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Finding an Apartment in Cedar City
What You Should Know
Cedar City is a city located in Iron County, Utah, 250 miles South of Salt
Lake City on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University and the
Utah Shakespearean Festival, among other festivals. As of the 2000 census, the
city had a total population of 20,527, and by 2004 was estimated at 22,224.
Cedar City was founded by John M. Macfarlane and originally settled in 1851 by a
group originating from Parowan, Utah to be the site of an iron works. The area
was originally named "Fort Cedar" after the abundant local trees (which are
actually Juniper trees). In 1855, a new site, closer to the iron works and out
of the flood plain of Coal Creek, was established at the suggestion of Brigham
Young; present day Cedar City is located at this site.
The iron works was closed in 1858, though iron continued to be mined in the area
until the 1980s. The completion of a railroad connection to Cedar City in 1923
established the area as a tourism gateway to nearby national parks.
The city has shared in the rapid growth of much of Southwestern Utah since the
late 1980s.
Geography
Cedar City is located in the southeast Great Basin, and is about 20 miles north
of the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert. Its elevation of 5,840 feet gives
it a much different climate from nearby Utah's Dixie, but it retains its
cultural ties to St. George — the two cities, for example, share a daily
newspaper.
The city is located on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau, in a high
desert valley with no ocean drainage. Interstate 15 connects the city with St.
George (50 miles) and Las Vegas (180 miles) to the south, and to Interstate 70
(70 miles) and Salt Lake City ((250 miles) to the north. State roads connect
Cedar City with Panaca, Nevada near US 93, Kanab, Utah via US 89 and to US 50
and US 6. Similar to St. George, the city enjoys an excellent location on the
west's regional transportation network. Los Angeles is 439 miles south and San
Diego is 500 miles south on Interstate 15, Phoenix is 465 miles south via
Interstate 15 and US 93, and Denver is 580 miles east via Interstates 15 and 70.
A spur of the Union Pacific rail line services the city.
Cedar City is located at 37°40'57" North, 113°4'28" West (37.682606,
-113.074402)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.0
km˛ (20.1 mi˛), none of which is covered with water.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 20,527 people in the city, organized into
6486 households and 4682 families. The population density is 394.5/km˛
(1,021.8/mi˛). There are 7,109 housing units at an average density of 136.6/km˛
(353.9/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 92.06% White, 2.53% African
American, 1.11% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.33% Pacific Islander, 1.65% from
other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. 4.14% of the population are
Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 6,486 households out of which 39.0% have children under the age of 18
living with them, 59.8% are married couples living together, 9.1% have a female
householder with no husband present, and 27.8% are non-families. 16.3% of all
households are made up of individuals and 5.8% have someone living alone who is
65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.07 and the average
family size is 3.37.
In the city the population is spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 27.4%
from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 14.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who are 65
years of age or older. The median age is 23 years. For every 100 females there
are 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $32,403, and the median income
for a family is $37,509. Males have a median income of $31,192 versus $19,601
for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,057. 22.1% of the
population and 14.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total
population, 20.2% of those under the age of 18 and 4.2% of those 65 and older
are living below the poverty line.
Notable people
* Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid, attended Southern Utah University in Cedar
City.
* Michael O. Leavitt was born and educated in Cedar City. He is the former
Governor of Utah, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the current Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
* L. E. Modesitt, Jr., a science fiction and fantasy author, lives in Cedar
City. Modesitt is famous for several series of novels addressing ethics,
ecology, and working principles of life in an entertaining and readable manner.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.