88 new businesses have opened since January 2010. Actually, those numbers are now dated and are increasing as the year progresses.

Ambition breeds innovation and innovation breeds success. At least that’s what Donny Madlung and his mother, Tarri believe. Unimpressed by the DVD rental boxes, Tarri saw an opportunity to open a small business when she learned that Hollywood Video would be closing its doors. Video Outlet – one shot stop for video rentals held its grand opening on July 1, 2010 in the new building located at 900 South Main Street in Cedar City – next to Sherwin Williams and across Main from Staples, Big Lots and Fresh Market.

 

 

Of course, the old classic may trump innovation – some of our local favorites are holding their ground, as they have for years.

 

Though it was fairly young as businesses go, Robert’s Craft was allegedly forced to shut down a successful location in a bold move to save other newer, more expensive locations. One of the most frequented retail stores, the local reaction was borderline revolt – our Growth Town was quickly turning into a Ghost Town as business after business after business announced closings. Balance may, however, be restored as well-known companies fill the voids. A banner boasting the upcoming JoAnn fabric and craft stores job opportunities hangs like a promise over the ghostly stencil left by the original signage.

 

Still, the streets are filled and busy with vehicles. More residents are taking advantage of the cost-free and beautiful natural scenery only Southern Utah has to offer. And they don’t need a shiny new RV to do it. A bike and two feet – an economical, green way to enjoy life – perhaps even bringing all things into balance again.

So what is to become of this wonderful region we inhabit? Will the national economy continue to struggle and stretch its willowy fingers into the homes, land and businesses that are so much a part of us? These questions are without finite answers, and yet I continue to ask them, even if rhetorically. As I searched the city for signs that may lean to indications of prosperity or despair, it was evident that, though some shadows of dreams and grand aspirations are left behind, the green light stays bright and lasts longer than the red one. On every single stoplight