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I moved to Vegas a little over 6 months ago and wanted to give an update about my impressions of the place. I also wanted to thank the people on the board who helped me get here with everything from driving route suggestions, to helping me find a place to live.
I moved from San Jose, CA (ie Silicon Valley) so most of my comparison is with that location. I'm out on the west side of town (Summerlin-ish).
Likes: Population - CA was nuts. Grocery shopping was a hassle. You were waiting to find parking and waiting in line like for minimum 10 mins to pay. You didn't dare go the groc store between 5:30 and 7:00 PM. Here in LV, I park, walk in and walk out. I don't think I've had to wait behind more than 2 people on any shopping occasion. Also don't need a freaking "savings card" to get the sale price on an item.
Traffic is much lighter. I know there are areas of LV that get traffic jams, but there isn't a highway in SJ that isn't packed every morning and evening for over 2 hours.
Taxes
NV - No income taxes! CA- High incomes taxes!
Housing Costs
I'm living in 2 - 3 times the space at 1/2 the cost of my place in CA. 'Nuf said.
Firearms - To be honest I never even tried to purchase in CA. I have a friend thinking of purchasing and the hoops you have to jump through are many. In LV, I got my NV and UT CCW with no issues (but a lot of waiting for NV). I can buy firearms from a reputable dealer here in the area with minimal hassle and I think the CCW eliminates the background check cost. The county range is top notch and the local range I've signed up with is nice and very close. I don't think there are any outdoor ranges in Santa Clara county CA.
Weather - I like the heat in LV, so far. Even 113 hasn't been too bad (though out west here maybe it never got that hot). CA was always just a bit too cold for me. 10:30 in morn in Mountain View in summer could still be 65 or so. Also, LV heat really does seem more live-able (to me) than when I lived in the Memphis area. The lack of humidity here does make a huge difference especially with how (unexpectedly) breezy LV has been.
Liquor - CA and NV seem to be about the same. You can buy whatever you want anywhere from the groc store to Target to the big liquor stores like Total Wine. TN was not great in this respect (no liquor in the groc stores), but nearly as bad as Utah. Utah's liquor laws are a bit crazy. Google them for a bit of shock.
Scenery - I find the desert and mountains here prettier than the SJ area in CA.
Dislikes:
Smoking outdoors (even restaurants?) is allowed. I really dislike cigarette smoke so I rarely sit outside at the coffee shops or restaurants in LV.
Haven't found coffee (espresso), on the west side of NV, as good at Red Rock in Mountian View, CA. I dream about RedRock's mochas sometimes.
As I mentioned in another thread, private car purchases appear to be a hassle with the whole "movement permit" thing.
When I moved here, the DMV didn't have the Dash Pass stuff working so I stood in the "info" line at the DMV for 2 hours and then spent another hour or so waiting to actually do my transfer and lic. stuff. That may not be as much of an issue now with Dash Pass.
Drivers do seem to be a bit more aggressive and more inclined to blow a red light in LV. Feels a little less bike rider friendly, though I've not had any real issues.
Housing density is pretty high in LV. I've not see/found a house online anywhere close to me that has a large yard with room for a shop for example.
Overall I've glad I'm in LV, NV and hope I can stay for quite a while.
Have you tried Sambalatte? They have 3 locations. [url=http://sambalatte.com[/url]
When you get a chance, try Sunrise Coffee Roasters even though it is on the wrong side of town for you. They roast their own onsite, and they make a very good espresso -- perhaps the best I've found in Las Vegas. http://www.sunrisecoffeelv.com/. I think their brand name of roasted coffee is "mothership", and they roast for several venues in the valley.
Note there is a new coffee place on Eastern south of Sunset (again, not your side of town) that makes their coffee using the famed Intelligentsia single-origin, Direct-trade coffee.
Personally, I roast my own green coffee beans (technically, they are seeds). I'm currently enjoying a Costa Rican from a rather small farm owned by Magdalena Vega, which tops out near 1700 meters, and which produces about 10K lbs of green coffee (unroasted) per year for export.
