[hky3212002]

Im 16 years old and im from Hickory, North Carolina [near charlotte]. We are moving to Las Vegas most likely next summer. Ive been to Vegas before, a few times. Its a very exciting city, and i enjoyed my summer alot.
Vegas has many good qualities to it.. as well as a few flaws. Im in high school right now, and moving in the middle of high school is going to be strange, but i wanted to know, is vegas as bad as they make it sound in the other forums.. Ive mainly heared people diss the Vegas area, by calling it crime infested; and being VERY expensive. I plan on going to a community college... &/ or taking photography classes, because i want to persue a career in photography. Ive always been a big city kind of person.. but i wanted to know, are there any good things about living in the Las Vegas area?
If u could help, thx.

[johninvegas]

Hi Hickory!

Well, I'll be the first to respond to you. First off, I haven't been in any school in Las Vegas for just about 40 years and I don't have any children, so I really can't comment on how safe the schools are. There are MANY people who post here with regularity who will say the public schools suck and are very violent; others will say they are about the same as any large school district.

My suggestion to you, since you want to go into photography is to try and enroll in the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts, a magnet school. It is tough to get into and the competition is stiff, but from what i hear, the school has an excellent photography program.

I would suggest going out of state for your college education if you decide to stay with photography--University of Missouri if you want photojournalism, Pasadena Arts Academy if you want studio/fashion/fine arts photography.

Hope this helps. BTW, my father was from Hickory!

Henkelphoto

[hky3212002]

THX henkelphoto.

hickory is a quiet sleepy town.. and things around here are very slow.
im pretty excited about moving, but i think it will be better off for me. Where i live in HKY, practically no-one goes to college or anything.. so i'll be the first to even graduate high school in my whole family. :/

But when we do move.. i'll try to get into that magnet school. And maybe UNLV, or like u said, Pasadena.
thx a lot though!!
good advice

[olecapt]

You are moving from a small city to a huge one. Not the worst thing in the world. Some will hate it - many will love it. Kids generally take to it better than adults - though you never can tell. It is also hot in the summer...works fine for most but some never adjust. My wife and I like it fine though we avoid out of doors during the afternoons in July and August The mornings and after dark are fine.

Schools are similar to any large urban school system. There are a number of workable high schools. There are four or five magnet schools including the Academy mentioned by Henkel. The first ten or so of the regular high schools are also fine. The bottom high schools are rough and difficult. If you go to www.donohueteam.com and hit the school button you can find a rating of the high schools. If you click the school in the rack it will lead you to its achievement report. You will also find most of the high schools have pretty good web sites providing further insight.

The local community college (SNCC) is a reasonable one. If for one reason or another you are not ready to go to a four year institution it provides an interesting option. They have a sizable media department including a degree in commercial photography. Better than that they also offer a lot of the computer graphics stuff as well. Henkel is closer to this then I so you might also consider his views.

Like all big cities Vegas has more things to do than anyone can handle. So sorting is important. Also more opportunities to get in trouble. And not much caring if you do. Tends to be rather impersonal on the global level. Close in it all depends on the environment you live in.

[hky3212002]

yea, the high school that is in the area of where we will live is called arbor view. i went to www.donohueteam.com and i placed pretty close to the bottom. ill try to get into one of the magnet schools, but since there are so many people moving into las vegas, i dont know if i stand a chance getting into one, because some have auditions. thanks though, olecapt. ive been to vegas, and the weather is very different from NC. Its very very hot in summer.Does it ever snow or get cold in vegas? Also, where is SNCC located?

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by hky3212002

yea, the high school that is in the area of where we will live is called arbor view. i went to www.donohueteam.com and i placed pretty close to the bottom. ill try to get into one of the magnet schools, but since there are so many people moving into las vegas, i dont know if i stand a chance getting into one, because some have auditions. thanks though, olecapt. ive been to vegas, and the weather is very different from NC. Its very very hot in summer.Does it ever snow or get cold in vegas? Also, where is SNCC located?

Arbor View is an exception. It is a brand new school with pretty good demographics. I think you would do just fine there if the magnets don't work out. I would expect Arbor View to end up between 10th and 15th once the school gets settled.

You might end up liking it. New schools have advantages. I was in the second graduation class ever at my high school many years ago. Very nice in a lot of ways.

The temperature outside my window was 29 this am. So it does get into the twenties. On rare occassion into the teens. We have a little snow every other year. My XMas card last year was a picture of the snow falling on my orange tree.

SNCC has three major Campuses...Charleston which would be closest to where you would live, Henderson which is on the other side of town from you and Cheyenne which is east of you about 20 minutes away. Charleston and Cheyenne are the big campuses. Henderson has stuff like welding and refrigeration. I have taken courses at all three but the ride to Henderson is long...It is well over 25 miles and cross town. (I live just south of the Arbor View district.)

[hky3212002]

thx.
Coming from a small town.. do u think it would be easy for a teen to adjust to vegas? Because, besides toronto [when i was little], ive never realllly lived in a big city.
We came over the summer to vegas and it wasnt what i expected for it to be. a lot prettier, alot of desert scenery, and once you get off the strip, theres houses, and houses, and houses.. reminds me of the suburbs.
Theres so many people moving to vegas, but it doesnt seem like a "real" city to me. Seems like its still building the city in general.

I also heard that people who graduate from any nevada high school, gets to attend any college in the state for free.. sounds unrealistic, and i wanted to know if that was true also; or if people were lying?

[olecapt]

It sounds unrealistic because it is. There is however low in-state tuition and a thing called the Millenium Scholarship that will pay all or almost all of the cost if you graduate high school with a 3.25 in 2006 and maintain a specified average in college. It is a pretty nice deal.

The area served by Arbor View is wall to wall housing tracts as far as the eye can see...all built in the last five or six years. If you guys end up at the north end you will likely be able to walk to the open desert. Ain't nothing between the end of that district and the Sheep Moutain but open desert. The fancy shooting range is going in that area at the North end of Decatur and Floyd Lamb Park is a pretty nice spot right in the middle of it. You will certainly feel some dislocation...but you will likely have lots of company in that area so you can all adjust together.

[hky3212002]

The area where we are supposed to live is in a gated community. now where im from, you dont see those very often; but the neighborhood we are moving to has one. They dont look safe, because anyone could probably just walk rite in after a car. Do the gated communitys offer any sense of security?

Also.
Is it common to see gangs and violence?

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by hky3212002

The area where we are supposed to live is in a gated community. now where im from, you dont see those very often; but the neighborhood we are moving to has one. They dont look safe, because anyone could probably just walk rite in after a car. Do the gated communitys offer any sense of security?

Also.
Is it common to see gangs and violence?

Gated communities are common. They do little for security though they do keep the neighborhood traffic down...so kids can play in the streets etc with little risk. It also means people and vehicles that don't belong tend to stick out more. A dog is still the best security tool I know of.

Gangs and violence around that part of the NW would be rare. It is a high school so kids do get into fights...but that is the same anywhere.

You can never say never but I think you will find violence occurs no more often than when a couple of good old boys would pummel each other in Hickory.