[RedWingsFan]

Someone said there are gangs in Summerlin... Although I'm not a fan of Vegas and after living there 9 years I just sold my home there, I would be hard pressed to believe this. Summerlin is the one area that is very nice (although now expensive). I have not seen gangs, street people, graffiti, etc. there.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

Not. the schoosl are not adequate. They are ranked 48 out of 50 states, making them almost dead last for the worst schools in the country. Do a littel research on it, Morgan Quitno press puts out a state education ranking list each year. And Arizona is even worse at number 49!

Housing not expensive? Please! A few years ago it wasn't. You could get a nice house in a good neighborhood and it was reasonable. Now it's outrageous AND they give you a backyard the size of a postage stamp. It's pathetic!

I bought my townhouse brand new 8 years ago at $95,000. I just sold it this last month for $204,000. And that's in a crappy neighborhood!

The heat... it stinks! The summers are so hot that kids don't play outside and you only go from air conditioning to air conditioning. When you walk outside it's like sticking your head in an oven.

Beauty is often in the eyes of the beholder.

Nevada schools rank low against other states, as do Arizonas. Mostly because both States are quite low in their funding of schools.

That however does not read on Las Vegas. You compare it to other large urban school systems. It does reasonably well. Better than many worse than others. And, practically, if the interest is reasonable suburban neighborhoods their is little difference throughout the SW.

Housing costs are relative. If you come from cheaper Midwest Las Vegas is expensive...as is Phoenix. If however you come from anywhere in California Las Vegas is cheaper and from coastal California less than half. Metro NYC or suburban Washington DC also makes Vegas inexpensive.

If you like rural Iowa or North Dakota you can live vastly cheaper than Las Vegas...but there are other tradeoffs involved.

The heat is a real parameter of living in Las Vegas or Phoenix or anywhere in the desert SW. I would think about 20% of the people who move here leave in the first two years over that issue.

On the other hand kids do play outside all summer long. They may well knock it off in the height of the heat but the rest of the day they are out. We see it daily. And the local park has basketball games every evening even with the temperature above 100. The kids acclimatize very well.

My wife and I like the heat. We find it a little cool in the winter and tend to go to Mexico for a couple of weeks to warm up...but we hang right in there all summer. Lots of water, learn to sweat, and stay in when it gets above 105.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by olecapt

They are quite similar. Phoenix is larger and has a larger urban core. Phoenix is hotter...bad in the summer good in the winter. Phoenix traffic worse. Crime rates are similar. Phoenix schools are better.

If you are talking suburban newer neighborhoods they are also indistinguishable. Both in my opinion have tickytack houses all in a row..

Vegas is more exciting and more transient and growing faster. Phoenix is more staid and laid back. Vegas is pretty California...Phonix less so.

In tech professions Phoenix hands down. Service and other support stuff...Vegas hands down. Vegas is more blue collar than Phoenix.

Take A1m1700 with a grain of salt. The area they lived is not a good one. Rentals and cheaper starter homes. There are good blocks and bad blocks but not a leading or even moderately nice neighborhood. Phoenix has square miles of similar places...actually more relatively than does Vegas.

The wind does blow in Vegas...and Phoenix gets much hotter and much wetter. Far less comfortable in the heat.

If you can deal with the heat you would likely be comfortable in either. Generally your life style and career choices should lead you to one or the other.

Yes the neighborhood was bad , I said that it was. This was in 1990 I lived there, before they had all those neighborhoods in Henderson. Henderson was a 1 horse town then.

Wetter in Phoenix? When I lived in Vegas we got snow and more rain than Phoenix ever had.

[Captain Ron]

Youve got to be kidding about rain and snow, I did make a snowball off what I scraped of a car in 1978, Also no hurricanes,tornados,earthquakes,forest fires, or mosquitos. Vegas has mount Charelston and Lake Mead, also, to kind of forget about the total desert and cool off a little.

[smartcuty]

Vegas has much more reputation than Phoenix as a destination to visit & not to live in, but apart from the casinos area wouldn't it be much the same like any other western city with less urban areas?

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by smartcuty

Vegas has much more reputation than Phoenix as a destination to visit & not to live in, but apart from the casinos area wouldn't it be much the same like any other western city with less urban areas?

Yup...Biggest short coming is it suffers from its fast growth..

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by Captain Ron

Youve got to be kidding about rain and snow, I did make a snowball off what I scraped of a car in 1978, Also no hurricanes,tornados,earthquakes,forest fires, or mosquitos. Vegas has mount Charelston and Lake Mead, also, to kind of forget about the total desert and cool off a little.

We had snow in Vegas December 1990, I only spent a year there so I don't know when else it snowed. Not big snow a dusting, we don't get that in Phoenix at all. Maybe a flurry in Carefree.

I'll give you Mt. Charleston and Lake Mead.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by smartcuty

Vegas has much more reputation than Phoenix as a destination to visit & not to live in, but apart from the casinos area wouldn't it be much the same like any other western city with less urban areas?

That is correct. Vegas has Casinos and nightlife, I don't see an attraction in Phoenix besides golf.

[cuttiepie04]

i need to move to vegas and i have two little children. im going to be by myself and i want to bring my pit bull but i dont know anywhere that will alow her. she is my protection. what should i do? i will also need daycare and a new job. any segestions?

[greatbasinguide]

I do not know what you hope for by moving to Las Vegas, but,, there are a bundle of low end jobs, from cocktails to custodians.

What is more important for you is your 20 year plan, what do you want to be doing 10 years or 20 years from now. You don't want to be doing cocktails.

Get an education, get some training... plan, so that the life you create helps your kids.... Doesn't matter where you live.