[8bravo]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

I miss all the things we have here that we locals take for granted. It's not that other places don't have some good qualities, but you could list all day the things we have that they don't -- Especially when you think of things you're missing that nobody else has -- all the conveniences we have that we take for granted until we cross the state line

Nice post Buzz, but can you enlighten us non-Vegans what exactly that would be. Will-ya, please?

[AbbieRose]

YES! I miss it so much I am moving back! Was in Vegas 10 yrs and left 4 years ago after DH was laid off. I wanted to see what it was like to live in different parts of the country. The job he took had us living in Colorado, then Arkansas and now Missouri. All smaller towns. I miss all the choices for good restaurants and shopping. There is always something going on any night of the week. We both have lots of friends there and I have always consider Vegas my 2nd home. He is leaving his company and we are so happy to be going back to Vegas for good.

[370z]

We lived in LV for 15 years then moved to Pahrump for 3 years and are probably going back to Pahrump once I sale the house here in CA. There are things we miss about So NV. Had thought about moving to Kingman, but decided to go back to Pahrump!

[jasper12]

I lived in Vegas for thirty years, off and on. I really don't miss it at all. "Been there, done that". Too hot in the summer, too dry. Too much traffic. And the crazy people...Las Vegas is interesting. I don't miss it though.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by 8bravo

Nice post Buzz, but can you enlighten us non-Vegans what exactly that would be. Will-ya, please?

I'm too lazy right now so I'll just repost stuff I've said before:

Why people live in Las Vegas: Location, location, location; Southern Nevada, beautiful Mojave Desert, Southwest U.S.. Large desert valley approx. 40 miles across, 2,000 ft. elevation, surrounded by mountains. Highest peak, 11,982 feet. Average temps, July, 106º, highest recorded 118º (unofficial temps over 120º); January, avg. 57º, lowest recorded, 6º; average rainfall 4 inches. Very low humidity usually about 11% or less. This desert is not cold at night in summer. Winter, overnight lows only sometimes below freezing. Pop. 1,800,000, fastest growing city before the real estate crash, averaging 4000-6,000 new people per month. Still growing, but not nearly as fast as it did from 1987 to 2008. “Las Vegas” is actually the three cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, plus unincorporated county areas running together into large metropolitan area. No we are not all Mafia hit men, or hookers, and we don’t live in hotels on the Strip. We have a normal family life here, except we have more convenient and luxurious amenities than most other places in America. Crime rate is average; lower than a lot of other large cities such as Washington, DC, Detroit, Chicago, etc., higher than Podunk, IA. We have many diverse businesses here, but hospitality/tourism is the leading industry with more hotel rooms (approx 150,000) than any other city, with many of the most expensive hotels ever built (two are THE most expensive, Wynn & Bellagio, not to mention the most costly project ever built in the U.S., City Center), and several largest hotels in the world (MGM Grand, world’s largest). We have more convention center space than any other city in several convention facilities including largest in the U.S., LV Convention Center., serving thousands of conventions, business meetings, and trade shows each year. Amazing outdoor attractions nearby such as Hoover Dam, creating Lake Mead, largest man made lake in western hemisphere; National Parks such as Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Cedar Breaks, Death Valley, Lake Powell, Lake Mojave, Colorado River, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston/Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area, many ski resorts such as Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Park, Bryan Head Ski Resort, at least 20 ski resorts in the Sierra Nevadas, etc, etc. are all nearby or relatively so, plus dozens more such attractions throughout the west and southwest. Los Angeles, four hours by car (30 min. by plane); Pacific Ocean, five hours; San Diego five hours, Phoenix, AZ, five hours; Salt Lake City, UT, six/seven hours; Reno, NV, and nearby Lake Tahoe seven/eight hours. Nevada means “snow covered” in Spanish; Sierra means “mountains” (as in serrated, saw-toothed), Las Vegas means “the meadows”. Ya’ll come see us soon, ya hear?

[Buzz123]

There have been a lot of negative remarks made here and I’m as guilty as anyone. Although most of my remarks have been to help people find the best parts of town to live it must sound really bad when it isn’t. It’s only natural you’d want to know what Las Vegas is really like. The truth is there is probably no better city in the country to live than Las Vegas. Yes, we do have some areas that are getting old and run down, and there isn’t the tendency here, like there is in the east, to renovate. That’s probably because up to now there hasn’t been any need to since there is so much new to chose from and so much open land to build on. Older parts of town mean lower rent which can attract a bad element. People don’t tend to live forever in the same neighborhood all their lives here where it’s easy to move up to a better home. The neighborhood ties that you find in older eastern cities don’t really exist here. You’ll find a huge cultural difference here from McLean, VA…almost, but not quite, like being in a different country in some ways.

