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My husband is from Jacksboro and has spent a LOT of time at Possum Kingdom. So you have an idea where he is coming from. I am from Ennis...nothing noteworthy going on there.
I will say the snow and ice are one of my biggest concerns with regards to Reno. The hubby saw a lot more snow living in Jacksboro than I ever have living south of Dallas. However, I'm quite certain the snow/ice around Jacksboro is nothing compared to what it is in Reno. That's definitely something for us to consider.
As far as Las Vegas, I have thought A LOT about the summer heat. But, it gets really hot here too so I figure we have a better chance of adapting if we moved there vs. Reno. Admittedly it is a turn off for me though. I like to keep our AC set on about 72-73 degrees. But during the summer months it's hard to get it any cooler than about 76 degrees and our light bill skyrockets. Sadly, I understand we won't be doing much outside during the summer months if we do choose to move to Vegas.
As for work - I am very fortunate that my company allows me to work remotely. As long as I have access to the internet I'm good. It's my husband that I am worried about. He will have to find a job and he will have to do it fast! Since every place I've looked at to rent so far says your gross monthly income has to be 3x the monthly rent, that is going to be a HUGE problem for us as long as I am the only one with an income. Right now we make enough to survive where we are, but trust me, we aren't much different than the people around there that have to work multiple jobs just to keep their head's up water. Last year I had to work 2 jobs myself. That said, we have no delusions that we're going to move to NV and make lots of money. Also, we don't plan on going to the Strip very often. I won't lie and say we never will, but I'm sure the glitz of it all wears off fast when you live around it day in and day out.
We've been to Vegas 3 times so far. Twice in July (2014 & 2015) and once in March (2016). But all 3 times we stayed on the strip. We spent a week both times in July so we know exactly how hot it gets. It didn't take long for us to discover it's best to wait until it dusk to try and go outside. Not to say we never went out during the day, but it was more uncomfortable to do so. Honestly it's the same here. I don't go out much during the day during summer. I just don't. LOL.
We are planning a vacation this coming October where we will spend about 3 days in Henderson and 4 days in Reno. We plan to drive around Henderson, check out the grocery stores, check out the hospitals, go to some parks, explore and do things locals would do. We are going to do the same thing when we get to Reno. My boys live in Silver Springs so we are also going to explore that area along with Fernley and Fallon. I know October won't give us quite what we need to see what winter is like in Reno, but it's gotta be a start.
Regarding the pan handlers and homeless - we encountered several when we were on the Strip. Heck, we have a few right here in my current neighborhood! I try really hard not to feel any type of way about these individuals because they are just people like you and me. And, I appreciate that I could just as easily be in their camp if things get sideways. But...it is a bit nerve racking for me to have encounters with them because I don't have much myself and I certainly don't want to get assaulted or killed over a few bucks or my car. The other reason it's difficult for me is because I want to help but can't. We work hard for what money/things we do have and there's not much left to spare.
I suppose asking if the people are friendly is a silly question. Like anywhere else I imagine it depends on each individual person. Some people are nice while others are rude. I guess my biggest concern is that we don't move to an area where you are frowned upon if you aren't political or in church.
Thank you for all the pointers. Much appreciated.
If you can bring your job with you, you are golden. Your H, not so much. That will be a problem unless he has a skill that's in demand here. But the good news is your money will probably go further here. And that's one of the reasons I am here.
If you stop and think about it, the whole serve the tourist industry pays ZIP. And those are the jobs we have. So that means the cost of other things like food have to stay reasonable. After all if things go up too much, they will lose their work force because people can't find a way to afford to live here.
You can spend as much or more on food here if you want to. But I have found it's not necessary. If you choose not to shop at Whole Paycheck you can save a LOT of money. My first stop is always the 99centsOnly Store. They are all over the valley and most everything in the store is 99c. I buy all my paper and cleaning products, including Awesome laundry detergent for a buck. The Awesome spray cleaner is great too. And they have real food. Pasta and rice always, and you never know what you will find there. Next there are the Hispanic stores and their prices on meat are usually the best plus their produce is almost always cheaper and better than the regular stores. Check out Winco. I like that store a lot! You will get grocery flyers once a week with all the sales.
Fruit and vegetables will be a challenge for you. We don't have anything local and most of it is shipped in from California or somewhere else. It's not as good as what you are used to. And there are no trucks at the intersections selling home grown produce or...crying here...shrimp!
I know Ennis and Jacksboro. For a long time, and this reveals my old age, Ennis was the furthest south point in TX that sold Coors beer. Gas was cheap and a beer run was driving from Houston to Ennis! Ever been to Wizard Wells? Half the people in the old cemetery were related to my H. We went there once and did rubbings of the gravestones and took pictures.
travel time from aliante to henderson can take ~45 mins. granted most people are not making that kinda trek just to go to trader joe's.
