St. George • Despite St. George’s recent accolades, Mayor Jimmie Hughes warned that the fast-growing city faces mounting challenges with housing affordability and traffic congestion.
In his first State of the City address Tuesday, the new mayor touted many of the town’s successes, but admitted he lacked all the answers to the affordable housing crunch.
To afford the median-priced $520,000 home in the St. George metro area, a buyer needs an annual salary of $149,000, according to a 2025 study by The Washington County Board of Realtors. Unfortunately, the study found the median household income is only $77,000, which would qualify a household for a $231,000 home — if such a home were available.
“Supply and supply and demand is the key when we talk about housing,” Hughes said. “So one of the things we can do is increase the supply, which again is a Catch 22 because that brings growth, [which] some people have a little aversion to.”
Washington County’s population, according to the Board of Realtors study, is projected to grow 30% over the next decade, which will require the construction of another 29,000 homes over that period to keep pace with growth.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Homes in St. George on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
In his short remarks about housing and construction, Council member Steve Kemp noted that building permits issued for single-family homes declined from 797 in 2024 to 650 in 2025. Building permits for multifamily homes like townhouses and apartments dropped from 539 to 214 over the same period.
But in a presentation Tuesday, the city highlighted that it has loosened restrictions on accessory dwelling units and recently approved the construction of a 199-room apartment complex at Tech Ridge.
More housing is one the way. One of them, according to the city’s presentation, is a five-story building the city approved in 2025 that will be located on the corner of St. George Blvd. and 300 West that will feature shops, office space and apartments.
Nearby, the First West Project, slated for St. George Boulevard and 100 West, will also feature a mixture of retail stores, office and residential space that will add to the city’s housing stock.
Beyond adding to the housing supply, Hughes said he will push to keep regulations on home builders at a minimum and avoid raising property taxes, which haven’t increased in St. George since 1987.
Transportation challenges
(Chris Caldwell | Special to The Tribune) The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, where the proposed Northern Corridor is to be built, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
On transportation, Hughes praised the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s recent approval of the Northern Corridor project. The four-lane highway, intended to reduce peak hour traffic congestion in the St. George area by 15%, will be constructed through the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, a swath of land located north of the city that was created to protect habitat for endangered species, including the Mojave desert tortoise. Environmental groups have sued the federal government over the approval.
Hughes also hailed the city getting federal approval for the George Washington Boulevard Bridge project that is aimed at improving traffic by connecting Interstate 15 and Southern Parkway. The mayor, who called himself the city’s “chief cheerleader and advocate,” added that such projects will help “secure the resources we need to keep the fast-growing city functioning for decades to come.”
While acknowledging such challenges, the bulk of Hughes’ remarks and several videos were centered on St. George’s successes. Chief among them was the city’s top ranking in January as the best-performing small metropolitan area in the Milken Institute’s “Best-Performing Cities“ report. In 2025, WalletHub named St. George the best small city to start a business.
Hughes and others also championed the recent ongoing construction of the $15 million control tower at St. George Regional Airport, which is expected to be completed in 2027, as well as a proposed $100 million project to expand the airport terminal.
The new $51 million city hall and its adjacent parking structure, which debuted in January, shared the spotlight with scores of other achievements highlighted in the speeches and videos.
A self-professed rodeo fan who owns a ranch on the Arizona Strip, Hughes also noted the $9 million renovation project to expand the Dixie Sunbowl, which he promised would be finished on time to host the St. George Lions Dixie Roundup Rodeo in September.
Answering the call
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) St. George Mayor Jimmie Hughes delivers the State of the City address, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.
Hughes lauded the families that pioneer-leader Brigham Young sent to settle the area in October 1861, saying they answered the call to come to a place some deemed unfit to live, tamed the desert and made it blossom. The mayor called on city officials and residents to answer their call and build on that legacy.
“We may not be asked to dig a canal by hand,” he said. “We may not be asked to plant cotton on untested soil. But we are asked to be community builders, to build an economy that serves families, to build neighborhoods that foster belonging, and to build a community worthy of those who came before and answered that first call.”
St. George resident Lyle Robinson said he understood the self-congratulatory nature of the presentation, much of which he called well-deserved, but added he would have liked to have seen equal time given to the city’s problems.
“Growth is a double-edged sword,” he said. “If it is not dealt with or planned for properly, it can undercut everything else.”