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Cost of living is no longer low. Lots of transient people makes it hard to establish and maintain relationships. Tons of outdoor stuff (hiking, running, cycling, Motorsport, etc...). Most neighbors don't speak to each other. Good jobs can be hard to obtain depending on your occupation. More younger folks in the service industry than in 'professional' roles - which agrees with what you heard, that there isn't much of business professional scene.
Mostly agree with your points.
- Not as cheap as it once was (I missed getting in while it was cheap)
- Yes re: transient people - I’ve made several friends through outdoor activities. Some have come and gone, but I’ve found the key is to befriend people who own their homes in Vegas. They’re much less likely to leave any time soon. The one plus side to a transient city is people are more open to including new arrivals in their circle of friends. I find it much harder to break into groups in the Northeast where people have had the same group of friends since growing up and don’t feel the need to grow their circle.
- Have barely spoken to any neighbors in the two places I’ve lived in LV, and I consider myself to be friendly.
- Definitely agree re: good jobs being hard to find. I do have a few friends in Air Force related occupations since Nellis is a huge presence in the city. The tech scene is growing a bit but I took my remote job with me when I moved as have several friends. Good jobs (maybe with the exception of Air Force related jobs) pay a lot less. I have a friend who is a passionate software engineer and he’s making waaay less than he would in other cities, but he likes Vegas and got in when real estate was a bargain so sticking around makes a lot of sense in his case.
Most of the people I hang out with in Vegas are educated and I can have intelligent conversations with them about important local and global issues. However, as another poster pointed out, people are way less concerned with education and career prestige. I find that a refreshing change from the N.Y.-metro area where such factors are an obsession and usually the first question asked (especially “what do you do for work”).
Probably depends on the crowd one runs with - outdoorsy activities tend to attract certain types. Might find a different demographic among people who hit the clubs in their free time (perhaps I’m just generalizing though).
It is a myth that Las Vegas has hot summers. It rarely gets above 115. In the real world you adapt and adjust - you don't try to play tennis at 3PM in the summer. During wintertime, you'll need a sweater or hoodie in the daytime. Late at night maybe a jacket. That's it. No gloves, no scarf, no ski cap, no ear muffs. It is cool, with lows frequently in the low 30s and high 20s, and every now and then low 20s for a couple days. You’ll never shovel snow.
In general, most cities are not as good as the boosters say and not as bad as the detractors say, and I suspect you know that. That is true of Las Vegas as well.
As referenced by others, Hotel/Casinos are huge mega complexes where the gambling portion is almost incidental. Las Vegas has become so much more than a gambling destination. If you're a foodie, you'll find exquisite fare with more celebrity chefs per capita than anywhere else on the planet. If you're not a foodie, there is a tremendous amount of good quality casual-ish dining. Live entertainment is outstanding. We do have excellent theater as well -- specifically wonderful Broadway-class musicals at the Smith's Center. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we always have season tix. We're also fans of other live entertainment - from the very high-end no-production-expense-spared to the modest to world-class stand-up to... well.. I hope you get the idea. I'm not a fan of either opera or a symphony, so I don't miss it. There's even the National Finals Rodeo if you like such things (I always find it amusing to see men wearing cowboy hats indoors at night; I've been tempted to ask them if the ceiling light is a bit too harsh for their delicate eyes).
I'm retired, and hence not your age demographic. I grew up in Southern California, have degrees & advanced degrees from elite research universities (always among the top 10 in the world on lists of such things, in case such things matter to you), spent my career in high tech in Silicon Valley, and am affluent enough to live anywhere I want, and I want to live here. (OK, we live in Park City UT for most of ski season, returning to Henderson for the rest of the year.) I find that to be true of many friends here, most all of whom have impressive educational &/or entrepreneurial resumes. Many tech execs I know from Silicon Valley have or are in the process of relocating here. It's definitely raising the average IQ of the area. None are snobs. Our friends here include many with advanced degrees and impressive accomplishments, and some with neither.
