Ely, NV (Las Vegas, Elko, McGill: 2013, rentals, hotel)

[31st State Citizen]

I applied for a job in Ely, so I'm curious to know about this town of 4200. I have read previous threads about people asking questions about the town, but they were mostly from 2009 or before.

Here's what I have gathered about Ely thus far: 1) Two main employers--prison and mine; 2) Isolated town hundreds of miles from other cities and major outlets; 3) great town for being an outdoorsman and hunter; 4) It gets very cold and snows a lot in winter, and milder summers than Las Vegas; 5) one grocery store and another small market, but prices are high; 6) scarcity of rentals and they are older, but availability if you want to buy a house.

Is this description about the same as it was in 2009?

[31st State Citizen]

What restaurants and fast food places are in town?

What's the entertainment like now? Bowling alley? Theater? Gyms? Pools?

[IDASpaceman]

Hotel Nevada...cool place. This place is out there...and I mean...way out there. Always stop through on my way to Vegas. Not much to it.

[31st State Citizen]

Originally Posted by IDASpaceman

Hotel Nevada...cool place. This place is out there...and I mean...way out there. Always stop through on my way to Vegas. Not much to it.

Yeah...based on past posts on here and Google maps, you're right about it being "out there."

Think I read in a previous post that it was 190 miles from the nearest Walmart or Costco. That's a 2.5 hour drive one way cruising 75+ mph the whole way.

[.highnlite]

Originally Posted by 31st State Citizen

Yeah...based on past posts on here and Google maps, you're right about it being "out there."

Think I read in a previous post that it was 190 miles from the nearest Walmart or Costco. That's a 2.5 hour drive one way cruising 75+ mph the whole way.

Yep, it is not a town for dudes, it is a town for outdoorsmen and women.

[poopskooper]

Originally Posted by 31st State Citizen

Yeah...based on past posts on here and Google maps, you're right about it being "out there."

Think I read in a previous post that it was 190 miles from the nearest Walmart or Costco. That's a 2.5 hour drive one way cruising 75+ mph the whole way.

I was curious about the Walmart/Costco distance so I looked it up and, you're right, the closest Walmart is in Elko which is just about 190 miles and the closest Costco is in St. George Utah which is about 215 miles in the exact opposite direction.

[wpme]

Originally Posted by 31st State Citizen

I applied for a job in Ely, so I'm curious to know about this town of 4200. I have read previous threads about people asking questions about the town, but they were mostly from 2009 or before.

Here's what I have gathered about Ely thus far: 1) Two main employers--prison and mine; 2) Isolated town hundreds of miles from other cities and major outlets; 3) great town for being an outdoorsman and hunter; 4) It gets very cold and snows a lot in winter, and milder summers than Las Vegas; 5) one grocery store and another small market, but prices are high; 6) scarcity of rentals and they are older, but availability if you want to buy a house.

Is this description about the same as it was in 2009?

1)Add BLM and Forest service to the employers list
2)Dead on right
3)Right again
4)Winters are brutal and can be depressing because lack of daylight and extremely short days, Summer is beautiful.
5)Shockingly high, and forget about fresh produce, its a meat and potato town
6)Older and poorly maintained rentals, think slumlords. They seem to have missed the recession, prices are stupidly high for very small poorly maintained homes, IMHO.

Fastfood includes; Arby's, McDonalds, Subway and (shudder) TacoTime, think mexican food prepared by kids that have never tasted real mexican food.

Restaurants; 2 Mexican food joints that are ok, 2 Asian food joints, a small town Pizza joint thats pretty good, and I think the rest is just hotel joints, all pretty bland.....

From my experience its a tough town to be single in, at least for an educated SWF, the odds are good, but the goods are odd. From the reports I get from single men, if you just want a girl for fun and house cleaning they are out there, you just have to ignore the drug problem, and you don't lose a girlfriend, you just lose your turn.

I really enjoy living out here yet I keep myself busy with work and hobbies.

[31st State Citizen]

Originally Posted by wpme

From my experience . . . I really enjoy living out here yet I keep myself busy with work and hobbies.

Thanks for the update. Very informative! There's a few other small towns around the country I've applied to for jobs (gotta love the Obama economy!), and from what you've said, Ely sounds quite hardy and remote, but not the most isolated I've researched.

[wpme]

Originally Posted by 31st State Citizen

What restaurants and fast food places are in town?

What's the entertainment like now? Bowling alley? Theater? Gyms? Pools?

Yes there is a bowling alley, don't bowl so cannot say much about it.

1 movie theater, seems kind of hit and miss right now, something is up with management. Most of the movies are geared toward the younger crowd and family, no "new" movies. For real theater there are some good performances from time to time at the Eureka Opera House.

There is a new gym, and the new pool in Ely is supposed to open before the end of 2013, I'll believe it when I see it because NOTHING happens that quickly here There is a swimming hole in McGill only open in the summer. If you know where to look there are some hot springs, great for swimming in when its freezing cold, you just have to learn to dress REALLY fast when you get out.

[.highnlite]

Some years ago Outside Magazine rated White Pine County as one of the top ten counties in the country for outdoors people.