[cult]

My partner and I used to live in Las Vegas in 2004 during the boom times...back then Vegas was the fastest growing city in the country and the economy there was very, very good. We lived there for a year before we returned to our home city. I needed to get my crap together, go back to school and find a career, which I have done.

We are considering a return. We won't go without solid job offers which are not here yet, so it's questionable whether we will actually go.

However, what I wanted to find out from those who are longtime residents is how things have changed since 2004. I know that Vegas was hit very hard by the crash of '08 and that overseas speculators bought up a lot of property afterwards. I also know there were tons of foreclosures, etc....the usual things that happen when an economy tanks.

I'd like to know about the following things -

Neighborhoods/Housing (Safety, etc)
Crime
Employment
Whether the Mormons are still the shadow government in town ;0
How stable the economy is at this point in time
The state of the school system - my spouse and I are both teachers

[von949]

The state of the school system? There is a active local school system thread that you should check out. Should be easy to find.

As far as the difference between when you were here and now, you probably remember the strip looking like this...





All of that construction scaffolding/cranes is gone now.


Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

[irishspy]

How true about the building I first came out in 2005 (visit) and the strip was a mass construction zone. It was July hot as hell and at night their was more construction folks on the street going to work than tourist. The other thing on the strip was their was not the costume characters running around all over the place. I got long hauled by a taxi on that trip so that has not changed $25.00 to go from the Excalibur to Belliago one way I did not know any better The cost of stuff has gone way up on the strip. Housing thing is a puzzle with lots of pieces all over the place. Some areas are still a good buy but the process to house hunt is complicated unless you have the time and that would require you to live here or stay a extended time. Education is trying to bounce back their has been some very good success stories and they are hiring supposedly 2,000 new teachers Employment in general is improving below the 10% un employment rate. Crime is what you see and compare to for a city of 2 million I believe the stats are about average. The other thing is more retirees are moving out here like me so we do not get lay off slips and hopefully we help stabilize the economy in LV a bit. Downtown Fremont ST is going through a huge change because of the big Tech Companies moving in there. They have cleaned up the bums and street people around the area and it is pretty safe in that area. Mormons ???? but I do know there is not one bad looking church in LV of any religion so they must be doing something right. I guess you need to take a trip out here to see how it has changed.

[MAXIALE02]

My opinion is that Las Vegas has turned into California East. I see way more California license plates who should probably be changing their tags. Burglary and petty larceny seem to be running rampant. I don't worry about violent crime though.

On a positive note, the cultural diversity is increasing. Along with that comes better service, more variety and experience in food and trade.

Employment has been good to me as I'm also trying to break back into the Las Vegas market after being away for a while. The downside is more people means more competition for jobs. But again more competition means better services. I have a history here which benefits me.

I have no problem with the mormon presence. I don't think it's in your face and I have mormon friends and am no where near being a mormon. I think religion is a good counterbalance to the Vegas lifestyle.

I think the local economy has or is correcting itself. In 2004 this city was financially out of control. People were running around like the streets were paved with gold, myself included. I hope we have learned from that and can move forward to being considered a real city with a history besides a touristy dive.

There's another active thread that is very informative going around right now. As teachers, it might inspire you. I hope you bring your A game if you come to teach our kids because they need it.