The fragrance of Magdalena Vega's coffee is a bit subdued coming out of the grinder: a muted presence of cinnamon, ginger powder, and brown sugar. Hot water expands the aromatic profile with a smell of oatmeal cookie and raisin billowing in the steam, along with smells of vanilla pudding, and a mix of sweet and baking spice. The brewed coffee has flavors of what I think to be archetypal "Costa Rica" coffee character in balance, nut-to-chocolate roast tastes, and restrained sweetness of caramelized sugars. City+ roasts proffer an apple flavor, both flesh and skin (the slight bittering aspect), with a nice unrefined sugar sweetness underneath. The acidity is like fresh fruit, adding a pleasant brightness to the cup. Full City roast flavors of dark cocoa and mulling spice come up, fading into a balanced bittersweetness in the long finish. It's a great drinking coffee, restrained and not too showy, with cleanliness you expect from the origin.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cupOnoodle
...Feels a little less bike rider friendly, though I've not had any real issues...
It feels a little less bike rider friendly because it IS less bike rider friendly. You won't have any real issues until you do, and when you do, it may well be game over. I won't ride a bike around town. YMMV, of course.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cupOnoodle
...Housing density is pretty high in LV. I've not see/found a house online anywhere close to me that has a large yard with room for a shop for example...
Paradoxically, desert real estate is quite pricey per acre; developers go to very small lots.
I put in an 1100 sf shop on mine, but I had the luxury of fully custom construction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cupOnoodle
...Overall I've glad I'm in LV, NV and hope I can stay for quite a while.
The thing I notice when I head back to the Bay Area is that the Bay Area just looks, well, run down. Too much deferred maintenance. Lots of thigh-high weeds and trash along the roads everywhere make it look sort of like a 3rd world city.
Have you tried Sambalatte? They have 3 locations. [url=http://sambalatte.com[/url]
I have. I spend time at the one near Queensridge, but the flavor is not at the level of RR. Maybe they are putting ilicit narcotics in the ones at RR?
Quote:
When you get a chance, try Sunrise Coffee Roasters even though it is on the wrong side of town for you. They roast their own onsite, and they make a very good espresso -- perhaps the best I've found in Las Vegas. http://www.sunrisecoffeelv.com/. I think their brand name of roasted coffee is "mothership", and they roast for several venues in the valley.
Note there is a new coffee place on Eastern south of Sunset (again, not your side of town) that makes their coffee using the famed Intelligentsia single-origin, Direct-trade coffee.
Thanks! Will do.
Quote:
Personally, I roast my own green coffee beans (technically, they are seeds). I'm currently enjoying a Costa Rican from a rather small farm owned by Magdalena Vega, which tops out near 1700 meters, and which produces about 10K lbs of green coffee (unroasted) per year for export.
The fragrance of Magdalena Vega's coffee is a bit subdued coming out of the grinder: a muted presence of cinnamon, ginger powder, and brown sugar. Hot water expands the aromatic profile with a smell of oatmeal cookie and raisin billowing in the steam, along with smells of vanilla pudding, and a mix of sweet and baking spice. The brewed coffee has flavors of what I think to be archetypal "Costa Rica" coffee character in balance, nut-to-chocolate roast tastes, and restrained sweetness of caramelized sugars. City+ roasts proffer an apple flavor, both flesh and skin (the slight bittering aspect), with a nice unrefined sugar sweetness underneath. The acidity is like fresh fruit, adding a pleasant brightness to the cup. Full City roast flavors of dark cocoa and mulling spice come up, fading into a balanced bittersweetness in the long finish. It's a great drinking coffee, restrained and not too showy, with cleanliness you expect from the origin.
You are entirely out of control! Sounds like you really enjoy your "cup of joe". I've toyed with the idea of getting a "real" espresso maker, but I'm too much in the simplify frame of mind these days (went from a house with a garage to a 1 bd efficiency when I moved from TN to CA) and don't want to take on the maintenance of the machine.
Quote:
The thing I notice when I head back to the Bay Area is that the Bay Area just looks, well, run down. Too much deferred maintenance. Lots of thigh-high weeds and trash along the roads everywhere make it look sort of like a 3rd world city.
Yeap, must be hard to keep stuff up with the number of people per sq mile. I did like the public trans. I could catch the VTA and run to either MV or the airport at any time.
I just got back from spending several months in the Bay Area. I'll get around to penning a compare / contrast post.
I'll just say that I can't believe what people are willing to pay, and put up with, to live in Oakland.
Cool, please do. I made a trip up to Berkley once and didn't really get the attraction. I will say I really enjoyed visiting Standford. The Quad is extraordinary and I always enjoyed the peace of the cactus garden. Also, there's a Kara's cupcakes nearby.