I can't credibly comment on social/dating environment for people your age - but I can relate my daughter's views. She's your age and an Ivy League graduate who was recruited to work here in Las Vegas independent of our having moved here. One thing she comments on is that Las Vegas is a destination city, so invariably most all of her friends across the country visit Las Vegas either on vacation or on business, extending their stay, and they all connect with her while she's here. They come to see her. (OK, they come for Las Vegas but she's now local so she's the designated tour guide). She’s single, and dating wise, as her father I will never know for sure. She’s said it is difficult for her to find/meet quality dating material. She’s very pretty (takes after her mom), very bright (takes after her mom), no tats, fit, photogenic, and a real catch, if I do say so myself. And unattached. And was captain of her university Ski & Snowboard team, winning the league in slopestyle, and is well-traveled and well-read with many diverse interests.
I suspect if you post an inquiry on C-D in each forum dedicated to a specific city and ask specifically about dating among those in your age group, you’ll hear a common thread that unattached, eligible people are around but difficult to find & meet – and Las Vegas, it seems, is no exception. Perhaps the S/N ratio is a bit less favorable here than in some target-rich environments. At any rate, I hope this helps.
It is a myth that Las Vegas has hot summers. It rarely gets above 115. In the real world you adapt and adjust - you don't try to play tennis at 3PM in the summer. During wintertime, you'll need a sweater or hoodie in the daytime. Late at night maybe a jacket. That's it. No gloves, no scarf, no ski cap, no ear muffs. It is cool, with lows frequently in the low 30s and high 20s, and every now and then low 20s for a couple days. You’ll never shovel snow.
In general, most cities are not as good as the boosters say and not as bad as the detractors say, and I suspect you know that. That is true of Las Vegas as well.
As referenced by others, Hotel/Casinos are huge mega complexes where the gambling portion is almost incidental. Las Vegas has become so much more than a gambling destination. If you're a foodie, you'll find exquisite fare with more celebrity chefs per capita than anywhere else on the planet. If you're not a foodie, there is a tremendous amount of good quality casual-ish dining. Live entertainment is outstanding. We do have excellent theater as well -- specifically wonderful Broadway-class musicals at the Smith's Center. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we always have season tix. We're also fans of other live entertainment - from the very high-end no-production-expense-spared to the modest to world-class stand-up to... well.. I hope you get the idea. I'm not a fan of either opera or a symphony, so I don't miss it. There's even the National Finals Rodeo if you like such things (I always find it amusing to see men wearing cowboy hats indoors at night; I've been tempted to ask them if the ceiling light is a bit too harsh for their delicate eyes).
I'm retired, and hence not your age demographic. I grew up in Southern California, have degrees & advanced degrees from elite research universities (always among the top 10 in the world on lists of such things, in case such things matter to you), spent my career in high tech in Silicon Valley, and am affluent enough to live anywhere I want, and I want to live here. (OK, we live in Park City UT for most of ski season, returning to Henderson for the rest of the year.) I find that to be true of many friends here, most all of whom have impressive educational &/or entrepreneurial resumes. Many tech execs I know from Silicon Valley have or are in the process of relocating here. It's definitely raising the average IQ of the area. None are snobs. Our friends here include many with advanced degrees and impressive accomplishments, and some with neither.
I can't credibly comment on social/dating environment for people your age - but I can relate my daughter's views. She's your age and an Ivy League graduate who was recruited to work here in Las Vegas independent of our having moved here. One thing she comments on is that Las Vegas is a destination city, so invariably most all of her friends across the country visit Las Vegas either on vacation or on business, extending their stay, and they all connect with her while she's here. They come to see her. (OK, they come for Las Vegas but she's now local so she's the designated tour guide). She’s single, and dating wise, as her father I will never know for sure. She’s said it is difficult for her to find/meet quality dating material. She’s very pretty (takes after her mom), very bright (takes after her mom), no tats, fit, photogenic, and a real catch, if I do say so myself. And unattached. And was captain of her university Ski & Snowboard team, winning the league in slopestyle, and is well-traveled and well-read with many diverse interests.
I suspect if you post an inquiry on C-D in each forum dedicated to a specific city and ask specifically about dating among those in your age group, you’ll hear a common thread that unattached, eligible people are around but difficult to find & meet – and Las Vegas, it seems, is no exception. Perhaps the S/N ratio is a bit less favorable here than in some target-rich environments. At any rate, I hope this helps.
Good post, thanks for sharing.
My wife and I (low-mid 40s) are seriously thinking of moving to Las Vegas from Seattle.
