Las Vegas-From a non-gambling point of view

[quantumleap]

Las Vegas is a total shithole. I have no idea why on earth anyone would even think of moving here. I also wonder why anyone would even want to visit this dump. I can think of about a hundred places I'd rather go on vacation to. I've been here for 23 years and I'm stuck here but I can warn other people off of moving here and I'll do that whenever I can.

Las Vegas is the filthiest city in America. It's an incredibly dirty city. There's more uneducated, subhuman lowlife here than anywhere in America. The city has been overrun with people that can't speak English and have no intention of learning it. The summers are unbearable and the traffic is a total nightmare. The worst drivers in the world all seem to end up here.

The politicians and judges here are as corrupt as they come. The casinos control everything the government does here. The Metropolitan Police Department is a total farce. They like to roust jaywalkers, hookers and johns but they won't go after any real criminals unless they fall right into their lap. They intentionally keep a low speed limit in some areas where it should be higher and then use it as a speed trap when they need to meet their quota and/or pump up revenue.

There are some good restaurants and buffets that are fairly priced but the celebrity chef type restaurants are way overrated and overpriced. The hotel rooms, shows and sporting events are priced completely out of line for the average person.

The home prices have come down but they're still overpriced for what you get. If you're dumb enough to move here, make sure you buy a home in an area that has an association otherwise you'll end up living next to some dirtbag that has a boat, an RV and five broken down cars on his property. The city and the county don't enforce the ordinances here because they'd actually have to leave their air conditioned offices and go out and work.

If this city was on fire, I wouldn't piss on it but I'd find all the gasoline I could to pour on the fire and hopefully burn the whole fucking city to the ground.

Yet after all your rants and raves about the city you still haven't found it to move out of the place. The fact that you still live there speaks more about the place than your negative posts.

Your posts encourage me to move there as I'm seriously thinking about it. Hey, if soccerbob hates it so much and STILL lives there it can't be all that bad can it?

 

[Doug]

I'd only move ( back) to Vegas, to pursue playing poker live, BJ ( that's spent), or betting sports ( but online beats it). No great reason to go back there,IMO.

I'd take someplace like Fallbrook , Ramona,CA.( SD), Flagstaff,AZ, Tahoe/Reno,NV, way ahead of Vegas, many other places as well... like Taos,NM, Northern Calif, back to Colo, all way ahead of Vegas.

TTinCo will love this one. I'd move to Texas before back to Vegas !

that deserves an explanation:



Coloradans hate Texans, at least when they visit ColoraHdoH.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

I've spent a fair amount of time in San Diego\Orange County\LA area. As far as I'm concerned, it can fall into the Pacific any time. If anything, I'd look at going inland, but then all you really have is Riverside(California's butthole) and the Palm Springs area which doesn't really have a whole hell of a lot besides a tourism industry and a bunch of rich retired folks.

We're not all retired :lolBIG:

I live in the Palm Springs area and LOVE it. We're on the exact same latitude as PHX so the weather is comparable. There's casinos with soft poker games and relatively little traffic. Summers can be hot but the other 9 months of the year gives you the hands-down BEST weather you could ever hope for.

Just came up on my one-year anniversary of moving out here and its the best thing I've ever done

 

[Iceman]

For those of you who live there or have lived there-what are the pros & cons compared to other cities that you've been in?

Food-I'd have to think that Vegas has one of the best restaurant selections in the country.

Weather-This one is obvious. Great in the winter, hell in the summer.
Housing-Assuming that the market is similar to Phoenix, it's taken a HUGE dive. Has it hit bottom yet? Close to hitting bottom?

Traffic-I'm talking about the burbs. Is it really a big deal once you get away from Downtown\The Strip? On a somewhat related note, is Vegas as spread out as Phoenix? Phoenix has always seemed like it was built to cover as much ground as possible. It seems that everything is a long ways away from everything else.

Sports-You obviously get a ton of big name fight cards & other events, but of course you pay out the nose for them. $55 for PPV vs. $300 for an "okay" seat seems like a pretty easy decision to me.

Other thoughts?

I am a pretty opinionated guy so I will do my best with this as I have made a few observations in the 6 weeks I have been here.

First off let me add where I agree with PA about the uneducated people. I noticed it right away when we got here. I am talking about people who work at the bank who just didnt do a very good job. I was very surprised. I went to UPS today to pick up a pkg and same thing, security guy struggled to put a sentenace together. It was odd. I thnk the thing is their is so much oppurtunity with new business opening up everyday here that there is a lot of pepole moving here for these oppurtunities.

Probably the thing that has btohered me the most since I have been here and it has become a joke to GF and myself is how unfriendly people are here. Now dont get me wrong I am not the most friendly person ether but this is ridicouls. I cant begin to count how many people make eye contact with me while I am walking my dogs and nothing. I mean I bet this has happened 50 times since we have been here (I walk them 3 times a day) ande I think maybe 1 or 2 people have waved at me. Not sure if this is a midwest thing but I dont get the happy friendly feeling from anyone here. I have had 2 other locals tell me similar type stoires in the past few weeks.

Food- solid but not overly important to me. Food is pretty much food, IMO. You can get just about antything you like here.

Weather- havent been here long enough to answer that one. I heard this the other day that might surprise you. The temp drop on average 10-15 degrees a month thru January. With average highs in the mid to upper 50's then. I like that and cant wait.

