I’m a large systems computer geek. I have an opportunity to take a (non-casino) job in “north” Las Vegas. I don’t know, yet, precisely where.
I’ve got three young kids and a pretty simple lifestyle.
What can you tell me about living in Las Vegas? What’s the cost of living like? Where’s a nice quiet place to live? Can you avoid most of the “Sin City” atmosphere by making easy choices or only through great effort?
-B
I’ve lived here for 5 years and love it. Great weather, 24 hour town, affordable…
However, it is still the fastest growing city in the US, so that means that traffic has gotten worse just in the short time I have been here and homes have almost doubled in value. This year, they expect the price of homes to go up 15%!
I am a little put off by your reference to “sin city”…it is, after all, Las Vegas. Sure, there is a boatoad of Mormons and I am sure Mel Gibson’s film has been a hit here as well, but for the most part, people move to Las Vegas because they do not mind living in an adult environment.
In addition, the school system here has been hard pressed to keep up with the growth, so it is not exactly the best. In addition, you have an entire school system filled with kids who were yanked from their old home towns and transplanted here - you can imagine what the results are. Lots of problems, and I don’t envy those poor kids at all.
“North” Las Vegas is a little vague. There actually is a North Las Vegas with their own city council, etc. The worst part of town is in North Las Vegas - drugs and crime, but FAR north is nice, it is just not easy to get to as there is currently major oonstruciton on the I95 that makes it a commuter nightmare. Fortunately, I live in the South East section - still busy, but nowhere near the congestion.
It takes a special person to like living here. I enjoy summer days with temperatures of 120 degrees. I like the fact there is a non-stop, wild night-life, even if I almost never take advantage of it. I would suggest you come out, mid-week, and rent a car and do some driving way off the Strip. Check it out. See for yourself.
They say 7,000 people move here every month. They neglect to mention 3,000 move AWAY every month as well. Still a net gain, but as you can see - Las Vegas living isn’t for everyone.
Hmm…not quite sure what a boa-toad of Mormons is, but there is the proverbial “boatload” of Mormons as well.
Forgot to mention, go to www.lasvegas.com and check the Las Vegas Review Journal to see prices of apartments, homes, job listings, etc. That might help in your decision.
Well, this describes the job location - the potential employer is on this list
I know that gambling, etc. is downtown on the strip. I don’t see myself going to the strip are much - unless there’s a good show or something to be seen. I don’t gamble myself and don’t have much use for the “What happens here stays here” vacation lifestyle. Still the job looks interesting & the pay adequate.
I can’t really speak for Las Vegas, and excuse me for butting in, but from what I can tell from other parts of Nevada, gambling isn’t in just one place; it’s everywhere. Slots or video poker in the grocery stores, convenient stores, airports. Maybe you were just talking about casinos (though I can’t imagine they’re confined to the strip), but I’ve always had the impression that the gambling is everywhere. Of course, this is just the feeling I’ve picked up on from vacation and reading things.
I have lived in Las Vegas since 1996, and I have to say it is not that bad. It does have its “growing pains” problems as DMark has mentioned. North Las Vegas has its crime problems so does the rest of the Metro area. Also just because the job in in NLV does not mean you have to live in NLV. Homes here are more pricey than in some parts of the counrty and cheaper than others. I thout that rent was pretty high when I was a renter. (There are areas of town that have decent home prices and there are those that are just super ridiculous priced.)
I very rarely partake in gambling (yes there are poker machings in grocery stores usually 5 or 6 by the entrance and at most bars) and “vegas” nightlife (clubbing etc) generally avoid the Strip and downtown unless I have out of town guests that want to go and see stuff. There is also Lake Mead National Rec area, Mount Charleston, Red Rock for outdoorsey entertainment (rock climbing, boating, camping, skiing?snowboarding in the winter etc)
We have theaters, museams, art, music like most cities, although some could be better.
I dont have much experience with schools as I do not have any kids, but from what I know there are overcrowding issues due to the booming population and the serious need for new schools (they cant build them fast enough).
Summers are hot, but it is only really hot for like 3 months straight. The rest of the year it is just great!
You probably should come out and get a rental car and check out the town before you decide on moving here. I moved here from Nebraska to finish my BS in Geology without really knowing what to expect. I haven’t regretted it a bit.
here are some other links for vegas stuff
www.klastv.com (news channel they have some good community links at the bottom of their page)
http://www.nps.gov/lame/index.htm Lake Mead
http://www.mtcharlestonlodge.com/
http://www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/valley_of_fire/state_park.html
http://www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/valley_of_fire/state_park.html
LVgeogeek, it is your turn to initiate the next Las VegasDopeFest! Looking forward to meeting you!
