Let’s stop pretending this is complicated. It isn’t.

Milford and western Beaver County are losing at least $20 MILLION every single year, and it’s happening for one reason: we refuse to fix our housing and land development problem. This isn’t a vibe, it isn’t a hunch.

I ran the numbers. They’re ugly.

The Economic Drain (In Plain English)

Every day, hundreds of workers drive into Milford to earn paychecks—and then drive right back out, taking their money with them.

Here’s what that little daily parade costs us every year:

That’s not a rounding error. That’s a slow-motion nonstop economic hemorrhage.

Last Thursday morning I was driving to St. George at 6:30 AM. For fun I counted 95 vehicles in just the 15 minute span between Milford and Minersville heading north into town. Wild.

The Mine Example (One Employer)

• At the mine alone:
• ~150 total employees (including contractors)
• 41% of total salaries are paid to people who live in Iron County
• Those wages are spent on:
  – Groceries
  – Housing
  – Gas
  – Restaurants
  – Schools
  … somewhere else.

Now multiply that by every major employer near Milford. That 41% might as well be a vacuum hose sucking money straight out of Milford.

Let’s Kill the Myths Right Now

❌ “We don’t have enough shopping or amenities”

Wrong.
Retail follows rooftops, not the other way around. Not vibes. Not hope. Rooftops.

❌ “People don’t want to live here”

Wrong again.
People do want to live here. They just can’t. Unless they enjoy sleeping in their truck—which some have done.

❌ “The market will fix itself”

It hasn’t. And it won’t. And it’s been politely waiting for decades for us to notice.

The Actual Problem (Say It Out Loud)

Milford does not have housing.

Breaking that down:

1. Professional Workers Have No Options

Engineers, managers, supervisors, and skilled professionals bring families. We’ve given them the jobs. But what haven’t we given them? They expect:

• Buildable lots
• Newer homes
• Basic neighborhood infrastructure

None of that exists here—so they live in Cedar City and commute. Shocking.

2. Temporary Workers Have Nowhere to Go

Construction crews, drillers, and short-term labor:

• Can’t find rentals
• Can’t find temporary housing
• Can’t find anything

So they live outside the county and spend their money there. Again, shocking.

3. The Root Cause: No Developed Land

This is the real bottleneck:

Lots of land + no buildable lots = Stagnation

Visual: The Broken Development Cycle

Cheap Raw Land
      ↓
High Infrastructure Costs
      ↓
No Developer ROI
      ↓
No Housing
      ↓
Workers Commute In
      ↓
Money Leaves Milford
      ↓
Repeat (Forever)

And while we repeat this cycle, we lose $20 million every year.

What $20 Million a Year Could Be Doing Instead

Let’s be clear about what this loss is costing us:

• A main street that resembles a ghost town
• Fewer services
• Stagnant school enrollment
• Less school funding
• Fewer teachers and programs
• Fewer stores and restaurants
• No 11-man football
• Fewer opportunities for our kids
• Roads that never improve

This isn’t about “growth for growth’s sake.” Growth is upon us. This is about managing it, encouraging it, and paving the way for it.

And I already know what I’m going to hear… “But Darin, we don’t want to ‘overbuild’ and then have it all abandoned later.” Those who say that don’t understand the long-term structural shift happening here. Also, the collective fear of boom-and-bust history has convinced decision-makers to do… nothing. Some of us remember a time when we had two grocery stores, two bars, four clothing stores, three gas stations. A movie theater. More. Now we have tumbleweeds and empty storefronts and a whole lot of nostalgia. We can fix it but we have to show some courage, which admittedly doesn’t come with a grant application.

Great things are happening around here. World changing things. In Milford we are on ground zero of a global energy revolution and most people don’t even know it.

The Solution (And Yes, It’s On Us)

Developers are not villains here. The math simply doesn’t work for them under current conditions.

That means the fix has to start with the city and the county:

What Must Happen:

• Public investment in infrastructure, roads, sewers, and sidewalks
• Incentives to offset development costs
• Broad changes to building and zoning ordinances
• A proactive, not reactive—or non-active—growth strategy

And let’s be honest:
Nothing changes unless citizens demand it.

The Clock Is Ticking

We are in a transition period right now—whether anyone likes it or not. Yet, this isn’t a quick problem to fix. People live where they have to live. And to be clear I’m not blaming anyone who lives in Cedar City and drives in every day. For now they have no other choice. That’s on us. But we can make a change. It won’t be easy. It won’t fast. But the time to start was years ago. The second best time to start is now.

We have two options:

1. Manage growth intentionally, or
2. Stay stagnant and watch opportunity pass us by forever

Milford is already paying the price.
Every year we delay costs us another $20 million.

The question isn’t whether change is coming. Its already upon us.

The question is whether Milford will benefit from it—or be left behind, again.