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Right, in NYC, where I used to live a two bedroom apartment rent for $1500 and that's in the good neighborhood of the Bronx!! Rent a house in same neighborhood with 3 bedrooms/garage go for any where from $2500 and up. Taxes very high there too, and every time I visited the city from NJ, seem like the rent keep getting higher month by month. In NJ it's very expensive to rent an apartment/house in a good neighborhood. Heck, you do not wanted to know about the tax but I can say one time I took a taxi, the fee on the meter/surcharge was $19 to get to a place that took less than 10 minutes. The taxi driver told me I also have to pay a tax on top of the fee/surcharges plus their tip!! By the time I finish paying it cost me $27 just for that lousy 10 minute trip and there was no tolls either/bridge. The East Coast's taxes are getting higher, so I would rather put up with whatever I have to in Las Vegas than on the E.C.
Amen! We moved here from Vermont. We still own a 1200sq ft condo there. Property taxes are $4800/year. That's a small condo with no property. Income tax was about 7%. State sales tax is 7% or 8% depending on the county.
Had a friend text me this morning. His windshield in his truck cracked when we turned on the defroster. That tends to happen when the high temperature is -9 Fahrenheit. He is so sick of the winter asked why the hell anyone lives there. My answer was "I don't know - we left". I can't ever imagine living in the freezing cold again.
Vegas is far from perfect but it can work. I love the Summer temps I work in a shop with no A/C no swamp cooler. I can't wait for it to warm up. Then the evenings are perfect it's always 10 to 15deg cooler. great sleeping weather. No bugs, no humidity, I could go on and on.
Are you talking about states, cities, or small towns? There are very few cities that have anything as close or as great as Vegas. LA has mountains and the beach. Reno has Tahoe and Pyramid Lake. Tucson has Mt. Lemmon. San Fran has the Red Woods. San Diego has the beach. Those are the only cities with year round outdoor activities. The Rockies near Salt Lake and Denver are great if you are into winter sports, but you wont be hiking for half the year. I love Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier but it's too rainy in Portland and Seattle half the year. Don't know why you would compare Yosemite, Crater Lake, or Zion to Red Rock. They are hours away from any sizable cities. The closest city to Zion, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley is actually Vegas. Who cares about state lines? And who wants to live in St. George? lol Red Rock is literally minutes away, on our doorstep, and that was the point he was trying to make.
Vasquez Rocks.......lol, are you serious? Nothing like Red Rock at all.
Are you being serious? I think you need to get out of the desert a little bit more often. Red Rock Canyon doesn't even compare to many areas you mentioned. You mention rain in Oregon and Washington but don't believe the summer heat causes less use of the local outdoor space in the Las Vegas area?
"LA has mountains and beach"...many beaches, mountains, more diverse scenery, trees, natural lakes, the ocean, Catalina Island...I could go on...and Vegas has mountains and desert.
Reno has Tahoe, Pyramid, Lahontan, Honey and many other natural lakes...They also have the Tahoe National Forest and many mountains.
San Francisco...has the Red Woods??? huh, the Red Woods are hours away from SF. SF has beaches, many wildlife refuges, San Pablo Bay, numerous mountains, parks...again I can go on and on.
San Diego has beaches, many mountains, parks...one of the best average temperatures for actual year round activities.
Salt Lake and Denver just have the rockies...huh? Great Salt Lake, Bear Lake...among many other natural lakes, Uinta-Wasatch National Forest...
Seattle...Mt Rainier...you talk about comparing things hours away and you continue to do it. Seattle has the Puget Sound, many amazing Islands, like Bainbridge and Vashon, numerous natural lakes, mountains...sorry I lived in Washington you can't even come close to comparing the natural beauty of Washington State to Nevada...not even close.
Then you say the closest city to Grand Canyon is Vegas...try again...Phoenix is 3 hours away and Vegas is 4 hours away.
Okay I'm done...once you start comparing the desert in Nevada to a State like Washington you must realize there is no comparison there. The natural beauty of Washington State is amazing...the man made lake in Las Vegas just doesn't compare...also Washington isn't running out of water in their lakes. You truly need to go see some more of the West if you believe Red Rock comes even close to many State and National Parks in this part of the country.
Anyway, the main reason people love or hate a city is because of what neighborhood they live in. It's been my experience that most people who hate Vegas and say it's not a city and it has no community live in bad neighborhoods. And lets face it, there are plenty of bad ones in the valley.
So it's not really fair to judge the OP or anyone else if we don't know what neighborhood they live in. Maybe life really does suck where they live, so that's what they base their opinion on. Everyone seems to paint a picture of the whole valley based on their neighborhood, when in reality they are vastly different.
My neighborhood is beautiful, green grass, trees, great neighbors...one of the best things about Las Vegas is my neighborhood.
There are people in Summerlin/Henderson/Centennial/Aliante/and all the other nice areas of town that are miserable. And then you have those that live in the ghetto that are enjoying life.
The question almost always ask is WHY someone moves here in the first place? And we're they happy before moving to LV? Living unhappy in (insert any city)usually means that person will be unhappy anywhere.
As far as I remember, our consistent troll used to(or still does) live in Summerlin somewhere. And the two guys that made the "Why I hate Las Vegas" YouTube videos lived in Henderson. We have had miserable people post on this forum that have lived in every corner of the city.