I'll have been here 3 years this Wednesday. No state taxes and the weather are my favorite aspects.
I HIGHLY recommend getting the maximum car insurance you can afford. The people that drive these streets are terrible and more often than not carry the paltry state minimum.
I might have to go elsewhere for work (Seattle or LA) and just renting a room in someone's house is astronomical. (I don't plan on moving from Vegas, just living elsewhere for a few months until work picks up here) For poops and giggles I looked at houses and apartments. It's absurd. 3k a month. That's more than 53% of the country makes before taxes. Not even a nice house.
Then I looked at real estate for sale. 750,000+
That's just insane.
I just got back from spending several months in the Bay Area. I'll get around to penning a compare / contrast post.
I'll just say that I can't believe what people are willing to pay, and put up with, to live in Oakland.
This. I'm moving from Oakland to Henderson in 3 days.
My coworkers would ask me "Why" and I would reference the cost of living. I probably heard 20 times "Yeah, but you have to live in Vegas" and tried convincing myself that they were right, and the Bay Area is way better.
It's not. Quality of life is significantly lower unless you're making over $150,000/year.
Food/Groceries/Gas: I filled up my tank with gas today and it was $2.80/gal. It's $2.30/gal in Henderson. I went to the store and my brother demanded that I get chocolate milk and eggs. It was $9 for the two, while in Henderson you're not spending more than $5. I had Chipotle for dinner and spent $9 for the exact same burrito that is $7 in Henderson.
Finances: I won't be paying $2400/mo rent anymore, instead my MORTGAGE PAYMENT is $750/mo. I don't pay state income tax. Property tax is ridiculously cheap here, my annual payment is under $1000 whereas for a comparable property in the Bay Area it's $2500.
"But, higher taxes means better schools, better public services, roads, transportation, parks/recreation..."
Traffic/Transportation:Traffic is ridiculous as the highways are always congested. Infrastructure is in poor condition. BART is overcrowded and needs car replacement. The highways always have traffic on them. Everything is at least a 10 minute drive. In Henderson, I RARELY have to slow down on the 215. Everything is less than 10 minutes from my house. Libraries, parks, trails, entertainment, groceries, fas food.
Education: People love to trash Vegas schools, but unless you can afford a house in the Bay Area for $750,000, you're not finding better schools than what Vegas offers in Summerlin or Henderson. Bay Area schools in $500,000 home communities are all majority low-income, majority children of illegal immigrants.
Recreation: I golfed in Milpitas at a crappy course for $75. It was 90 degrees. I could have done that this morning in Henderson for $35.
My friend invited me to play Tennis with him in Chinatown SF. We walked blocks of ridiculously steep hills to have to wait to play on a crappy cracked court with an awful sewage smell, while being harassed by homeless, pressured by people waiting to play quickly. In Henderson there are pristine courts with strip views within walking distance that are always available.
I went to an outdoor pool to lap swim and the closest one open was 20 minutes away. In Henderson you have the Multigenerational center, Heritage Park, Whitney Ranch, Silver Springs, and Lifetime Athletic all within 10 minutes.
Yes, Oakland has amazing weather, a plethora of outdoor recreation activities, and access to big city entertainment (professional sports teams, fine arts, amusement parks etc.). I'll miss those things, but I'm not going to act like I went to those events more than a handful of times each year.
I've been trying to explain how much I like living here (other than a few things here and there) to my east coast family but they just don't get it. Other than finding a job (so if you have a job already and want to move here, it is tough to find a replacement job), there are just so many perks of living in Vegas over many places in the Northeast that's it's laughable (at least to me.)
I also find that Vegas is such better "value" than most other places in the US, especially if you like being next to a city while still being in the suburbs and not paying crazy prices or driving forever. I also considered Phoenix and the only thing that I find better there is the sports environment (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, spring training), but now we're getting a hockey team so maybe it will create some momentum for the Raiders (unlikely though.)
I still enjoy the 51's but it's not the same as the major leagues.
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CA- High incomes taxes! 
)
Sounds like you really enjoy your "cup of joe". I've toyed with the idea of getting a "real" espresso maker, but I'm too much in the simplify frame of mind these days (went from a house with a garage to a 1 bd efficiency when I moved from TN to CA) and don't want to take on the maintenance of the machine.