I understand, but that's my point. If you live in Aliente, you can go to a Costco, Sam's Club, Trader Joe's probably a great hair salon, doctors, fitness gym and most anything else without driving across town. Would you drive across town for a concert? Sure, but not for your everyday items. In Pahrump, you will probably have to drive into Vegas for a lot of everyday items, i.e. the "long drive" comment.
Heck even when I lived in Los Angeles where it took an hour to go 20 miles (and I suspect, the same in Dallas), I hardly ever drove outside my neighborhood unless going to some special event or to meet someone because all the essentials were within a couple of miles of my house.
i don't mean to hijack the thread, so i'll just say that pahrump has plenty of everyday ammenities. you would only have to drive into vegas if you wanted to see a concert or go to the big box stores.
If you can bring your job with you, you are golden. Your H, not so much. That will be a problem unless he has a skill that's in demand here. But the good news is your money will probably go further here. And that's one of the reasons I am here.
If you stop and think about it, the whole serve the tourist industry pays ZIP. And those are the jobs we have. So that means the cost of other things like food have to stay reasonable. After all if things go up too much, they will lose their work force because people can't find a way to afford to live here.
You can spend as much or more on food here if you want to. But I have found it's not necessary. If you choose not to shop at Whole Paycheck you can save a LOT of money. My first stop is always the 99centsOnly Store. They are all over the valley and most everything in the store is 99c. I buy all my paper and cleaning products, including Awesome laundry detergent for a buck. The Awesome spray cleaner is great too. And they have real food. Pasta and rice always, and you never know what you will find there. Next there are the Hispanic stores and their prices on meat are usually the best plus their produce is almost always cheaper and better than the regular stores. Check out Winco. I like that store a lot! You will get grocery flyers once a week with all the sales.
Fruit and vegetables will be a challenge for you. We don't have anything local and most of it is shipped in from California or somewhere else. It's not as good as what you are used to. And there are no trucks at the intersections selling home grown produce or...crying here...shrimp!
I know Ennis and Jacksboro. For a long time, and this reveals my old age, Ennis was the furthest south point in TX that sold Coors beer. Gas was cheap and a beer run was driving from Houston to Ennis! Ever been to Wizard Wells? Half the people in the old cemetery were related to my H. We went there once and did rubbings of the gravestones and took pictures.
My H is kind of a jack of all trades but a master at none.
Thanks for all the helpful money saving tips! I will be sure to keep those in mind. I must admit it will be odd not seeing trucks on the side of the road selling produce. But honestly, I've never stopped to buy any here so I don't guess I will miss it.
Wow! I can't believe anyone would drive all the way to Ennis just for beer. That's something! I've never been to Wizard Wells, but I bet my H has. I'll have to ask him about it.
I currently live in Reno but I lived in Arlington, Irving and Dallas before.
Snow in Reno is nothing to be scared about. It only snows about 4-5 times per winter. It is sporadic. Some years don't have any. Some have a lot. We had only 1 snow day during Dec, Jan, Feb this year but then we had 3 snow storm in 2 weeks of March.
The ice storm in Dallas is much more dangerous than snow hare in Reno.
I never have to shovel snow when I lived in an apartment in Reno.
There are tons of festivals in summer, pretty much every weeks from June to September. We also get pretty of concerts (certainly not the level or quality of Vegas. On the other hand, price is cheaper too)
People are very nice in Reno.
Rent in Reno is on par with the popular area of Dallas so it will be more expensive than where you are living right now. Property tax is much cheaper than Texas but gas price is very high and car tax is high.
There are a lot of outdoor things to do in Reno. We are much more active since moving to Reno (instead of hiding in air-conditioning malls like in Dallas)
Thank you so much for sharing this information. My husband and I were talking about Reno last night and he said he welcomes the opportunity to get out in the snow and shovel it if need be. So I'm encouraged to hear it isn't anything to be scared about. You know exactly how everyone acts around 35, 360, and 183, etc when we get a cold snap here. Suddenly everything comes to a grinding halt. LOL. The 4-5 snow falls per year that Reno has probably wouldn't matter too much to me since I work from home and rarely have to get out for anything. And I'm hoping we will be more like you all (doing outdoor things and being more active) if we move to an area that is more conducive to such things.
Can you tell me more about the festivals? Also, can you tell me more about the concerts that come through the Reno? I read somewhere that the concerts that come through there are more like older bands or dated music. That may have just been that particular person's opinion...not sure. But if it's current bands/artists then I welcome cheaper prices to see them!
