Blanding, Utah

Life in Blanding, Utah, explained by people who’ve lived in Blanding:

• Favorites
• Least Favorites
• Things To Do
• Reputation
• Crime
• Advice
• Stories
• The Future
• Other Facts

*Click here to learn about living in other cities in Utah.

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*Click here to share your experience living in Blanding*

*Response format = Answer (Your name, How long you’ve lived in Blanding)

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Blanding Favorites

What’s your favorite thing about living in Blanding?

Blanding Least Favorites

What’s your least favorite thing about living in Blanding?

Blanding Things To Do

What are fun things to do in Blanding?

Blanding’s Reputation

What’s Blanding known for?

• I hate to say it, but it used to be known for an illegal artifact trade, and now it’s known for the Bears Ears controversy. (Amy, 6 years)
• It’s great community spirit. (Sidney, 7.5 years)
• National monuments. (Anonymous, 9 years)
• The people who stole the artifacts. (Kara, 18 years)
• Football and Bears Ears. Patio is pretty well known too, as well as the high school softball team. The 4th of July is the most well known thing in Blanding. (Katie, 18 years)
• Being an awesome, fun small town. (Brianna, 19 years)
• Anti-environment politics, vandalizing, and raiding antiquities sites. (Fika, 21 years)
• Amazing 4th of July celebrations. (Ashlie, 28 years)
• Bears ears. (Kari, 30 years)
• Being a dry town. (Kendra, 30 years)
• No alcohol. (Amy, 42 years)
• Everybody knows somebody from Blanding. (Heather, my whole life)

Blanding Crime

What’s the crime like in Blanding? (hot spot areas, etc.)

• Minimal crime. (Amy, 6 years)
• No problem in our neighborhood. (Pam, 10 years)
• There are more drugs here than I think most people realize. But, it isn’t like located to one spot, it’s spread throughout town. (Kara, 18 years)
• Crime in Blanding really isn’t horrible. There have been a couple more robberies in Blanding these past couple years, but it’s not horrible. (Katie, 18 years)
• There isn’t a ton of crime although it has increased a little in the last couple years. (Brianna, 19 years)
• Theft, meth and perception drug abuse. (Fika, 21 years)
• It’s there. (Jackie, 23 years)
• It is getting worse. It seems to be worse in the south west part of Blanding. (Ashlie, 28 years)
• Not too bad. (Kari, 30 years)
• Not much crime. Break ins now and again. (Kendra, 30 years)
• Not sure. (Heather, my whole life)

Blanding Advice

Any advice for people moving to Blanding?

• Buy a newer home; it’s hard to sell older homes here, and the market doesn’t mirror the market up north. We seem to be in our own little micro-market. (Amy, 6 years)
• Become active in the community, in areas you are interested in. You will meet wonderful people! (Sidney, 7.5 years)
• Be friendly. (Pam, 10 years)
• Don’t hire a realtor. Ours are not great. (Kara, 18 years)
• Good luck finding a house, the housing market there is slim. But make sure to go to the Friday night football games, those are the best. (Katie, 18 years)
• Make your own fun! Get out into nature. (Brianna, 19 years)
• If you’re not white, Mormon, and financially independent, don’t move to Blanding. (Fika, 21 years)
• Go to events so you can meet people. (Ashlie, 28 years)
• Great if your outdoorsy, bad if you like to shop or eat out. (Kari, 30 years)
• People don’t mean to be stand offish, just give them a chance. (Kendra, 30 years)
• Get out and meet people, get involved in your kids school activities, church activities and give yourself time to see the good things. (Heather, my whole life)

Blanding Stories

Share an experience you’ve had in Blanding (fun, crazy, dangerous, etc.).

• My son wanted to make money raising a 4H pig like his friends have done. My husband and I don’t have much farming experience, but we wanted Jack to have the experience. We spent a lot of time building the pen and making a good shelter for two of the Howell’s feeder pigs. We did a lot of research and talked to anyone we could to get all the info. we needed to start. They didn’t have hog paneling at San Juan Building supply, either that or Mark got the horse paneling for cheaper; regardless, the pen was ready. We drove our minivan over to the Howell’s to pick up our pigs. We decided against our pickup because we figured the pigs could jump out and get hurt. We put tarps down in the back of our van and put them back there. Sure enough, on the short trip home, those pigs pooped multiple times, but it was ok because we had the tarp. I grabbed one pig, Mark grabbed the other, and we headed over to the pen. Boy were they squealing! They were NOT happy! We brought them in the pen and set them down. We were in there with them trying to make them feel at home, but they just kept running the perimeter. Suddenly, one of them squeezed his way right through the 4 by 4ish square! Oh NO!! Mark, Jack and Milli took off after the pig who was running through the neighbor’s field on the way to Westwater. It was just me and the bigger piglet left in the pen. Surely he couldn’t fit, I thought. I was wrong! He started wriggling his body through a square, and I caught his back legs just in time. I just sat there holding his back legs while everyone else chased the other one. It seemed like 20 minutes. Finally the get-a-way pig ended up running over to the Palmer’s pigs and Mark was able to snatch him. We ended up putting both pigs back in the back of the minivan; getting some zip ties, and adding an extra fence (with much smaller holes) around the perimeter. It took awhile to get that all set up, so needless to say, by the time we got those pigs out of the back of the van, it was a disaster of pig poo! Life lessons all over the place that day! (Amy, 6 years)
• Every year my little family and I spend almost every night of the summer out on the water at recapture. (Kara, 18 years)
• I have too many stories about growing up there, but my favorite would probably be being a part of high school theater and putting on shows that the community always loved. (Katie, 18 years)
• Snowmobiling on Blue Mountain. (Brianna, 19 years)
• My black son got called the N—- word in Sunday school. (Fika, 21 years)
• Night games in the summer. Tons of fun! (Ashlie, 28 years)
• Growing up here I have too many. (Kendra, 30 years)

Blanding’s Future

How do you think Blanding will change over the next 10 years?

• I don’t think it will change much at all. I wish we’d have some new schools by then, but I doubt it. (Amy, 6 years)
• I hope it remains a small community, that families will continue to live here. (Sidney, 7.5 years)
• It won’t change if the residents have anything to say about it we like our small town. (Anonymous, 9 years)
• I think that will we will see an increase in tourism and, if we are not prepared, it will be a bad increase. (Kara, 18 years)
• It may allow alcohol, it may not. I imagine it to grow by maybe another 1,000 people. (Katie, 18 years)
• I think it will slowly continue to grow, but stay awesome. (Brianna, 19 years)
• Very little. (Fika, 21 years)
• I don’t think it will change much. (Ashlie, 28 years)
• Not a lot. May get more tourists but I anticipate things will pretty much stay the same. (Kendra, 30 years)
• More people move in, more businesses. (Heather, my whole life)

Blanding Facts

Any other interesting facts about Blanding?

• We take care of each other. (Pam, 10 years)
• We have more than a 50% Native American population. (Kara, 18 years)
• It was originally named Grayson. (Katie, 18 years)
• It rocks! (Brianna, 19 years)
• Over 50% of the population is Native American 100% of the business owners are white. Highest dropout rate in Utah. School district lost a lawsuit for discriminatory practices against Native American students. The result was bankrupted the district. Seems most the white population blames the native population for this and not the discimionary practices. (Fika, 21 years)
• Every one is related and you will find connections back to Blanding no matter where you go in the world. (Ashlie, 28 years)