[Grumpypotpie]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

You will discover that all the "nice" neighborhoods are basically the same.

You are going to see lots and lots of houses which look like this:


Without working backwards from the link to get the physical address of this particular house, there's really no way of knowing where this house is located. Most of the houses in town look like this.

People stress out over zip codes and development names for no particular reason (fear, I'm guessing). It's all just one big stucco Levittown. Try to find a house that doesn't have any major problems. If you don't like your neighbors, don't worry. Most of them will move in a few years and be replaced with a new crop of neighbors -- who will ALSO move in a few years.

If you buy in the current "trendy" community, it will cease being trendy after a few years. And then you can either stay, or join the herd as they move to the next trendy community. (Which led to one of the best comments of all time, "I'm going to move to The Paseos because I don't want to hear any Spanish.")

I'm less worried about trendiness. I'd like to find an area that has lower crime. I know no area has zero crime, but I don't do things like stroll around at 2 AM anyway, so the kind of crimes I'm worried about are burglaries and auto thefts/break-ins.

[qingguy]

Have you considered renting a condo downtown? Not sure what prices are like but in my opinion it would be a cool place to live. In-fact, wife and I have talked about down the road selling our place and buying a condo in that area.

[Grumpypotpie]

Originally Posted by qingguy

Have you considered renting a condo downtown? Not sure what prices are like but in my opinion it would be a cool place to live. In-fact, wife and I have talked about down the road selling our place and buying a condo in that area.

I don't think I want to be THAT close to the strip or downtown. I'd like to be at least a few miles away. It will be great to have such things close but I don't really want to be there everyday.

[lvoc]

The standard rental for a job at UNLV would be to head south. Basically get south of Sunset. 89123 (Silverado) is straight south of the strip and tends to a younger demographic.

89074, 89012 and 89014 are the Henderson offerings. 89012 is best but may prove too expensive. The other two are a little older but very nice.

The SW will also work particular along west Trop.

[soccerscotty21]

Most places in the valley are within 30 minutes commute to UNLV, but Vegas doesn't tend to have the same traffic patterns as other cities, so you never know when the freeway will be a parking lot (not that often). It can happen at 8 AM and it can happen at 2 AM. It's a 24 hour city. Best areas for you sound like GV, Henderson, anywhere in the south end of town, possibly far east end of town - the area near the stadium, although it's a bit out there. I lived in the far north end of town near lamb/pecos and used to commute to GV every day for work and then to UNLV for class, and then home. Took me 45 minutes to GV and then usually ~20 from GV to UNLV via surface streets. UNLV to home was another ~20-25.

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

You will discover that all the "nice" neighborhoods are basically the same.

You are going to see lots and lots of houses which look like this:


Without working backwards from the link to get the physical address of this particular house, there's really no way of knowing where this house is located. Most of the houses in town look like this.

People stress out over zip codes and development names for no particular reason (fear, I'm guessing). It's all just one big stucco Levittown. Try to find a house that doesn't have any major problems. If you don't like your neighbors, don't worry. Most of them will move in a few years and be replaced with a new crop of neighbors -- who will ALSO move in a few years.

If you buy in the current "trendy" community, it will cease being trendy after a few years. And then you can either stay, or join the herd as they move to the next trendy community. (Which led to one of the best comments of all time, "I'm going to move to The Paseos because I don't want to hear any Spanish.")

Levittown...love that Scoop!

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by lvoc

The standard rental for a job at UNLV would be to head south. Basically get south of Sunset. 89123 (Silverado) is straight south of the strip and tends to a younger demographic.

89074, 89012 and 89014 are the Henderson offerings. 89012 is best but may prove too expensive. The other two are a little older but very nice.

The SW will also work particular along west Trop.

This and Spring Valley! Both good ideas. Do a lot of driving and looking while you are here.

[BBMW]

There are a couple of condo complexes on the south strip (LV Blvd, south of the airport.) If you don't want detached SF house, these could do well for you. They'd be a very quick trip to UNLV. The two I'm thinking of are Park Avenue and Manhattan (yes, they seem to have an NYC theme going.)

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Grumpypotpie

I'm less worried about trendiness. I'd like to find an area that has lower crime. I know no area has zero crime, but I don't do things like stroll around at 2 AM anyway, so the kind of crimes I'm worried about are burglaries and auto thefts/break-ins.

For a city our size, we don't have that much crime. It exists, sure. But we're not Miami by any stretch. There's only so much you can do, and there is no magic neighborhood in your price range that is crime free. Even the super-high-end communities have some crime. (Some very high-visibility crime, at that.)

The best observation about crime and Las Vegas came from the user, Dynimage, who said, "If the crime happens to a neighbor, it's a low-crime neighborhood. But if the crime happens to you, it's a high-crime neighborhood."

That's basically how it works.

Living in a gated community is statistically useless as a crime deterrent -- unless it's armed guard gated and that means very high HOA fees.

You're only going to get so much for $1,000-1,200 per month. The neighborhoods in that range all look like they were whacked with a clone-stick. The trick is making your house slightly less desirable from a burglar's point of view than your neighbor's house. There are thousands of ways to skin that particular cat.

[macgeek]

UNLV
if you take Trop is a 12 min commute from Spring Valley.
Yes, it is considered West.

Look for open houses, look for apts for rent (avoid Craigslist, lots of scams)
Have lots of references, and money for a few month deposit, cash is king here.

also take a look at house rentals, There is something having your own place, instead of being trapped in a box.

Jonathan