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Thread summary:

Relocating to Las Vegas but wavering about decision, seeking positive comments on Las Vegas, 30 year old single male, working IT job for casino, $1100 monthly rent

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Old 05-11-2007, 08:52 PM
 
149 posts, read 452,552 times
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I was all psyched to take an IT job at one of the major casino chains out there and I'm starting to waiver now as I look at the written offer. I keep thinking of the high crime, the high cost of living (compared to the midwest) and the lack of universities to go to for another Masters or two (again, coming from a midwest high-end college town and since I can't do UNLV Master in Hospitality/Hotel Mgt since I don't have the experience requirement, doesn't seem like there's much there for good learning). I'm also worried as I watch my dog roll in the grass here that he'll be miserable.

My first year out there I'll only be able to afford up to $1100/month for rent. So, it looks like my options are very limited (condo/low grade apt. uggg). After that, I can afford $1600, but that still doesn't look like I'll be able to get a great place for that. Even buying, it doesn't look like I could get a 3/2 with a pool for under $225K in a good area next year. Is this a fair assesment?

SO , I'm hoping somebody to remind me about the great things about Vegas for a single 30 year old guy. Is working for a casino chain a good place to be? My other option right now is to stay here or relocate to Dallas instead. All for about the same $$$. So, can somebody help me out and give me the chamber of commerce pitch? Once I got the Dallas offer all of my friends are saying to go there, and I'm leaning that way now. I remember I was really psyched about Vegas when I was out there, though.

Thanks for any help.
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Old 05-11-2007, 10:57 PM
 
Location: South Strip, NV --> Philly (Fall 2009)
2,404 posts, read 10,647,977 times
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we are renting for 950 in a nice neighborhood on the South Strip, it is 2/2 with a community pool, 2 car garage, community cameras, trails, and backyard, the house is also 1000 square feet and is a quadplex...so its not a condo, there are plenty of homes however out there...
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Old 05-12-2007, 01:26 AM
 
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
12,686 posts, read 36,223,906 times
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Do you really think that with 7,000 people moving here every month for the past twenty years that those of us who have lived here most of our lives are going to talk someone else into coming? I'm wishing that everyone who moved her in the past ten years would go home. But I do know one thing, I was more or less stuck in Texas for almost three years and it's hard to imagine a worse place to live, unless it's someplace else in the south. You might want to ask yourself though, why did almost two million people flock to Vegas in such a short period of time if it's so bad here? But Vegas isn't for everybody, so put yourself out of misery and just stay put. There's a lot to be said for staying where things are familiar and comfortable.
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Old 05-12-2007, 07:02 AM
 
1,608 posts, read 9,723,269 times
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People always like to tell you how many people each month move to Las Vegas. And it seems like the number always fluctuate. Some people say 6k per month, some 7k per month, etc. But they don't tell you that thousands move AWAY each month as well. Not as many as what move there, but there are thousands that move away each month. So there is constant turnover in that city. It's a very transient place.

I lived there almost 10 years. There are some nice things about Las Vegas, but there are plenty of things that aren't. I'm also a midwest native and I can tell you that you will find the lack of work ethic in that city to be very disapointing. Midwesterners are hard workers with strong work ethics. By and large the people in Las Vegas do not have that work ethic.

If you really don't have a reason to go then I wouldn't. You are right about the education opportunties to earn a master's. Pickings are slim.

Visiting a place on a vacation is much different than living there. Sure you were psyched on vacation. It's fun to be there on vacation. Living there is completely different.

If I were in your shoes making the decision between Las Vegas and Dallas I think I'd go to Dallas. But that's only because I've lived in Vegas before. If I had not lived in either one before then I don't know what I'd choose.

I do know this... at 30 you are going to most likely be settling down soon and possibly raising a family. Think long term. Vegas is not a very good place to raise kids, it was one of the main reasons we left there. I don't know how good Dallas is on raising kids, I haven't lived there. But there's just something about raising kids in sin city that always rubbed me the wrong way.

