[rblee83]

Hello, everyone. My wife and I have decided to move from Boston to Vegas sometime in August. I have been reading a lot of posts on this site, it's been very helpful!

My wife is going to go to UNLV, and we are looking for an apartment relatively close to campus. We have been looking at many places online. Our first choice was Vegas Towers, but you have to be 25 to rent there (I've never heard of that before ) Our top choice right now is Crystal Court apartments on 900 E Desert Inn Rd. I saw it got 50% on apartmentratings.com, although many places in the UNLV area get terrible reviews. Does anyone know anything about Crystal Court, and the area? Would it be convenient or annoying living next to the Convention center?

We are both young (25 and 22), and I am self employed so finding a job won't be a problem. We are looking to pay between 900-1200 a month for rent. We would like to be close to campus and the strip, ideally close enough for my wife to walk or bike to school. We were also looking at Tropicana Royale apts. at 1900 E Tropicana Avenue, and Andover Place apts. at 1600 E Rochelle Ave, but they were rated 20% and 33%. Anyone know anything about those apartments? Are there any other apartments that anyone could recommend?

Thanks!

[swagger]

Originally Posted by rblee83

We are looking to pay between 900-1200 a month for rent.

You could probably find a house for that much, if you wanted to. If not, you should find plenty of apartments in that range, too.

[rblee83]

Originally Posted by swagger

You could probably find a house for that much, if you wanted to. If not, you should find plenty of apartments in that range, too.

I don't think that we would want to get a house without having at least a year under our belts first. I figure if we rent for the first year, we would get to know the different areas of Vegas, and decide where we would like to live.

[swagger]

Nono... I didn't mean buy!

I meant you could rent a house for that much if you wanted to. Some people like the idea of not having to maintain a yard or for whatever reasons prefer an apartment, but if you were going to "settle" for an apartment but would prefer to rent a house, on that budget you could.

[lvkewlkid]

Originally Posted by rblee83

Hello, everyone. My wife and I have decided to move from Boston to Vegas sometime in August. I have been reading a lot of posts on this site, it's been very helpful!

My wife is going to go to UNLV, and we are looking for an apartment relatively close to campus. We have been looking at many places online. Our first choice was Vegas Towers, but you have to be 25 to rent there (I've never heard of that before ) Our top choice right now is Crystal Court apartments on 900 E Desert Inn Rd. I saw it got 50% on apartmentratings.com, although many places in the UNLV area get terrible reviews. Does anyone know anything about Crystal Court, and the area? Would it be convenient or annoying living next to the Convention center?

We are both young (25 and 22), and I am self employed so finding a job won't be a problem. We are looking to pay between 900-1200 a month for rent. We would like to be close to campus and the strip, ideally close enough for my wife to walk or bike to school. We were also looking at Tropicana Royale apts. at 1900 E Tropicana Avenue, and Andover Place apts. at 1600 E Rochelle Ave, but they were rated 20% and 33%. Anyone know anything about those apartments? Are there any other apartments that anyone could recommend?

Thanks!

That area is very bad for living in apartments...especially behind the Convention Center it is known/used to be known as Crack Alley...the police patrol there now through bikes, but i'm still not sure if it would be safe...

you can find better apartments between 900-1200 a month in another area (most of the apartments in that area are older and may not be kept up that well), if you want to live on that side of the airport and be able to bike to school, stay east of Maryland and south of Charleston...but you may or may not find a desirable complex...at Pecos/Tropicana is a Camden complex that i know is very quiet...she could take the Tropicana bus if it is too far to bike for her...

[healthpub]

What the previous poster explained is very accurate. I go to grad school and work at UNLV and am on campus till late: although the campus is relatively safe and peaceful, the areas surrounding the campus (areas that would be within walking/biking distance), especially at evening hours, are not desirable.

