[bdon1981]

First, thank you for the insight evryone......The friend I have there says he loves it and will never come back to Fl except to visit, but he is also somewhat lazy and content with collecting unemployment, which makes it hard to gauge job prospects based on his word.

I have no problem giving up the Florida humidity and beach, lived in/next to it all for 28yrs and forget its even there half the time except to ''people'' watch.

According to Salary.com the living expense is .03 % lower in LV, and the income 14.2 % higher....
Visiting first makes some sense, but I don't believe you can truly base a decision off a week of sight-seeing, partying, ect...gotta experience things for a period of time...which is why I turned to this forum to see what people who may have or are actually experincing it.

[redwhale]

Coming from South Florida and spending significant time in Melbourne and Palm Bay the most important piece of advice I can give is if you're moving soon, bring or buy some cold weather clothes. You're not ready if you've been down there all your life.

Um, and try not let let bugs in your mouth as you let your jaw hang at the sight of mountains every day. Good luck, I'm glad to see another Florida boy see the light and head west to leave the humidity, bugs, and old folks behind.

[teach1234]

There are jobs here, I respectfully disagree with the poster who stated there are "0." My wife was hired two days ago, as a cashier at a grocery store; she searched for 2 weeks. Maybe lucky, but it is possible. I've opened an auto repair shop, which some people would consider the height of folly at this time in this place, and maybe in a few months I'll admit they're right--but I'm getting a small steady trickle without any advertising other than handing out my business cards. I look at all this activity, the thousands of cars on the freeway, the jammed (to me) sidewalks on the strip, and I see a lot of opportunity. Maybe it's because I've only been here 5 weeks and will change my attitude if I experience a few months of fruitless struggle.

I've seen countless posts asking for good n'hoods, and maybe I even asked that months ago. There's just no way to answer that. Get an extended stay, there are some pretty cheap ones if you have a beater car, and some decent safe ones. Stay there for a month and explore this city and decide which area you like best. Drive through at different times of the day and night. Introduce yourself if you see someone outside--I've been amazed how friendly and helpful people are. Do bring enough cash, 6 months to live on is a good target, and it will really help if you have some secondary skill, such as painting, carpentry, etc, or special licenses etc. Good luck, we moved here and we love it. (So far!)

[airics]

Originally Posted by teach1234

There are jobs here, I respectfully disagree with the poster who stated there are "0." My wife was hired two days ago, as a cashier at a grocery store; she searched for 2 weeks. Maybe lucky, but it is possible. I've opened an auto repair shop, which some people would consider the height of folly at this time in this place, and maybe in a few months I'll admit they're right--but I'm getting a small steady trickle without any advertising other than handing out my business cards. I look at all this activity, the thousands of cars on the freeway, the jammed (to me) sidewalks on the strip, and I see a lot of opportunity. Maybe it's because I've only been here 5 weeks and will change my attitude if I experience a few months of fruitless struggle.

I've seen countless posts asking for good n'hoods, and maybe I even asked that months ago. There's just no way to answer that. Get an extended stay, there are some pretty cheap ones if you have a beater car, and some decent safe ones. Stay there for a month and explore this city and decide which area you like best. Drive through at different times of the day and night. Introduce yourself if you see someone outside--I've been amazed how friendly and helpful people are. Do bring enough cash, 6 months to live on is a good target, and it will really help if you have some secondary skill, such as painting, carpentry, etc, or special licenses etc. Good luck, we moved here and we love it. (So far!)

except that your wife had been looking for a month (which is short by all means, she is lucky to get the minimum wage job) and that your house is being auctioned off on 10/8

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by bdon1981

I have no problem giving up the Florida humidity and beach, lived in/next to it all for 28yrs and forget its even there half the time except to ''people'' watch.

Las Vegas is a great city to "people" watch!

