[RCIS719]

We've been looking at properties online, and taking suggestions of home locations from this website. It has been suggested that we avoid East Las Vegas, but that was not explained. Is all of East Las Vegas not a good area? What about the area surrounding Desert Rose Golf course? There seems to be some reasonable deals in that area, in terms of pricing, yard size, and having the open space of a golf course in the backyard. There also does not seem to be HOA fees, although I could be mistaken. Is this not a safe area? Bad schools? Can anyone tell me if/why this area should be avoided?

[forestgump99]

I'll tackle this one. Some will be afraid to express why east Las Vegas should be avoided, but I'll try to be honest.

Ever been to Tijuana, Mexico ? Did you watch the news lately and watched the rioting in Ferguson?
Take those two towns and combine them, that is east Las Vegas.

If you live in the very east up *Frenchman Mountain/Sunrise Mtn, you are in an area where housing prices are higher, but if you plant yourself there, you have to travel through the hood to get to your mansion.

There are reasonable deals in Sunrise Manor, but you'll be in TijuFerguanason.

[Miss Hepburn]

Nor North East...dangerous...that's all.
Maybe not during the day...and maybe not every second...but
scary...alot of trash blowing, no one cares...or few people.
Chain link, guard dog type places, run down...
Drugs...main problem.

Move Downtown to the Art District.

Reasonable deals, I'll say...my mom's Townhouse in the NE was worth 175,000
at one time ...after the crash of '08 you couldn't find a buyer for 22,000.
It was nice when she bought in a new area 27 years ago...she didn't
do her area research.

[von949]

Originally Posted by forestgump99

I'll tackle this one. Some will be afraid to express why east Las Vegas should be avoided, but I'll try to be honest.

Ever been to Tijuana, Mexico ? Did you watch the news lately and watched the rioting in Ferguson?
Take those two towns and combine them, that is east Las Vegas.

If you live in the very east up *Frenchman Mountain/Sunrise Mtn, you are in an area where housing prices are higher, but if you plant yourself there, you have to travel through the hood to get to your mansion.

There are reasonable deals in Sunrise Manor, but you'll be in TijuFerguanason.

[longton52]

Here's my take on the east side. I've lived in 2 areas of the east; up at Frenchman Mtn and currently at Stallion Mtn Golfcourse ( about 2 miles from Desert Rose).

I love my current neighborhood at Stallion Mtn .... great neighbors, friendly people biking and jogging all the time, very low HOA, peaceful, quiet, lots of trees. But there are pockets of low income housing around us and some crappy apts. Nellis and boulder is really bad! If I had kids, I wouldn't want them in the schools in this community. However I feel safe living here ... the golf course is guard gated and my particular neighborhood also has a 2nd gate, and we have a patrol 24/7. There have been burglaries but always at homes that back onto the golf course ... a big dark area where people can run after the break in. This is a common complaint of golf course communities. (at our block watch meeting the officer said one the worst crime areas in LV was all along Nellis between Trop and Lake Mead, particularly at Sahara.

My other neighborhood was near the LDS temple,nr Bonanza and Hollywood. It was a quiet older neighborhood with great views. It's not an area that people drive thru so it feels very safe and there have been no problems. There aren't any apt complexes nearby which helps the peace and quiet of the area. However Lake Mead Blvd is only a mile away and is pretty trashy. Again, not area I'd send kids to school. My parents retired to that neighbood since 1990 and love it. What they don't like is driving thru the valley and all along Nellis which is pretty trashy with some pretty dangerous characters. And there are no restaurants or shopping on the east side. I can get to Henderson or the Strip in 15 minutes so not problem for me , but it's almost 30 minutes for my folks.

Of the 10-12 neighbors closest to me, most are retired, but the 2 families with kids send their teens to a charter/magnet school via carpool. If you have kids, the schools should be your top priority and that takes a lot of research. If you want to buy around Desert Rose you might need to send your kids to a school outside the neighborhood. Of course that's true of other areas as well .... again, lots of research.