I lived in Summerlin and had no problems there, loved my house. No school aged kids while there. Hated driving on the strip, but loved the eats. Made the most money I'd ever made there. I'm only posting because I cant believe no one commented on this little dilly:
"I was at the valet at Wynn last night and 1/2 the folks getting their cars were visibly drunk...myself included."
I lived in Summerlin and had no problems there, loved my house. No school aged kids while there. Hated driving on the strip, but loved the eats. Made the most money I'd ever made there. I'm only posting because I cant believe no one commented on this little dilly:
"I was at the valet at Wynn last night and 1/2 the folks getting their cars were visibly drunk...myself included."
Is drunk driving really that accepted there now?
Just check LVRJ online and every day some pedestrian gets killed by drunk drivers. Pedestrian killings are daily activity in Las Vegas. Same goes now with home invasions and out of control crime that is everywhere including Summerlin, Sun City Summerlin, Henderson and every other part of the valley.
Local Goverment looks the other way when it comes to pedestrian and other DUI killings. It's a 24/7 liquor town....what to expect?
I lived in Summerlin and had no problems there, loved my house. No school aged kids while there. Hated driving on the strip, but loved the eats. Made the most money I'd ever made there. I'm only posting because I cant believe no one commented on this little dilly:
"I was at the valet at Wynn last night and 1/2 the folks getting their cars were visibly drunk...myself included."
Wages in LV...across the board they are pretty low. School teachers from a few other states will be making more in LV but not many. Teachers on the East Coast easily make double what CCSD pays. And with much better benefits at a reasonable cost. Yes, hubby was a teacher, retired now.
Car registration...lack of income tax means we have to get funding from somewhere. So there are a few taxes in NV that are higher than other places. So we choose to drive used, older vehicles. We also tend to shop at thrift stores for many things as the sales tax here is pretty high. It adds up on clothing and household goods. However, we find some great stuff at thrift stores.
Driving skills in NV are pitiful. I have never lived in a place where people drive so poorly. I know this is common everywhere now, but our daughter thought is was weirdly funny that the driving test is offered in like 26 languages. If you can't pass the test in English, then how do you read the street signs? But I chalk it up to a high population of transients and tourists. Also, NV road engineers are not the brightest bulbs in the box when they put ramps within 1/8 mine of each other. You have merging and exiting all going on in the same space...no way you can watch your rear view mirror to merge in to enter the freeway while the guy in front of you is slamming the brakes to get into the exit lane up ahead.
Schools...we homeschooled and you will find lots of other people here that do. Henderson and Summerlin have some pretty good schools. But without much funding and a highly transient (and high number of ESL) population I have given up all hope. We are totally out of the system now with grown kids. But even the higher education here takes a hit. Our daughter did her undergrad at UNR and had lots of kids who were failing core classes. The advising was suspect at best, I believe to encourage kids to stay in longer/ take more classes to increase revenue. Very few graduate in 4 years due to the need to repeat classes and classes that are required are not offered every semester. There are so many 100 level math classes that our daughter had to wait 3 semesters for the upper division class she was required to take. I think they need to raise the entrance standards at the universities and let the community colleges handle remediation.
Neighborhoods and friends...given that NV has a climate where people could spend a lot of time outside I found it difficult to meet people when we first moved here...30 years ago. Our neighborhood is still an odd place to meet people. Work is even worse. I know my neighbors enough to wave but few are close enough, after 30 years in the same house, that I would call them friends. We often have bbq, St. Pat's/4th of July/end of summer/etc parties, inviting neighbors and rarely does anyone show up. Yet when they need something fixed on their cars they are knocking on our door to pick my husband's brain. He has totally given up on helping them directly (they want it for free) and he is careful about his recommendations as well. The most friends we made were through having kids. We met quite a few families with similar values and jobs. However, again, this is a pretty transient place and most have moved away over the years. We still keep in touch, but they no longer live here. We have chosen to retire here as we bought when homes were inexpensive (now paid off) and the climate suits us.
There are plenty of good things about NV but it can be difficult the first few years. Having kids will help you find other forms of entertainment outside of the casinos. There really is a lot to do but you have to look harder. Try Mt Charleston for outdoor stuff. Museums and community colleges have a lot of interesting activities to enjoy. We even enjoy the factory tours at Ocean Spray and Ethel M! When we get really bored we head for the Grand Canyon (during off-season) or a quick trip to Reno for some skiing in the winter. You'll find your groove in NV but it takes time.
I lived in Summerlin and had no problems there, loved my house. No school aged kids while there. Hated driving on the strip, but loved the eats. Made the most money I'd ever made there. I'm only posting because I cant believe no one commented on this little dilly:
"I was at the valet at Wynn last night and 1/2 the folks getting their cars were visibly drunk...myself included."
Is drunk driving really that accepted there now?
It's not just about having more cops...there is also a need for more responsibility as adults.
It's not just about having more cops...there is also a need for more responsibility as adults.
If it was up to me every car registered in Clark County would be required to have one of those devices that measures your BAC. If your BAC is over the limit it will prevent you from starting the car.
Unfortunately many businesses profit from alcohol and turn a blind eye to the issue of drunk driving.
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