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Why Live In LV?
- Thread starter Gutwrench
- Start date
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Vegas is like Phoenix, only with year round entertainment, and slightly cooler temps. Plus lake Meade is within driving distance. Personally I hate the deserts, but if I had to choose between phoenix, Southern California, and Vegas, I would likely go with Vegas.
Pros:
- Low cost of living
- Convenient airport, with direct service almost anywhere in the world
- Great restaurants
- Great entertainment
- Great performing arts center
- Mountains all around
- Short driving distance from many national parks, and the ocean
- There's a ski area 30 minutes outside of the city!
- Your washed car will stay clean for months
- Many businesses, like grocery stores, are open 24 hours per day
- Desert sunrises and sunsets are beautiful
Cons:
- Public schools are bad
- Low cost of living
- Convenient airport, with direct service almost anywhere in the world
- Great restaurants
- Great entertainment
- Great performing arts center
- Mountains all around
- Short driving distance from many national parks, and the ocean
- There's a ski area 30 minutes outside of the city!
- Your washed car will stay clean for months
- Many businesses, like grocery stores, are open 24 hours per day
- Desert sunrises and sunsets are beautiful
Cons:
- Public schools are bad
Be careful. Las Vegas was hit really hard during the housing down turn. I spent a fair amount of time there working. I investigated mortgage fraud. Found lots of properties with inflated prices. Many lost half their value or more. Lots of investors.
I have found there are still lots of nice areas. Summerlin has nice areas, North Las Vegas is hit and miss. Henderson has some really nice communities as well. Do your homework.
Personally I really like the Lake Las Vegas area. I always stay at the Westin or the Hilton in Lake Las Vegas when I go. The Lake Las Vegas area was hit really hard during the depression, but is making a nice comeback. They converted one golf course to a park area, but the other has reopened and is really nice. They are starting to build again. Nice homes. Who knows might be a good time to go.
Personally the traffic was too much for me. Reminds me of CA. I'll stay in the Phoenix area for now. The weather is very similar.
I have found there are still lots of nice areas. Summerlin has nice areas, North Las Vegas is hit and miss. Henderson has some really nice communities as well. Do your homework.
Personally I really like the Lake Las Vegas area. I always stay at the Westin or the Hilton in Lake Las Vegas when I go. The Lake Las Vegas area was hit really hard during the depression, but is making a nice comeback. They converted one golf course to a park area, but the other has reopened and is really nice. They are starting to build again. Nice homes. Who knows might be a good time to go.
Personally the traffic was too much for me. Reminds me of CA. I'll stay in the Phoenix area for now. The weather is very similar.
I personally wouldn't advise buying right now. PRSI aside, the outlook isn't so hot. LV is kind of like the vacation home you owned out in Indian Wells (I think that's what you said) except more. It does have its benefits, but it's very much down to the person. Given your background, you might hate it. Chances are, you will hate it. On the other hand, you could bake your bread outdoors. Under the sun.
If you didn't like some of the glitz and glam that the Bay Area provided most of your life then you won't like living in Vegas unless you stay home all the time. Except in Indian Wells, you had a lot more to do and you weren't far from the big cities if you wanted to have some fun.
Assuming you're wanting to retire early, I'd go for a place with mild weather. Not too cold, not too hot. No too wet or too dry. Good community. Low crime. Lots to do. Good mix of corporate and family owned. And have activities you actually like.
If you didn't like some of the glitz and glam that the Bay Area provided most of your life then you won't like living in Vegas unless you stay home all the time. Except in Indian Wells, you had a lot more to do and you weren't far from the big cities if you wanted to have some fun.
Assuming you're wanting to retire early, I'd go for a place with mild weather. Not too cold, not too hot. No too wet or too dry. Good community. Low crime. Lots to do. Good mix of corporate and family owned. And have activities you actually like.
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I’d be worried about property values. The location is or was overbuilt and was hard hit when the real estate bubble popped, so maybe a great deal for buying, but maybe not for selling. I’ve been there many times and would never choose to live there. Besides the ultimate in hot, I’m not a prude, but have always detested an empire built on hoovering money out of gambling addict’s pockets.
This is number one. It will keep people from settling there if they are planning on raising a family. They are even below our souther states when it comes to both student performance and teacher pay.
If that's short driving distance for you, then I applaud your patience.
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I could never live where there isn't any trees. Palms are just tall weeds.
I haven't lived there. Only visited a few times for work, vacation, or to stay with friends living there.
There was a lot I didn't like. I remember it being oppressively hot. Even at night the pavement would radiate massive amount of heat. The tap water tasted really bad, too.