I've been using the app pretty often and it looks like you can get a really nice rental home in Henderson, NV for about $1.3k-$1.5k/month. But most of the rental homes in that same price range in Reno look run-down. So I get the impression we'd have to be willing to pay considerably more per month for nicer place. I'm not looking for anything fancy by any means, but I don't want to live in dilapidated home either. Good to know that if and when we decide to buy, the property taxes are cheaper than TX. Too bad gas, car tax and car registration has to be so high.
I haven't lived in Texas, but let me tell you a couple of things about Las Vegas/Nevada in general.
First off, Henderson starts where Las Vegas leaves off, there is no separation between the two. There are two or three areas that people tend to suggest to newcomers, Green Valley area of Henderson, Summerlin/Spring Valley in Las Vegas, and areas close to the 215 in North Las Vegas. These areas are all in the Vegas valley and it's kind of like one large city rather than separate communities.
There are some rural areas in Nevada, but they are a long drive from most services, Ely, Elko, Winnemucca, in the north and Pahrump in the south. One city that is quite nice and just outside of the Las Vegas valley is Boulder City. I've never lived in Reno/Sparks/Carson City area, but it's quite pretty up there. Personally, I like Gardnerville, but I understand it's really jumped in price due to "come-here's" raising the price of real estate.
As for the heat of summer, it takes a couple of years to get used to it, some people don't ever get used to it, and for some, it gets worse as they grow older. Personally, the lack of humidity makes it more livable to me than places in the midwest or east coast. (I once moved to Washington DC on July 12, 1998 and it was 104 degrees and 65 percent humidity--that was much worse than here in Las Vegas)
If you or your husband are ex-military, there are VA hospitals in both Reno and Las Vegas, the one in Las Vegas is almost brand new. If not, finding good doctors can be a challenge, but not impossible. Specialists are a little better represented than primary care, but it can still be a wait to see one. As for getting scans or x-rays, there are two good firms here in Las Vegas, Steinberg and Desert Radiology.
Property tax is between 1/2 and 2/3 less than Texas (thank you, gaming industry!), but due to the large amount of DUI and uninsured drivers our car insurance in the Las Vegas area is quite high. The rest of the state is much lower (not sure about Reno area). Just as in Texas, there is no state income tax. As mentioned above, power usage is pretty high and expensive in the summer, we usually leave our temp at 78 in the day in the summer, but with no humidity, that's quite comfortable.
Jobs can be a challenge, especially applying from afar. Reno and Las Vegas are both tourist-oriented economies and the rest of the state is pretty much mining or ranching. Of course there are more opportunities in Las Vegas than just gaming, we do have a large metro area of nearly two million.
Having a large transient population leads to a lot of panhandlers when people lose their jobs. Plus, not having cold winters tends to make being homeless a little less uncomfortable than in other cities. You'll see a fair number of people begging on street corners, and you may be approached in parking lots, but I've never had anyone be overly obnoxious to me, YMMV. P.S. I don't give money to street beggars, although I do give bottled water to people during the summer.
I see what you mean about Las Vegas and Henderson being like one big city. I bet it's much like the way Dallas, Irving, Richardson, Garland and Mesquite all run together. Where one ends, the other begins. If we do move to the Las Vegas valley I hope we will acclimate to the summer heat without too much problem. Since the humidity here in North Texas is horrible and add that to 104 degree heat, I would think we can handle the heat there. It's nice to hear that you can keep your thermostat set to around 78 degrees and be comfortable. I don't even keep my thermostat that high here during the winter months!
I will have to check out Gardnerville and we may take a drive over to Pahrump to explore there too. My biggest concern with moving to an area further away from Vegas or Reno is less access to medical care. We are basically healthy now, but what about when we are seniors? I am not real comfortable with the idea that we may have to travel hours away to see a specialist or have tests done.
Thanks for explaining why the car insurance is so high. I was wondering what was driving the prices. I must say, the fact that NV doesn't have a state income tax is one of the things that attracted me to the state when me and my husband first started thinking of moving out of TX.
Regarding jobs - it would be awesome if my hubby could find a job on a ranch. That would be right up his alley. But if he can find a manufacturing job, that would work too.
I will follow your lead and not give money to street beggars. But giving water is doable.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. My husband and I were talking about Reno last night and he said he welcomes the opportunity to get out in the snow and shovel it if need be. So I'm encouraged to hear it isn't anything to be scared about. You know exactly how everyone acts around 35, 360, and 183, etc when we get a cold snap here. Suddenly everything comes to a grinding halt. LOL. The 4-5 snow falls per year that Reno has probably wouldn't matter too much to me since I work from home and rarely have to get out for anything. And I'm hoping we will be more like you all (doing outdoor things and being more active) if we move to an area that is more conducive to such things.
