[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Atlas1337

I was looking for a place to move to escape New Jersey's State income tax which goes up to 10% My shortlist included Texas, Nevada, and Flordia. Alaska was too cold, and Wyoming was too empty.

I decided on Las Vegas and bought a small condo at Sky Las Vegas. It's a high rise condo between Circus Circus and Hilton Grand Vacation. I've spent the past 2 weeks furnishing the place and just thought I'd share my thoughts.

1) Home prices are very reasonable, even for high rises compared to North Jersey/NYC area.

2) Cox internet service doesn't offer fast enough upload speeds. Their download speeds are fine. I miss my 25mbs/25mbs FiOS from Verizon.

3) This city is sprawled. I don't own a car, and never have. I'm going to have to get one here...

4) The McDonald's next to Circus Circus is amazing. I go there for lunch every day. $4 gets you a healthy meal. $1 large unsweetened tea, $1 yogurt parfait, $1 side salad, $1 chicken sandwich.

5) Most people don't seem to be very optimistic. All the taxi drivers I've spoken to want to get out of Vegas and/or are pessimistic about its future.

6) LOTS of stalled construction. I can see the nearly-finished Fontainebleau, the barely-started Echelon, some barely started tower near The Venetian, and several plots of undeveloped land from my balcony.

7) Lots of Spanish speakers. I regret sleeping through my high school Spanish classes.

That's all for now, I'll edit this if more comes to mind. If anyone else is planning on moving here, I'd be glad to answer questions.

Home prices are reasonable, the cox internet is plenty fast for me, even better then the AT&T Internet in Orlando. That still seems unhealthy, and I could not eat the same meal EVERY day, nonetheless live THAT close to the strip.

Las Vegas is a very negative city it seems. I've been here just about 4 months and most people I have met say "Why the hell would you wanna live here? Florida is such a wonderful place"

The stalled construction isnt just Strip-side. It's city wide. So many unfinished neighborhoods in Centennial Hills, and the far NW side of town. A mall that was supposed to be built in Summerlin is a rotting, rusting frame, so much vacant retail space in newer shopping centers as well, quite sad actually

There are a lot of spanish speakers in this town. In Florida it is the same way. Though I have had NO problem communicating with every person I have met out here. I have less problems communicating here in Vegas and LOS ANGELES<<<<yes LA, than I have had in Orlando

And lastly, as far as the sprawl goes, you do need a car here to survive. Not all the buses run 24/7. You can survive without a car, but it will be even harder. It is too time consuming as well. I personally find the city to be compact and small compared to where I am from. This city is only about 17-20 east-west, and about 30 miles long north-south. The lack of freeways and abundance of LONG LONG red lights make a trek across town seem a LOT longer than it really is

[PinkString]

If you want a sprawling city, try Los Angeles or Denver. Both of those it seemed to take forever to drive out of. In L.A, you keep driving and end up in Orange county. In Denver, you keep driving and end up on a snowy mountain.
In Vegas, you keep driving and end up in Arizona, California or Utah.

[Atlas1337]

I can't believe I forgot to comment on how new everything here is. I remember driving around with my real estate agent and he would point out that 'oh this area is old, the houses were build in 1999.'

I actually started laughing at one point. My home in NJ was build at least 60 years ago and I lived in a 110 year old building when I was in Paterson. Everything here in Vegas looks shiny and new, I like it!

[lisdol]

Originally Posted by Atlas1337

I can't believe I forgot to comment on how new everything here is. I remember driving around with my real estate agent and he would point out that 'oh this area is old, the houses were build in 1999.'

I actually started laughing at one point. My home in NJ was build at least 60 years ago and I lived in a 110 year old building when I was in Paterson. Everything here in Vegas looks shiny and new, I like it!

LOL I know. I lived in an apt complex one time and was having trouble with a sticking window, and the office said "well, the building IS 30 yrs old!" like that was old. I have lived in turn of the century (last century) houses with old windows you need to prop up with books.....and those button wall switches, and more.....

But 10 yr old crap probably equals 50 yr old extremely well-built stuff. (I am sure there is 50 yr old crap out there too - considering that it was already the 1960s at that point).

[kimba01]

It is a pattern in Vegas to dump everything and one that is old....

[jhiker1o]

The best part of living in Vegas is that you can enjoy the best of both worlds. You can live in Vegas and not set foot on the Strip for an extended period of time and just enjoy the slower pace of life outside of the Strip. I have done it having lived here for almost 24 years. There was a time I was employed Off the Strip and never bothered going to the Strip.

Having said that, the Strip is only a short half an hour drive even less in some areas to experienced a faster pace non-stop 24 hour lifestyle just being a resident here in Vegas. Lately my friend and I visit the Strip on a weekly basis to have meals during our days off. It offers so many dining options in many different price range.

Downtown has improved immensely and I particularly like what is happening at Symphony Park and certain sections of Downtown away from the Casinos. It is definitly growing for the better. Times are tough at the moment but Downtown is definitely going in the right direction.

[Robustus]

Originally Posted by Atlas1337

I can't believe I forgot to comment on how new everything here is. I remember driving around with my real estate agent and he would point out that 'oh this area is old, the houses were build in 1999.'

I actually started laughing at one point. My home in NJ was build at least 60 years ago and I lived in a 110 year old building when I was in Paterson. Everything here in Vegas looks shiny and new, I like it!

Heh, yeah, no kidding - happened to me too. After a couple days of looking at houses, my agent asked "Do you want to start looking at some old homes"? I said "sure", and she replied "Ok, I'll extend the search back to 1998". I literally laughed out load and relayed a few stories about the myriad 50-100yr old buildings in and around NYC that people pay tons for.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Robustus

Heh, yeah, no kidding - happened to me too. After a couple days of looking at houses, my agent asked "Do you want to start looking at some old homes"? I said "sure", and she replied "Ok, I'll extend the search back to 1998". I literally laughed out load and relayed a few stories about the myriad 50-100yr old buildings in and around NYC that people pay tons for.

The same could be said for many places in Florida as well. The neighborhood I lived in was considered "old" and it was built circa 1988

[Spraynard Kruger]

Originally Posted by kimba01

It is a pattern in Vegas to dump everything and one that is old....

Our idea of architectural preservation is to take a photo of it before we tear it down.

[007 license to sell]

There are reasons why agents refer to properties that were built during those years as older.


The reason that properties are considered old that are were built in the 1990's and early 2000 is due to the fact homes were not as energy efficient as they are now. If you were to put any of those homes in other cooler states you would have broken water pipes and freeze to death due to the poor quality of the home. Houses built in the 1700's and 1800's were better built then homes built in Vegas up until 2000, building standards were poorer during those years, airconditioners were sub par and didn't meet cooling standards that were put into place in late 2005 early 2006.
Stucco was put on with a thinner coat usually 1 coat so cracking and fading happened. The heat here is very hard on homes and driving around you can tell by the outside how the stucco looks older on the homes built in the 1990 homes. Irrigation for plants were installed to close to the homes foundation causing mold and mildew problems.
Some home builders did build a better than others even in those years however building codes weren't what they are now.