But you are right about a lot of other things to do in, and around, this city.
Another thing I have noticed is that a lot of single/divorced women, some with (very young) children, have moved here and ekked out a nice life - found jobs, bought a house, met some guys. Maybe it is just the women I meet at work (I’m Gay, so I am not hitting on them) but they all seem very happy that they moved here. Perhaps it is because, as I mentioned, this is an “adult environment” that doesn’t prejudice them. At any rate, it was something I though about today at work while talking to the co-workers.
However, I still have to warn parents of teenage kids…this is NOT a good place to move to if your kids are still in high school. I was briefly a sub at a high school and those kids are miserable. Because of the huge influx of people moving here, the schools are over-crowded, the place is chock full of displaced teenagers all pissed off of having to leave their friends back home and they are lonely. It is one thing to be the “new kid in school”, but if the whole class is filled with “pissed off new kids in school”, it doesn’t make for a pretty picture!
If your kids are younger, it shouldn’t be as much of a problem.
If you’ll go to yahoo maps (or any mapping site) and put in Craig and Losee rd on a 1 in to mile scale you should see your “Cheyenne corridor” (CC is noted on map) Approx 1 mile south of Craig.
On that same map if you’ll look north towards Ann and Lone mountain roads and west of I 15,you’ll find plenty of newer houses in different price ranges from abt 200 to 500k,depending on your lifestyle and financial condition.These should all be a relatively easy commute to the job.I’d avoid the far Nwest/west to east/southeast commute.Can be troubling.
Anything south or east of craig and I 15 shouldn’t be considered.Older houses in a lot of cases,disreputable neighborhoods.
Forget the notion of “all the gambling is on the strip”.The latest figures I read had the Boulder corridor (basically from Boulder station,Sam’s town to the Sunset casino) had a bigger handle than downtown.
Neihborhood casinos are everywhere tho the bigger ones have movie theatres and even bowling alleys attached to them.You can also get all of your daily/weekly shopping shopping chores done in usually close proximity to where you live.Every major intersection has strip malls with all the national names and a few local ones.
From supermarkets to blockbusters to specialty shops.
An example,for me I can drive a 1 mile strip encountering everything from Walmart,Office Depot,Circuit City,bookstore,mufflers,brakes,every fast food chain imagineable,bakeries,barbers-even a tattoo joint,er,parlor.
In the area I mentioned for housing there’s only one casino I’m aware of on Craig and one at Ann rd.and the 93/95 freeway.
I’ve been in a few of those northerly neighborhoods I’m touting and they seem to be on a par with the Henderson/Green Valley locales I’m familiar with.
As far as living here,the biggest difference between this city and any I’ve ever lived in (I’ve lived in about 6 different locales from east coast, NYC to So.Florida) is there’s no such thing as a genuine neighborhood character,due to the transient nature of the populace.
In safe (socalled) neighborhoods there’s still the reported home breakins,carjackings,etc,and one of your neighbors may be a convicted or not felon of some sort trying to hide the past,while living the style in the present.This I think is from the fair amount of absentee landlords.I’ve seen renters in every “good” neighborhood in this town.
Not that a renter is necessarily bad (part time digs for newly relocated people such as yourself make up some of this market),but the prevailing mentality that built this town still exists in a lot of ways as far as not questioning what you’ve done or where you’ve done it previously,as long as you can pay the entrance fee.
Oh,and the heat.Try at least 4 months of misery from sometime in May until about mid September.95 is not my idea of comfortable,altho after the endless string of 100s-110s from Jun thru August,they at least seem a little reasonable.But when the 90s start in May the dread starts clicking in.I’ve been here almost 20 years,and anybody’s lying if they tell you they don’t mind the summers.You adapt.Like not going out in the midday sun and shopping in the evening,and still by about the 1st of August I’m about worn out from the coping.A good time to take a cooler clime vacation.
One thing to remember is that you’ll be living in a desert. Depending on where you’re coming from, that can require an entire change in your way of thinking. I know that I still haven’t gotten my mind of the desert (hating more than a little snow and rain and treating water like the college gets it out of a dwindling aquifier and not from surface water where 40" of rain is normal) in what has been close to three years back east. In my experience, some people do well with deserts and others don’t.