In the end you have to make your own choice, you can't listen to a bunch of people you don't know on a public message board. Go with your gut reaction. Do what your instinct tells you to do. But don't worry if you make the wrong choice, correcting it is as simple as making another move.
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Old 05-12-2007, 10:48 AM
 
Location: Las Vegas
14,229 posts, read 29,904,573 times
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My dog wants to be wherever I am. Glued to my side. He doesn't care where.

I've lived in Tx and I'd take Vegas any day. You will get more for your money in TX but there's not as much to do there either. If you try Vegas and hate it, you can always move. If you try TX and hate it, you can always move.

But you only get to be young once! Do something!
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Old 05-12-2007, 10:55 AM
 
149 posts, read 452,552 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowsnow View Post
My dog wants to be wherever I am. Glued to my side. He doesn't care where.

I've lived in Tx and I'd take Vegas any day. You will get more for your money in TX but there's not as much to do there either. If you try Vegas and hate it, you can always move. If you try TX and hate it, you can always move.

But you only get to be young once! Do something!
I do need to do something. That's true. I was all psyched about Vegas before I found this forum, to be honest. I think Tempe, AZ is the greatest city in the nation and figured Vegas was pretty similar. I have visions of LA more than Tempe, now, though. I still have a few days to decide. We'll see.
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Old 05-12-2007, 11:21 AM
 
1,608 posts, read 9,723,269 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by randomguymike View Post
I do need to do something. That's true. I was all psyched about Vegas before I found this forum, to be honest. I think Tempe, AZ is the greatest city in the nation and figured Vegas was pretty similar. I have visions of LA more than Tempe, now, though. I still have a few days to decide. We'll see.
I wouldn't worry too much about what people say on the message boards. Every state you go into there are positive and negative posts. There is no state or city that is perfect. You just have to decide what will work best for your particular situation and what type of place you are looking for.

There are some good things about Vegas. I always loved the fact that people love to visit there, so you get visitors. And when you have visitors in town there is no shortage of things to do (even without visitors). There's a great supply of restaurants, entertainment, shopping, etc. It's a great city for having concerts and such 15 minutes from your home. Plus the airport is another plus, it's right there, everyone is within 15-20 minutes of it. The weather beats a lot of places even though the summers can be crazy hot. But you don't have to worry about hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

It's also in a good location for visiting a lot of other places, just hours away from LA, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, etc. You have a lot of day or weekend trips within a short distance away. There's also great hiking in Red Rock.

Those are some of the things that I liked about Vegas.
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Old 05-12-2007, 01:02 PM
 
1,326 posts, read 2,563,943 times
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So, if you do a search through these forums, you'll come up on lists both good and bad for the city.

Although I have to question RWF's comment about concerts, unless she means rock concerts. Yes, there are a bunch of them. But they cost a pretty penny to go to.

And that is something you'll have to think about if you can only afford $1100 a month for rent. You can live in Vegas for much less than that, what you will give up is the fun factor. Everything but parking costs a lot out here. To eat in a nice place, figure at least $30-50 per person (chains excepted) To go to a rock concert, figure $70-500. One of the hot nightclubs? As they say, if you have to ask...

As for other style concerts, ballet, symphony, opera, you're stuck with amateur productions. Sure, there are shows on the strip, but they are all cut-down versions of the Broadway shows so that the audience can get back to gambling in around 90 minutes. Oh, and by the way, tickets start at about $75 and go up. (Yes, I know it's more than that to attend a real symphony or Broadway show, but you are getting what you pay for).

As for places you can go from here...that's the operative phrase, to "go to from here". There is absolutely no other city worth anything less than 3-4 hours away. This is "an island in a desert sea" and if you have ever lived on an island you can experience island fever. You get that here. You can't possibly get away from Las Vegas each weekend after a tiring week of work. A drive to another town to see a decent museum, opera, symphony, show will mean an 8-hour round trip drive at the least.

If you are in the least interested in any of the above, I would say, don't even think about Vegas. Go to Dallas, or Kansas City or Cincinnati, or Los Angeles, or Charlotte, or Seattle or Denver...well, you get my meaning. In many of the cities I mention it will take more money to live on than here, but there are more options for living in them also.

