March 1, 2008
Nora and Pat Flannery for bestplaces.net

ST. GEORGE, UTAH

Four years ago Nora Flannery, 54, was flipping through a magazine when she came across an article on St. George, Utah. "My husband, Pat, and I knew St. George because we had been driving through on family vacations to Lake Powell for years," she says. What they had never done, though, was actually stop. A few months later they did, staying at SunRiver, a fast-growing 55-plus community just outside St. George. Within the year the Flannerys sold their restaurant-supply business in central California and put a down payment on a house. "I guess we were really ready for the change," says Pat, 59.

Much of the appeal of St. George lies in its myriad opportunities for hiking, biking, and other fitness activities in the red-rock cliffs that surround the town. Both Nora and Pat play pickleball - a fast-paced racquet game popular in the area - and since moving, they have also bought bicycles. "And on Sundays we try and make it a point to take the Jeep off-roading, because there's such great territory to explore," says Pat. "We could never have afforded this kind of life back in California," adds Nora.

Like many of the "equity refugees" from California, the Flannerys were able to put a large down payment on a house that cost about $200,000 four years ago. They both still work, albeit part-time. But mostly they enjoy the constant activity in and around SunRiver. "We go to lots of parties," Nora says.

They are not alone in their newfound love for St. George. Originally a Mormon enclave, the city is in one of the ten fastest-growing counties for people who are 60 and up in the United States, according to a 2006 AARP report on the migration patterns of older adults. SunRiver alone has more than 1,000 homes. In the last five years St. George has added more than 7,500 new homes; in 2005 more residential building permits were issued in tiny St. George (population 65,968) than in any other Utah city. Still, the spacious desert landscape makes it feel as if there's room for everyone.

Article on aarp.org