Odd that someone mentioned about degrees/educational resumes; fwiw both my wife and I are graduates of top 10 and 25 research universities, and both of us have doctorates in a health science field. I bring this up because one thing we noticed in Seattle are that there are too many educated people moving here, and most of them (not all, most) are unfriendly and arrogant snobs. Huge turn off for me, very difficult if not impossible to make friends. Everywhere we go, consistently surrounded by said arrogant snobs, and most seem be in tech. One thing I hope to find, or not find, in Las Vegas or wherever we end up next is to be surrounded by more "normal" and friendly people.
Others things we have found to be increasingly unattractive in Seattle are: 1) high cost of living; a recent report shows that median rent in Seattle is now ranked #4 in the US, behind SF, San Jose, and San Deigo, higher than that of NYC and DC. Property tax and utilities keep going up each year; 2) traffic is atrocious, takes 30-35 minutes to travel 10 miles now, even on the weekends; 3) the school district we live in is supposedly highly ranked with high test scores but it is fiercely competitive, and we are not impressed with the teaching and courses offered; we attribute the high test scores to that of extreme helicopter parents, not the curriculum or teaching; and lastly 4) food and entertainment here stinks, LV seems much more exciting.
RationalExpectations, based on your and your daughter's experiences, what is your opinion of LV based on my views of Seattle? Would you say LV would be a positive move? Wife and I are hoping we can eventually retire here, esp with the benefit of lower COL.
Not much to do?!? What could you possibly want to do that isn’t offered in the entertainment capital of the world?? You have hiking, sports, concerts, shows, swimming, great dining, everything imaginable a person could do in life is available in Vegas. I’ve lived in SoCal, it sucks, there’s definitely not anything better offered there sorry to tell you. I couldn’t wait to get out and I work in film! I still couldn’t handle it.
I always laugh about the “lack of culture” comments, because what people mention is opera, symphony, and theater - who in gods name in 2019 ever does ANY of that?! My social circle includes people of net worths between $10-500 million and not one of them - not one! - ever goes to plays or operas or symphonies. They golf, they go boating, they travel a lot, they attend high profile sports events, they aren’t pretentious clowns. I have no idea how anyone could even think in 2019 to define “culture” as boring crap everyone hates. I’m so glad not to know any of these kinds of people.
As for the rest of the good, cold to me is Los Angeles for the first 6 months of the year or Newport Beach all year around including summer. It’s rare for LA to get much above 70 for January - June and also December. It’s a much colder climate and I didn’t care for it one bit. I prefer the heat! So if you like warm weather, there you go. No income taxes. Not as many radical liberals. Far better quality of living for far less money. Bars don’t close at lame hours. Traffic is minimal. It’s paradise compared to LA!
Just because you and your friends don't appreciate some things in life does not mean there aren't a lot of people who do enjoy opera, symphony and theater. I worked at a Performing Arts Center for 34 years, was a professional recording and live sound engineer. I'm not a big opera fan but did A/V production for the performances. I recorded classical music and learned to appreciate it and liked a lot of it. I owned a recording studio and did a lot of recording and live sound work for a lot of rock, pop and jazz music too. I enjoy theater and have seen a lot of great performances in Chicago and in New York. I've played guitar for over 50 years and like classic rock and a lot of jazz. I'm a big fan of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers. I saw The Rippingtons here last year and am going to see Lee Ritenour in August. Great music and musicians in my opinion.
What I'm saying is, people have diverse interests and tastes. You and a lot of other people don't like certain things, but it doesn't make it "boring crap everyone hates", it's just your opinion. Most people I have met that like the things you don't are highly intelligent, very nice folks that aren't "pretentious clowns" and I'm glad to know them.
Why do you think Broadway shows sell out and go on for years? Same with operas and symphonies, if the tickets weren't selling, the shows would not go on.
the school district we live in is supposedly highly ranked with high test scores but it is fiercely competitive, and we are not impressed with the teaching and courses offered; we attribute the high test scores to that of extreme helicopter parents, not the curriculum or teaching; and lastly
I've interviewed for teaching positions in 4 states and they all have the same content standards and garbage curriculum. Any teacher worth a damn makes their own curriculum because what is provided does not prepare students for the rigors of the state tests.