[RCIS719]

Well Thank God for this website! And forestgump99 - You made me laugh You guys may have saved us from a disaster! We do not have children, so school districts are not an issue, and as such, we have a little more "give" as to where we live than people who have children.

Well, back to the drawing board then. So, are there any modestly priced, good, safe, neighborhoods in LV that back up to parks or golf courses? The reason we are thinking this is where we'd like to look is because, we would feel less packed in if we had some space, and maybe something green to look at, if we did not have neighbors behind us. For those that didn't read my previous inquiry about finding a house with more land/seclusion, we are moving from VA (originally northerners - MN and NY), and we currently have a modest house, on 2 acres of wooded property. While I, myself will not miss the woods (way too much yard work, ticks, and leaf removal for this girl), we are still hoping for any bit of privacy/seclusion we can find. Im all ears!

[von949]

Originally Posted by RCIS719

Well, back to the drawing board then.

And just like that....

After only two posts in a thread?

[ScoopLV]

Good. I don't need any more neighbors like that.

[longton52]

backing up to a golf course sounds nice, but as I said previously, there are hidden problems.
Burglaries being one of them. The officer at our block watch meeting said it's a common problem in golf course communities.... burglars steal easy-to-carry stuff then run off thru the dark golf course unseen. Another issue is rats who are drawn to the water. And possibly coyotes.

If you're looking to buy, you really need to come out here and look around for a week.You can look at properties on line and think it's perfect but when you see the rest of the neighborhood, not soo perfect. Las Vegas is different from most other cities.....

[yellowsnow]

I live in this area. It all depends on your frame of reference. If you are used to urban living, you will be fine in lots of the neighborhoods over here. I would describe my neighborhood as regular working class. It's very quiet and the people are nice. I did have one vandalism incident about 5 years ago. Probably because I parked in the street. Some kids drove around smashing everything they could reach with baseball bats in the middle of the night and they got one of my side mirrors. And it is very diverse. I live in a cul-de-sac and there are White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian owners in this one tiny area.

People who move here from East Podunk are terrified. Folks from LA or NYC think almost everywhere here is safe. It's all about where you came from.

When I was shopping for a home, I did not want an HOA or guards/gates. I wanted a walkable area. And I wanted something reasonably priced. My first choice was Paradise Palms(google this very cool), one of those Mid-Century Modern homes. I tried really hard but no luck. Several I tried to buy actually sold for less than my cash offer but it was not to be.

Some of my neighbors have kids and there are kids out and about here all the time. If I had young children in school I would try to get them into some kind of program with mostly native English speaking classmates. The problem I've seen with the schools is we are forced to spend too much of the money available teaching English language skills.

If you end up working at Desert Springs, look at LVCC(Las Vegas Country Club). It's always good to be close to work and if you can, get the job first and then figure out where to live. Avoiding the long commute will make Vegas a more pleasant place to live. Just for example, if you end up at St. Rose, it would make no sense to live in Summerlin.

Summerlin and Henderson are perceived by many to be THE place to live. I looked in both these areas too. And you should look there. Many people want the guard gated community because it makes them feel safe. Make sure you know everything about the HOA and all their rules and restrictions. Some are reasonable and others are purported to be draconian. Many HOA neighborhoods are cleaner and neater looking. Some look like Stepford.

What I don't like about many neighborhoods is everything looks alike. Rows and rows of houses all the same. Cookie cutter housing. They have no personality and all the people who live there must be lacking imagination. But that's not really true, usually they are not allowed by the HOA to do anything different.

There are good and bad areas all over Vegas. It's a city full of low paying jobs. I am not afraid but I am careful and aware of my surroundings. One area even I avoid is the Alphabet Streets.

Another poster mentioned the area up by the LDS Temple. It's beautiful up there. Go see it! And you heard about the golf courses. I would not want to live on one!