[von949]

Originally Posted by MomMom

Um, no thanks. We had enough of that a few years ago during the NBA All Assault Weekend.

A normal NBA game is normally not like that. An All Star game will attract from all over the country and is a pretty big deal for die hard fans and groupies. Image if the Super Bowl, World Series or NHL Championship was held in Vegas?

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

The general mindset of the "experts" over the past 40 or 50 years that it has been bandied about is that Las Vegans aren't interested. If you could find someone to risk that much money we'd find out.

The NBA might -- MIGHT -- let Las Vegas have a franchise. The NFL and MLB will never, ever, ever allow this city to have a franchise. Havana, Honolulu, and Tokyo will have professional baseball teams before Las Vegas does.

London will have an NFL franchise before Las Vegas does. Baghdad will have an NFL franchise before Las Vegas does.


We are the largest city -- by a mile -- that doesn't have a pro sports franchise. The "experts" are full of it. Any pro team would thrive in this city, except perhaps hockey.

Unfortunately, we're the "shady lady" of metropolises, and the league commissioners are afraid we'll tarnish their image. It's that simple. If the NFL even hinted that they'd allow a franchise in Las Vegas, investors would trip over themselves racing to throw money at Roger Goodall.

[Buzz123]

I think the problem is that our legal gambling would put the illegal gamblers in all those other franchise cities out of business.

It's like the liquor by the drink issue in some states. The Baptists and the bootleggers join forces to prevent it.

[yellowsnow]

I'm not surprised at all Vegas has always been a desirable place to live.

Especially if you don't have to make a living here! Now if all you need to do is supplement your income a little, we have tons of part time work with no benefits for low wages.

I love Las Vegas. There's no place else on Earth where I can have so much fun and a great lifestyle on so little money.

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

I'm not surprised at all Vegas has always been a desirable place to live.

Especially if you don't have to make a living here! Now if all you need to do is supplement your income a little, we have tons of part time work with no benefits for low wages.

I love Las Vegas. There's no place else on Earth where I can have so much fun and a great lifestyle on so little money.

Seems expensive to me, nothing too cheap on our most recent visit.

[Buzz123]

Living here is cheaper than visiting here if as a visitor you stay in a hotel/casino. The bean counters that took over from the Mob keep raising the price of everything because they know they can get it from visitors. Unless it's a locals casino, they don't price things for us locals, they price things for the business traveler on an expense account, and the foreign high rollers. They also know how high prices are in other parts of the country, and that those people are used to high prices.

Things like food and utilities are pretty low compared to everyplace else I've seen. And housing has dropped to below cheap, unfortunately for those of us who are underwater in a home.

[tr00th]

I really don't get all this negative energy towards Las Vegas. It's just another all-american city.

To get back to the OP question. I'm not surprised that Nevada is growing, one of the reasons is the housing market there. Everyday I see some online article telling the masses that Vegas and Reno has cheap houses and condos for sale. So yeah, your going to see a population boom....but Vegas isn't for everyone.

I bet that with every 1,000 people who move in with pipedreams of the "easy life", 500 of them, bust out and move somewhere esle.

Which is why IMO, if your going to move anywhere using sites like CityData is important, talking to the locals and getting a feel for it before you get there will help you adjust to a new and exciting place like Vegas.

Plus, Vegas Rocks!

[Kabluey]

Originally Posted by von949

A normal NBA game is normally not like that. An All Star game will attract from all over the country and is a pretty big deal for die hard fans and groupies. Image if the Super Bowl, World Series or NHL Championship was held in Vegas?

True. A lot of the more notorious behavior at the ASG in Vegas was from NFL players. Also, the perception of Vegas I think fuels what the visitors do.

Personally, I don't care if Vegas gets it. I love Vegas, but I am not a resident. I do know how the NBA has helped my hometown of Memphis. The Grizzlies were lauded for their philanthropy. They paid to build a residential facility for patients and their families at St. Jude. Several current and former players for the team are firmly entrenched in the community for their good deeds ("Citizen Shane" Battier, who served on the board of the excellent Memphis Zoo, Zach Randolph, whose struggles as a young player are well-versed, but his kindness in paying for one winter month utilities of 100 families a year goes unnoticed nationally, as well as the deeds of the likes of Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, Brevin Knight, and Elliot Perry). That's just one team in one city. And while Memphis is great, I doubt it's the most entrenched professional franchise in a community.

I would think that the community outreach that the Grizz have done in Memphis is more indicative of what a franchise can do for a community like Las Vegas than a once-in-a-while event like and All Star Game. Truthfully, the ASG is not the strongest argument for skeptics. It's pretty weak, in fact. What might be used would be the Bengals/Bungles and Trailblazers/Jailblazers.

My guess is you're more likely to end up with a franchise relationship like the Thunder, Grizz, even Bucks (bad on-court performance, perhaps, but not bad character guys for the most part) than the fearmongering ASG, Bengals, Trailblazers experiences.

FWIW. Still need to resolve the wagering before it's even a chance.

[Kabluey]

Originally Posted by tr00th

I really don't get all this negative energy towards Las Vegas. It's just another all-american city.

To get back to the OP question. I'm not surprised that Nevada is growing, one of the reasons is the housing market there. Everyday I see some online article telling the masses that Vegas and Reno has cheap houses and condos for sale. So yeah, your going to see a population boom....but Vegas isn't for everyone.

I bet that with every 1,000 people who move in with pipedreams of the "easy life", 500 of them, bust out and move somewhere esle.

Which is why IMO, if your going to move anywhere using sites like CityData is important, talking to the locals and getting a feel for it before you get there will help you adjust to a new and exciting place like Vegas.

Plus, Vegas Rocks!

Agreed, but diversify beyond just one site. From personal experience, sometimes the thread participants are not reflective of a population.

[brdd]

My wife and I are in our early sixties. We live and still work in Minnesota. A year ago we began looking for a retirement winter place. Las Vegas offered, by far, the best value in housing anywhere. For about the price of a new car, we got a great place in NW Las Vegas. A great realtor is taking care of us, renting out the home for a positive cash
flow until we are ready to use it to get out of the cold Minnesota winters. I cannot believe that more people like us are not virtually stealing this underpriced real estate for their retirement plans.

We are very excited to own property in Las Vegas and may very likely buy more. We come there two to three times a year and have been coming there since the 70s.


Opportunities like these don't come along often. This one, we are certain, was a no-brainer.