San Francisco or Las Vegas - What would you do?

[AA702]

Originally Posted by SirHandsome

I see there are already 6 pages of replies, so this may not be necessary. But if you are an active person at all who cares about anything besides acquiring material indoor possessions... choose San Francisco, or you will regret it. Mark my words.

If you read the OP first post and it tells you its not San Francisco, but Mt. View. Mt. View and SF are totally different in layout and culture. They want to keep their cars and it would not be wise in SF, but much more likely in MV. I'm sure they will aquire indoor material possessions in MV also.

[kek1993]

Tough Choice. If I was really rich, I would live in San Fran. However, I am fairly poor, and hate long commutes to work, so I would choose Vegas. You can find a nice size house there, not too pricey. Go skiing on the weekends at Mount Charleston, go to Brian Head in Utah, go to St. George and go hiking. Lots of night life and places to go in Vegas too. Decides on what you want, your lifestyle, what you want to do. After I re-read your initial post, I would do Vegas is a heartbeat. Don't listen to people who have never lived here. There is a lot to do here aside from casinos, they just came here for the weekend, and never left the strip. Most people who live in Vegas never go to the strip. You could buy a boat, go boating on Lake Mead on the weekends. Vegas has excellent schools, nice areas to live, and is a nice place to raise a family. Don't believe everything you see and hear. You can fly pretty cheap to San Fran for the weekend if you want, with the money you will be saving on your house payment/rent and state income tax. Really, you need to post this in the Vegas area. Why don't you fly there for the weekend, and go to Red Rock Canyon, Mount Charleston, St. George, or Lake Mead, choose a couple of places. Maybe take a day trip to Oatman, Az. Drive around the residential areas, like Summerlin, Green Valley, Centennial Hills, see some different areas of Vegs before you make a decision.

[steveljohn8]

i think the los veages is the Expensive city i preferred to live somewhere else.

[Buburuza 1313]

choose,what you want...you will regret it so or so...i hope,i am wrong,but let me know after six month,one year),if i was right...good luck to you...

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Take my word - I'm half Danish and have grown up both in the US and Northern Europe, and I can assure you as a European you will not be happy in Las Vegas. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into by living there. The traffic in LV is just as bad as SF, but the difference is there is no adequate public transportation to speak of. In addition, the city is a magnet for the scuzziest people in America...I am not getting you when I say this. There's a serious lack of solidarity in the culture of LV - people use it as a pad to make a lot of money and then get the hell out. It's not pretty off the strip, and you being used to compact European cities, it's going to seem like one big plastic, very seedy city. If you have kids, it's an even worse place to expose them to - girls grow up fast there, and there's a hell of a lot of drugs. Take it from me, I have family that live there and regret ever raising children there.

I can promise you, that while life in California might cost more, you will get so much out of it. While in LV you have the fun of the strip, there's no where else to really go besides monotonous chains and malls...it's a completely suburbanized city dominated by the car. Being in the Bay Area you will have access to probably the most progressive and culturally rich/diverse region in the country after New York City. You have the ocean, nature, and urban life always within miles of eachother. SF is extremely walkable and has tons of things to offer, from interesting unique neighborhoods and attractions, and in addition, each region of the Bay Area has a different vibe to it. East Bay has a lot of cool places to explore too. To shorten my point, the Bay Area offers so much more in terms of quality of life (and the people in the Bay Area are also some of the most educated and sophisticated in the US).

Las Vegas is a great place to travel to for the weekend no doubt. It's inexpensive, it's fun, it's a party place. But one place it's not, is a liveable, interesting city. Once you get off the strip it becomes a grim, very cookie-cutter place. There's a lot of seediness to it that drives many European visitors after awhile off the wall. It's one thing to have strip clubs here and there, but on nearly every boulevard you drive on (as well as having slot machines in supermarkets, gas stations, and convienience stores) it gets old. Not only that, but gravel instead of grass in many housing communities becomes quite an eyesore. You being from green, lush Ireland might be a little bit taken aback when you see the kind of bleak landscape LV offers. The Bay Area is very beautiful and lush, with dramatic coastline to farmlands, to rolling grassy hills and clusters of forests.

I promise you...honestly...the Bay Area is probably better suited for you. City Data forums are full of people who are broke and desperate, but you have a job...and for your first time settling down in the US, I think you should be in a more realistic enviornment.

Wow, you really hate Vegas. One thing I would to clear up is the public transportation in Vegas is excellent. I ride the bus to the strip and back on the weekends. The city buses here even run 24 hours. Now, where I am originally from (Phoenix AZ), the city bus service is terrible, but not here.