Away from the strip, any kind of unique character is completely lost and it feels like miles and miles and miles of strip malls and avenues, all looking the same with beauty shops, fast casual and fast food restaurants, and chain stores like Rite Aid, occasionally interrupted by big box stores. Might as well literally be in any generic city, USA. (Unfortunately the whole country seems to be going this way.)
Around the strip there was sexual "escort" flyer trash everywhere, literally blowing down the street in the wind, and people trying to jam that trash into my hands.
When it sprinkled rain once for a few minutes, the roads afterward were insanely slick. I was on a motorcycle and when making turns it almost felt as bad as driving on ice. This is not hyperbole--it genuinely felt that bad. I didn't really understand it. I'm a motorcyclist in Seattle so I ride in the rain all the time. Also I've ridden on snow and slush too (not smart, but I had no choice at the time), so I know what it is like. And just prior to the sprinkling, the road felt fine.
Lake Mead wasn't much of a draw to me. The water was dirty or cloudy, I couldn't see past 3-4 feet. So its not really a draw for a swimmer, snorkeler, or diver. Or at least it was like that when I was there. It's probably fine for power boating and beer or whatever, but I'm not into that.
On the plus side there are a lot of entertainment options and night life obviously. Food options on and off the strip are incredible, although tainted IMHO by nasty tap water.
Again, this is only what I can tell from visits. Someone who lives there might know the gems and the better things around the city.
There was a lot I didn't like. I remember it being oppressively hot. Even at night the pavement would radiate massive amount of heat. The tap water tasted really bad, too.
Away from the strip, any kind of unique character is completely lost and it feels like miles and miles and miles of strip malls and avenues, all looking the same with beauty shops, fast casual and fast food restaurants, and chain stores like Rite Aid, occasionally interrupted by big box stores. Might as well literally be in any generic city, USA. (Unfortunately the whole country seems to be going this way.)
Around the strip there was sexual "escort" flyer trash everywhere, literally blowing down the street in the wind, and people trying to jam that trash into my hands.
When it sprinkled rain once for a few minutes, the roads afterward were insanely slick. I was on a motorcycle and when making turns it almost felt as bad as driving on ice. This is not hyperbole--it genuinely felt that bad. I didn't really understand it. I'm a motorcyclist in Seattle so I ride in the rain all the time. Also I've ridden on snow and slush too (not smart, but I had no choice at the time), so I know what it is like. And just prior to the sprinkling, the road felt fine.
Lake Mead wasn't much of a draw to me. The water was dirty or cloudy, I couldn't see past 3-4 feet. So its not really a draw for a swimmer, snorkeler, or diver. Or at least it was like that when I was there. It's probably fine for power boating and beer or whatever, but I'm not into that.
On the plus side there are a lot of entertainment options and night life obviously. Food options on and off the strip are incredible, although tainted IMHO by nasty tap water.
Again, this is only what I can tell from visits. Someone who lives there might know the gems and the better things around the city.
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It rains all the time in Seattle, so the oil doesn't build up like it does in Vegas.
This matters so much. My wife being in education all her life said that the first thing when looking for a house is how is the school district. I kind of shrugged it off but looking back at it, it makes complete sense.
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Yeah, what he said. It rains all the time here. Stay away.
Yeah, what he said. It rains all the time here. Stay away.
That, and it's also like a billion dollars to buy a house around here.
HA. You know I was joking right?
I've been told if you climb to the top of the Stratosphere tower you can almost see the ocean....
I don't agree with much of the negativity here, especially "public schools are bad". It entirely depends on where you are in the area. Many public schools in Henderson receive a Great Schools rating of 8 or higher (out of 10), similar to what some of the famously good schools here in the Bay get. The district is a bit overburdened (the entire Valley has one district) but that doesn't mean all the schools are bad. That's something you can research depending on where the home is. Henderson is also very low-crime and is consistently ranked one of the safest cities in the country. LV itself maybe not as much, but I wouldn't discount the entire area. You have to be okay with the weather, though. I knew someone who lived in Phoenix for a while and hated it so much he was out of there before a year was up. I've been around various parts of the Las Vegas Valley and I could see myself living there, especially in the hillier areas. That said, I prefer the Reno-Tahoe area if I'm going to live in Nevada.
Don't forget the gambling. It reminds me of a 24hour light up the night sky... You can never be board, and if you try to, they'll kick you out.
Both options seem poplar. Granite, I can't imagine myself as either one. Though, people would certainly be marbled with the end result.
It's #1 for anyone except retirees. LV is not a big retirement destination. I actually turned down a teaching job in LV a few years ago because it would have been such a negative.
It will matter to anyone who's going to rent property from him. You don't want to own property that no one wants to rent.