Now, be aware that Olecapt will get on here and tell you everything I say is totally wrong and that Vegas is a wonderful city. In that, I would say, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
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Old 05-12-2007, 04:27 PM
 
Location: NW Las Vegas - Lone Mountain
15,756 posts, read 38,052,916 times
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Of course you would. But the quality of opinion varies over a wide range. And some are much less valuable than others.

Less talk a few facts...

Las Vegas is not a high crime city. It is in fact at the US median for cities above 200,000 people. That is a fact and is true in spite of three hundred thousand partying visitors here every day. Dallas TX is vastly higher in crime than Las Vegas as are virtually all the rust belt cities.

The schools should not be an issue in this case but are quite acceptable if you stay to the nicer areas. If you live in the naked city the schools will suck...as does everything else.

$1100 a month will get you a livable place in a nice area. No palace but nice. It will get you a tiny place in some of the fancy areas. Name your poison.

Culture lies in the eyes of the beholder. If you want a world class symphony, a couple of world class museums and a world class ballet you can live in NYC or LA. Everywhere else is downhill from there. For most folk the culture of Las Vegas is better than most. And there is nothing wrong with having absolutely the best entertainment in the US available every night. You don't have to go and it costs money. But it is there if you want it.

There are only two places in the US where food is as good as Vegas. There really is no where any better. And the regular neighborhood food is quite good.

There are numerous opportunities for the young to enjoy themselves. Few revolve around the strip. Off hand there is no better place to be young other than perhaps Hawaii.

There is an oft repeated line about this being a "transient" community. There is no evidence this is true. The numbers indicate that Las Vegas rolls over at a rate of about 2%. I can find no indication that this is out of the ordinary for a large city.

The rate of growth over some years has been 5,000 per month. See the census data. The state demographer project this will continue for the immediate future.

UNLV has a full graduate school offering. The CS department appears relatively well set up. It is not UCLA or Berkley...it is however up there with the Cal State Schools.

The place reeks of opportunity. It is the place if you are ambitious and want to drive your own path. If not there is lots of inexpensive housing available in Cleveland and Buffalo and Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and Neward and DC and...well you get the idea. Want action? Not?
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Old 05-12-2007, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas
560 posts, read 2,181,425 times
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You have to do what is right for you. I can tell you that the one thing you will hate in Dallas is the humidity. Coming from the same area as you (Brighton, MI) we had lucrative job offers in Florida, Texas and Las Vegas. We chose Vegas for several reasons but I would have to say one of the main ones was the lack of humidity. It does get hot here but somehow, it seems a little more bearable without that thick humid heat. As far as RWF saying it is not a place to raise kids, that is once again a matter of opinion. I have 3 daughters that I moved here from Michigan and they are all doing very well. It probably helps that I am a very involved parent but I'll tell you, we have not encountered any issue here that I didn't encounter in Michigan. Your dog will be fine, I promise There are many dog parks around where you can even take him/her off their leash and let them run. Dallas is a lot of fun, I have several cousins that live there. You would most likely be fine either place since you wouldn't know the difference between the two. As far as the crime here, honestly it should not even enter into the equation. After being bombarded night after night on the local news with the crime in Detroit, Las Vegas will seem like Ann Arbor to you. Yes, there is crime here, but not anywhere near Detroit's numbers and I have been here almost a year and have not encountered any issues. It can be hard to meet people if you are single. We did notice that a lot of the people from California who move here are not very sociable (sorry,but it's true), but if you hook up with Midwesterners who have relocated you will soon have your own crowd to hang with. Also, the cost of living here is very comparable to where you are coming from in Michigan. I would say if you were coming from the west side of the state or up north you might be shocked but coming from the A2 area you shouldn't be. I don't know what the Dallas forums say, but I can tell you that no place is perfect for everyone. Vegas was the right move for my family and that is all I can base my opinion on. I would just evalutate both positions and really listen to what your instincts are telling you. Oh, by the way, Vegas has NO MOSQUITOS
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