[bdon1981]

Originally Posted by teach1234

There are jobs here, I respectfully disagree with the poster who stated there are "0." My wife was hired two days ago, as a cashier at a grocery store; she searched for 2 weeks. Maybe lucky, but it is possible. I've opened an auto repair shop, which some people would consider the height of folly at this time in this place, and maybe in a few months I'll admit they're right--but I'm getting a small steady trickle without any advertising other than handing out my business cards. I look at all this activity, the thousands of cars on the freeway, the jammed (to me) sidewalks on the strip, and I see a lot of opportunity. Maybe it's because I've only been here 5 weeks and will change my attitude if I experience a few months of fruitless struggle.

I've seen countless posts asking for good n'hoods, and maybe I even asked that months ago. There's just no way to answer that. Get an extended stay, there are some pretty cheap ones if you have a beater car, and some decent safe ones. Stay there for a month and explore this city and decide which area you like best. Drive through at different times of the day and night. Introduce yourself if you see someone outside--I've been amazed how friendly and helpful people are. Do bring enough cash, 6 months to live on is a good target, and it will really help if you have some secondary skill, such as painting, carpentry, etc, or special licenses etc. Good luck, we moved here and we love it. (So far!)

Thanks for the advice and good luck on the business....I have no exp w/auto repair but would assume its about marketing yourself, meeting people and the word spreading...auto repair is a need, not a want, which should translate well I hope....I believe airics said your home is being auctioned off 10/8 ? I dont mean to pry, but if so, I am very close with a company that helps people keep their homes, lower mrtg pymts, ect.....
lastly, that is a BS comment to make by the way...dont talk isht because you dont agree with an ''opinion''

[airics]

Originally Posted by bdon1981

.dont talk isht because you dont agree with an ''opinion''

if you are going to post often, make sure your posts coincide with your other posts... than you won't get my smart alleck responses.... and make sure if you are doing a side business, you get the license to do so.

[teach1234]

My wife filled out some job applications, but with no Nevada ID, TAM or health card, or systematic search system in place, ie. she mainly filled out applications at places we'd go for something else, like grocery stores. Once she had all her local paperwork, and began writing down the place she applied, the date, the name of the hiring manager, calling back every 3-4 days and recording this information, she had 2 weeks of what I consider to be a real job search.

Now she just got word from a casino that they want to interview her for a cocktail server, and she has absolutely no experience in that line of work. So now she's a little regretful she accepted the first position.

The home foreclosure belongs on a different thread.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by armyjimb

There are 0 jobs in Vegas. People are moving out of Vegas to find jobs.

I peruse all 50 state forums, from time to time, and seem like everybody is moving today. No jobs, move, greener grass somewhere else. And then they move and move and move and who's benefiting from all this? U-Haul, Ryder, moving companies?

I was just on a California forum showing the most recent unemployment rates, city by city, over there. A good number of those places equaled the unemployment rate in Las Vegas or exceeded it.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by tijlover

I peruse all 50 state forums, from time to time, and seem like everybody is moving today. No jobs, move, greener grass somewhere else. And then they move and move and move and who's benefiting from all this? U-Haul, Ryder, moving companies?

I was just on a California forum showing the most recent unemployment rates, city by city, over there. A good number of those places equaled the unemployment rate in Las Vegas or exceeded it.

Thanks for posting that tij..unfortunately, the negative people think that unemployment is only an issue in Las Vegas, and that there ARE greener pastures everywhere else.

Cali is really bad right now from what we hear from friends, and yes, they said the same thing. They believe the economy is worse there (they live in Orange County, So Cali)

What's bad for Las Vegas is that being one of the top tourist spots in the country, people come here, have a fabulous time, and want to move here so they can experience that same feeling whenever they want.

The harshness of reality doesn't register with them for some reason. They don't realize that in order to live the vacation lifestyle, SOMEONE has got to pay for it. Not only a good paying job, but a decent area to live in to avoid crime.

They just don't get that.

To bdon...you need to make a trip here and forget the partying it up this time. Be serious and drive around the areas. You'll be surprised how different the landscape is from Florida. Check out jobs online or target companies that you'd like to work for and when you come here to visit (on your scouting mission) go in person to those places.

You're going to have to get past the "hey it's Vegas, time to party" attitude in order to plan your move here correctly.

Get going, you've much to do! But most of all...good luck!!