I was born and raised in the east, in the State of West Virginia. As I became more accustomed to life in Nevada I noticed one important difference, and that difference is what has been bringing approximately 7,000 people a month to Las Vegas in particular and Nevada in general. Nevadans are not anal about telling other people how to live. In fact it is known as a live and let live state. In West Virginia I learned growing up that everything is bad for you, and that people need to be controlled and regulated. That kind of thinking is what has developed over 400 years of over crowded eastern cities. It just isn’t true and my biggest fear is that it will happen here as the population gets bigger. In fact I have been seeing signs of it for many years now. But the truth is people thrive when left alone and not tightly controlled by oppressive laws and suppressive people.

Nevada is the 7th largest state in the country; 110,000 square miles of mostly wide open unpopulated areas of beautiful mountains and desert, where you can go to lose yourself and not see even a sign of another human being if you want. Our mountains make the Blue Ridge look like ant hills. Our desert goes on forever with no fences to keep you out. 87% of our state is unfenced public land. I’m sure you’ll enjoy hiking Mt. Charleston which is the most prominent feature of the Las Vegas Valley. It is 11,982 feet high, and once you get up there the view is breathtaking. And to me, that is what Las Vegas is all about. Not the Strip or the beautiful new homes, or the Starbucks on every corner, but the desert surroundings and the mountains.

Las Vegas is central to some of the most beautiful and interesting and exciting places in the United States. A relatively short and beautiful drive up to Southern Utah puts you in several National Parks like Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Cedar Breaks, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. A few miles out of town is Lake Mead, the largest manmade lake in the western hemisphere, where you can pretty much water ski and fish year round. Go across Hoover Dam, one of the seven engineering wonders of the world, and drive a few hours to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, the most beautiful, and awe-inspiring natural wonder in the world. Drive south for a few hours and you are in Los Angeles, the largest city in the country, and filled with all kinds of fun things to do. You can go to Disneyland every weekend if you want. In any direction you choose to go from Las Vegas you’ll find things that most people in the east never dream of, or at least have only seen in western movies.

A very good friend of mine, who has passed away, was a man named Forrest Duke, who wrote an entertainment column for the local newspaper, as well as for Weekly Variety, the Show business newspaper. Forrest always referred to Las Vegas a TBCOTA…The Best City of Them All. Even though he might not recognize it today with its nearly two million people, I know he’d still call it that if he were here.

[orca17]

...and we don’t live in hotels on the Strip

I had to chuckle at this one. Two different people have asked me which of the hotels I live in after finding out that I live here. Hard to explain to people that dense that there is a city out there, not just the Strip in the middle of nowhere.

Nevadans are not anal about telling other people how to live. In fact it is known as a live and let live state. In West Virginia I learned growing up that everything is bad for you, and that people need to be controlled and regulated.

I moved here from Oklahoma. While the people there are generally friendly and kind, in many aspects of life you are expected to think and believe a certain way - which I was never able to embrace. Since I am inclined to leave people alone as long as they aren't doing anything that harms others, I could never quite identify with people who believe that their way of thinking should be the only choice available. The brainwashing starts at a very early age, and it includes the local newspapers (whoever coined the phrase "liberal media" never read a newspaper in Oklahoma City). Hard line right wing, no tolerance for opposing viewpoints. All done in the name of God, of course.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by orca17

I had to chuckle at this one. Two different people have asked me which of the hotels I live in after finding out that I live here. Hard to explain to people that dense that there is a city out there, not just the Strip in the middle of nowhere.

This made me laugh. When I was a child, we drove back and forth to Oregon from Phoenix to spend the summer each year for several years. One of the two stops on the way was in Vegas. We stayed on Fremont Street usually, although once I remember we stayed at the Tam O'Shanter just off the Strip. I didn't know, until later when we came up and visited someone at their home, that there were neighborhoods in Vegas. I don't know where I thought the people who worked at the hotels and the casinos and the shops lived, but I thought that what I could see of Vegas was all there was.

[Mashed Potatoes]

I left Vegas for a farm town of 2,200 people 3 years ago, and while I do miss the "always something to do" quality of Vegas, I sure as hell dont miss the heat, the traffic, the people, and the "diversity".

Going back for 3 days next month, cant wait

[lyra33]

I moved away for a year to the Northwest a few years ago. I did miss living here...mostly the weather and sun when it was winter time. Now that I'm back I miss rain, clouds, water, and temperate summers.

Oh...and you can't beat the sunrises and sunsets here....make my day.