ST. GEORGE – The results of an online poll asking which is the “best” city in Utah named St. George as the winner Monday.
The poll, hosted by KSL.com and done for no other reason than to have some fun, began with 68 of the state’s most populous cities. Over the period of a few weeks and thousands of votes, the City of St. George and Park City were the finalists through the weekend.
According to KSL, someone tried to sway the online voting by using bots, yet ended up having no impact on the overall vote that put St. George on top with 64 percent to Park City’s 36 percent.
“This is really just a fun contest,” St. George Mayor Jon Pike said Monday. “Certainly I think St. George is a great city.”
It’s a great city that has something for everyone, the mayor said.
“What isn’t there to like about St. George?”
Longtime resident and former Dixie Sun Elementary school principal Dale Porter has strong opinions about the area as well.
“I don’t think it’s the best city – I know it is,” Porter said.
Having lived in northern Utah cities, Porter said he loves the area for the weather that allows his grandchildren to come and play in the sunshine while snow and cold still lay claim to other parts of the state.
Porter also praised the work done by the city’s Leisure Services Department in relation to providing the public with many recreational opportunities, such as the splash pad in the Town Square where his grandchildren played.
“It’s a great city to live in,” Porter said. “I’m very happy.”
Chandelar Gill, from Pleasant View, was in St. George Monday with her family visiting her snow bird parents. She said the area’s weather helped make St. George a great location. She also mentioned the many recreational opportunities as well as the city’s proximity to popular travel destinations like Snow Canyon and Zion National Park.
The city’s interconnecting trail system is also a favorite of Gill’s, she said. One can walk, run or bike nearly anywhere in the city.
“I love that it feels like a small town,” Gill said, “though it’s getting bigger, it still feels like a small town.”
So what does St. George win for being the best city in Utah year?
Bragging rights.
“We’ll spend the rest of the year mending broken relationships and hard feelings among the cities, but St. George can soak up the fame, prestige and pure awesomeness that comes by being named Utah’s ‘best’ city of 2016,” Josh Furlong, KSL.com assistant news director, wrote on the site’s poll page; and:
So St. George, go take the day off, enjoy the sun, throw yourself a parade and charge the bill to the state because the people voted you as the best. Congrats, you earned it by some totally subjective means of voting.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
Click-bait for KSL who got to show all those ads to those self-identifying poll “respondents”.
NOW…how about a real, statistically-sound poll of all Utahns?
Oh, wait.
By far the best doctor and patient care is right here in good ole St George. Of course, I only compare this to where I’ve been prior and I have not had Doctor care all over the US.
Hey you forgot to mention the Native Americans that live here ! just thought I would mention it.
Great News…We should all go out and dance in the streets over this!….Or is that, still not allowed?
No dancing allowed
Get your permit for dancing and you might be okay, but dance without your permit and they have the legal right- nay, OBLIGATION!- to arrest you on the spot…. unless they shoot you in the back first, you law-breaking heathen!
I spent a year researching cities in the US that had low crime, low population and low traffic and found St. George. The lower cost of living, warmer weather and friendly people are an added bonus. The runner up cities were Missoula MT, Palacious TX and a few cities in the south but I kept coming back to St. George. Moving here has changed our quality of life. We love this area.
I came. I hated it. I’m still here, and love it.
Well feel free to leave . Bye. !