I, too, moved here (3 years ago) to be at UNLV and had no idea about the neigborhoods and areas of Las Vegas. My plan, originally, like yours, was to live near campus, but after flying out here to decide on a place before I made the move, I quickly realized living near campus would not be a good idea. I ended up renting an apt for my first year in the southwest part of town (Covington at Coronado Ranch; $1000-1100/mth, INCLUDING utilities). This area (Robindale and S. Rainbow Blvd.) is about a 15 minute drive to UNLV (via I-215). Like you guys are planning to do, I used my first year here to drive around town and find the best place to eventually buy and settle into.

The Covington at Coronado apt. was nice for ONE year: gated, multiple pools, exercise room, free resident only parking, computer room (rooms with computers and internet access).

Good luck with the move!

[rblee83]

Originally Posted by lvkewlkid

...at Pecos/Tropicana is a Camden complex that i know is very quiet...she could take the Tropicana bus if it is too far to bike for her...

Are you talking about the Las Palmas apartments? I checked that out and I really like it! The only thing is that it is surrounded by other houses, I'm used to having a lot of things in walking distance in Boston. Although I guess that is part of the change in moving to Vegas, a car becomes needed to get around.

[KonaKat]

Remember you'll be walking or biking in 110+ degree heat much of the time. That may mitigate your desire to do so!

Wait until you arrive to decide on where to live. A safer and nicer apartment is much more desirable than closeness to the campus.

What type of work do you do? Unemployment is very high right now. Be sure to have plenty of savings to tide you over for posssibly several months.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by rblee83

Are you talking about the Las Palmas apartments? I checked that out and I really like it! The only thing is that it is surrounded by other houses, I'm used to having a lot of things in walking distance in Boston. Although I guess that is part of the change in moving to Vegas, a car becomes needed to get around.

What everyone else has said so far is true. You would not like the places you have picked. It wouldn't really be very safe. Las Vegas is not a walking town like Boston. In fact we are the exact opposite of Boston in just about every way I can think of. Not bad...just different. I wouldn't let my wife walk or bike alone in the areas you are looking at. UNLV is like a community within a community, and the outer community is a ghetto. Maybe not the way you people back east see ghettos, but it's bad enough that you wouldn't want to live there. UNLV is considered an urban university and probably most students work full time and attend night classes. Out of curiosity, why UNLV? Don't you have something like 65 colleges and universities in the Boston area? Not that there is anything wrong with UNLV, and the west wins hands down over the east for quality of life in most categories, but I was wondering if it wasn't a little inconvenient.

[rblee83]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

What type of work do you do? Unemployment is very high right now. Be sure to have plenty of savings to tide you over for posssibly several months

Out of curiosity, why UNLV? Don't you have something like 65 colleges and universities in the Boston area? Not that there is anything wrong with UNLV, and the west wins hands down over the east for quality of life in most categories, but I was wondering if it wasn't a little inconvenient.

I do freelance graphic design, illustration, and apparel design mod cut: links removed . Where I live has no impact on my income, I can just take my job wherever I move, as long as I have a broadband internet connection.

My wife and I went to Vegas to get married, and fell in love with the city. We love the 24/7 lifestyle and entertainment aspect Vegas has to offer. Cost of living is almost half of what Boston is, as well (especially when you throw in deals and coupons from things like LasVegasAdvisor.com) The housing and renting prices in Boston are crazy, I can get a place in Vegas double the square footage for nearly half the price!

My wife and I also love to play poker, and for me online poker has grown from a fun hobby into a reliable source of income. She also got first place in a poker tournament we played while we were down here.

There are a TON of colleges in Boston, but UNLV has a good film program (my wife's major) and has the benefit of being
A) in Vegas, and
B) cheaper than comparable schools on the northeast

We plan on going back to Boston at least 4 times a year, airline prices have a lot of good deals to and from Vegas. We plan on driving across the US on a road trip and staying in a hotel/motel for a week while we decide which apartment to rent. Part of us wants to just throw caution into the wind and go on this adventure together!