Can you tell me more about the festivals? Also, can you tell me more about the concerts that come through the Reno? I read somewhere that the concerts that come through there are more like older bands or dated music. That may have just been that particular person's opinion...not sure. But if it's current bands/artists then I welcome cheaper prices to see them!
I've been using the app pretty often and it looks like you can get a really nice rental home in Henderson, NV for about $1.3k-$1.5k/month. But most of the rental homes in that same price range in Reno look run-down. So I get the impression we'd have to be willing to pay considerably more per month for nicer place. I'm not looking for anything fancy by any means, but I don't want to live in dilapidated home either. Good to know that if and when we decide to buy, the property taxes are cheaper than TX. Too bad gas, car tax and car registration has to be so high.
Rent will be higher than Las Vegas, unfortunately.
Gas will be more expensive than Vegas because of county gas tax.
Jobs may be easier to get due to lots of new companies moving to town such as Tesla.
Some of the big festivals are
Hot August nights
Street vibration
Nugget Best of the West rib cook-off
Great Reno balloon race
Reno air races
Great Italian festival
Reno River festival
Reno Art town
Reno Rodeo
And many mores. There are many around lake Tahoe and Virginia city as well.
If you plan on renting, I do think rentals — especially rent houses — are more affordable here. I own rental properties in the DFW metro and it amazes me how little rent people pay for rent houses compared to Dallas when I find houses more expensive here. My rent houses in zips 76039, 76016, 76017 and 75060 are generally small (about 1200 sq ft) 3 bedroom or 2 bedroom houses and average rent is $1500. My 4-bedroom rents for $1800. You can get equivalent rentals for $1200 here for the smaller houses. Maybe this reflects the lower property taxes. We also find our electric bill is much lower here. Our water bill runs about $100/mo. That includes our landscape irrigation system (desert landscaping but drips for plants).
The variety of grocery stores is disappointing. They have the usual Krogers (Smiths), Tom Thumb (Vons), Sprouts and Whole Foods. There’s also Walmart and the 99 cent stores have grocery sections. Missing is Aldi and several ethnic groceries found all over DFW that I love.
Concierge doctors are becoming more and more common — something that I find outrageous. People who use concierge docs pay an annual fee (payable quarterly) of $1200-2K to be a VIP patient and the doctor has a limited practice to just a certain number of patients. For that fee, the patient has no trouble getting appointments or referrals that will see them right away. We are retired, so many of the people we know use concierge arrangements because they have medical conditions and want great access to specific doctors. It is well known among the medical community of this practice in LV and I predict it will continue to grow. I find it just another way to rip off people who are vulnerable. It is my deepest concern regarding life here.
I love the feeling that I can get in my car and in under 5 hours be in Flagstaff, Prescott, St. George, San Diego, or Phoenix.
I've definitely noticed that it looks like you can get a really nice rental home in the Las Vegas valley in the $1.2k-$1.5k price range. We live in Waxahachie and rent here is absurd. For $1.5k here, your house will likely be run-down. That's if you can even find a place to rent in the first place. I estimated the water bill would run about $100/mo there. I'm glad you confirmed my suspicions.
As for the grocery store selection - I am going to miss H-E-B the most. Our local H-E-B has the best produce and meat. Which grocery store do you prefer and why?
Concierge doctors - oh my! You hit the nail on the head - just another way to rip off people who are vulnerable. More than the weather, high insurance, crime, etc. I think the medical situation will be a huge concern for me.
The hubby and I are excited to think how close we will be to AZ, CA, OR, and UT. We look forward to spending the last half of our lives exploring all there is to see/do around there.
Rent will be higher than Las Vegas, unfortunately.
Gas will be more expensive than Vegas because of county gas tax.
Jobs may be easier to get due to lots of new companies moving to town such as Tesla.
Some of the big festivals are
Hot August nights
Street vibration
Nugget Best of the West rib cook-off
Great Reno balloon race
Reno air races
Great Italian festival
Reno River festival
Reno Art town
Reno Rodeo
And many mores. There are many around lake Tahoe and Virginia city as well.
Bummer about the higher rent and gas prices. That is something we will have to give much thought to. Hoping he can find a job at one of the manufacturing companies around there without too much trouble (if that's where we land of course).
Thank you for listing some of the festivals...you had me at "ribs". LOL. The balloon race would be an added excuse to get our mothers to come visit us. All of these sound wonderful.
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I am from Ennis...nothing noteworthy going on there.
But if he can find a manufacturing job, that would work too.