Just because you and your friends don't appreciate some things in life does not mean there aren't a lot of people who do enjoy opera, symphony and theater. I worked at a Performing Arts Center for 34 years, was a professional recording and live sound engineer. I'm not a big opera fan but did A/V production for the performances. I recorded classical music and learned to appreciate it and liked a lot of it. I owned a recording studio and did a lot of recording and live sound work for a lot of rock, pop and jazz music too. I enjoy theater and have seen a lot of great performances in Chicago and in New York. I've played guitar for over 50 years and like classic rock and a lot of jazz. I'm a big fan of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers. I saw The Rippingtons here last year and am going to see Lee Ritenour in August. Great music and musicians in my opinion.
What I'm saying is, people have diverse interests and tastes. You and a lot of other people don't like certain things, but it doesn't make it "boring crap everyone hates", it's just your opinion. Most people I have met that like the things you don't are highly intelligent, very nice folks that aren't "pretentious clowns" and I'm glad to know them.
Why do you think Broadway shows sell out and go on for years? Same with operas and symphonies, if the tickets weren't selling, the shows would not go on.
I’ve never once met anyone who likes opera, or even has mentioned ever attending. Even people in this thread like you don’t like it. Nobody does. They can literally sell tickets to morons from the middle class, “educated elite,” who aren’t at all life smart and probably the same people voting for Bernie Sanders who think they’re going to enter the ranks of the wealthy by attending operas and going to boring art museums. I mean, get real. The idea that Vegas sucks because it doesn’t have more operas or symphonies is just laughable. What I said holds true - nobody goes to those things!! They love to say they support “the arts” because they think the should, and they pay lip service to it, then it ends. Even my dad had symphony tickets for a while, they rarely went, and when they did he fell asleep. Until he was safely out of the nouveau riche and had enough money to realize he IS whatever rich people do by virtue of being it lol.
Don’t get me wrong, I love classical music! I was a weird kid, I never listened to pop music until I was maybe 16. I only owned classical scores for movies by John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry. I still prefer classical music to rap or hip hop or any of that. But I’m not a concert person, either, and I can’t sit and listen to music without doing anything else. It belongs accompanying a movie, otherwise it’s just really boring. I can’t get into stage acting at all, it’s just too cheesy for me, way too exaggerated, but I’ve been to plays on Broadway and I did enjoy Phantom of the Opera (also seem a Portland version). I don’t mind some plays but I’ve seen a lot of “not my cup of tea” stuff too. The point remains the same - a play isn’t more high art whatsoever than a film, any more than a book is somehow more worthy than a film. It’s much, much more difficult and artistic to make a movie than it is either a book or a play. I’ve written books - it’s one person involved and that’s that. A film is hundreds or thousands. Just because some idiots want to feel smarter about themselves for what they choose to do doesn’t mean anything in reality. You’re not smarter or more elite for watching plays, looking at art museums, or going to operas. I’ve done all of those things and like anyone with actual intelligence made up my mind about what I like and can rightfully laugh at the idea of old, 1700s or earlier things being “high culture.” Give me high tech!!
I like classical music for the simple fact that the musicianship of 600-700 years ago cannot be improved upon. Mozart, Bach, etc simply cannot be done any better. Just like bebop, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, can't be done any better.
I hope the city puts money into education, not just sports teams.
The Golden Knights were entirely privately funded. Raiders are a different story.
Public education is an enormous waste of money. Please stay in Seattle if you want to come here and vote for the same garbage that turned it into what it is today.
Public education is an enormous waste of money. Please stay in Seattle if you want to come here and vote for the same garbage that turned it into what it is today.
This is an opinion, not a fact. Also, I am not from Seattle. Your credibility has gone away now.
They can literally sell tickets to morons from the middle class, “educated elite,” who aren’t at all life smart and probably the same people voting for Bernie Sanders who think they’re going to enter the ranks of the wealthy by attending operas and going to boring art museums.
So because I watch watch the free concerts put on by the Henderson Symphony at the Henderson Pavilion, I'm a moron from the middle class who votes for Bernie Sanders and thinks that I'm going to enter the ranks of the wealthy by attending these?
That's... quite an assumption.
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In the real world you adapt and adjust - you don't try to play tennis at 3PM in the summer. During wintertime, you'll need a sweater or hoodie in the daytime. Late at night maybe a jacket. That's it. No gloves, no scarf, no ski cap, no ear muffs. It is cool, with lows frequently in the low 30s and high 20s, and every now and then low 20s for a couple days. You’ll never shovel snow.
And unattached. 