Traffic and where to live- This is so important. I cannot stress this enough to anyone. Someone hit this on the head. You better be careful or you could be next to trouble. I was for a while. I have this very well scouted after a 2 week search for a place. I know it up down and all around when it comes to where to live. I believe pretty much in 3 areas: 1) summerlin- more of the family living, with parks and people but you must be careful and be in zip codes 89134, 89135, or 89144. Obviously you can be others but those are what I thought were by far the nicest. 2) seven hills- nice but I felt has a distant feel to it and 3) anthem- which is mostly an old folks community area but i loved it and would lve there in a second. I alos didnt mind some parts of henderson wither. You can obviously live in a lot of other areas but be careful as everything looks new and because of that we found that isnt always a good thing. As for traffic it isnt too bad outside of certain areas. There are always traffic jams on the expressway but major city doesnt have them?

One good thing is it does seem like there is an effort by a lot of people to be healthy with numoerous parks always full and tons of people biking, joggin and walking their dogs.

Overall this is my 2 cents worth. Ask me again in a few months and I will probably have more of an opinion and it will be different. Dont get me wrong i dont mind it here. I am not sure as a child it would be a fun place to grow up. I am very partial to where I grew up and the things i did as a kid and want my future children to expiernce that same small town feel I had. There are 31 1,200+ student high schools in the soutern nevada area and I think that would suck for a kid. For a young adult I think this place would be the best for all the wrong reasons. I am stuck pretty much between both so we shall se..

 

[1cheater]

TT, why in hell would you ever wanna leave CO?

Golf in the winter

Ski in the summer

Best camping in the entire country

Best white water rafting in the country

Sunshine 350 days out of the year

Low humidity

 

[festeringZit]

TT, why in hell would you ever wanna leave CO?

Golf in the winter

Sky in the summer

Best camping in the entire country

Best white water rafting in the country

Sunshine 350 days out of the year

Low humidity

Indeed... If all my family wasn't in Texas, I'd be moving to Colorado in
a heartbeat.

 

[TTinCO]

TT, why in hell would you ever wanna leave CO?

Golf in the winter

Sky in the summer

Best camping in the entire country

Best white water rafting in the country

Sunshine 350 days out of the year

Low humidity

You do have a point about the golf in the winter, but it's just not the same when you're playing on a dead fairway that resembles concrete.

I've done the camping gig all over the state. Have pretty much covered that.

Been white water rafting a couple times, but it's more of a tourist thing. After 2-3 times, it loses it's appeal (or you realize how clueless some of the guides are)

The sunshine & low humidity are definite pluses-part of the reason I'm looking at the desert.

You wouldn't believe how badly the growth has run over Colorado-and the broke roads department is still working on plans on how to accomodate it. It's a total clusterfuck, and is only going to get worse over the next 10 years. Skiing on weekends is pretty much out of the question unless you want to head home at noon on Sunday(at the latest), or face a 3-4 hour drive back to Denver. The same goes for Saturday mornings going up the hill....you better be 1/2 way there by 7am, or you're screwed.

They still don't have a plan yet regarding what to do with I-70 in the mountains. They've been talking about it for years, but every plan they come up with gets shot down. In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter, because they don't have the $$$ to do any of it. Hell, they don't have the money to expand the highway between Denver & Boulder, and they've been trying to do that for years.

To top it off, houses on the western slope are going for as much as, if not more than they are in Denver-and there's no way that the salaries out there match Denver.

 

[1cheater]

WOW, sounds like that shit is outta hand there.. I haven't been there since 2003. Sounds like thing's have exploded there; I figured as much. Sounds like they're gonna need to do another T-rex by the time the original get's done, lol. The i25 has got to be an utter nightmare these days?


If I was in your shoes I would look into Arizona.

 

[Doug]

TTinCO: My brother ( I don't get along with him, anymore). he was born in 1956, graduated HS in 1971 or 1972 ( in CT), went to Loretta Heights for a spell, dropped out of that country club college, installed garage doors for like 3-5 years, then went back to school (CSU), got a BSEE.

He's 52, used to make 6 figures, and is kind of shot with an EE from CSU, doesn't gamble either.

I'd almost say a contractor's license is better than an engineering degree ? If your job moved to India or somewhere ?

 

[TTinCO]

I'm surprised that he's that bad off with an engineering degree. Then again, the multi year housing boom in Colorado has come to a screeching halt-which is long overdue.

They are still building, but at a rate that is a long, long ways that it's been in the last 7-10 years.

 

[TTinCO]

WOW, sounds like that shit is outta hand there.. I haven't been there since 2003. Sounds like thing's have exploded there; I figured as much. Sounds like they're gonna need to do another T-rex by the time the original get's done, lol. The i25 has got to be an utter nightmare these days?

If I was in your shoes I would look into Arizona.

Look at it this way-they've built all the way from Fort Collins to Denver, and just as much on the south side of town(but in more of an east\west fashion along C470-which is now a daily parking lot). Meanwhile, Trex was the only thing that they've done with the roads.

They don't have the $ to fix the blown joints on the elevated section of I70 east of downtown....let alone adding a couple additional lanes on I70 all the way to the ski resorts. Oh yeah, the light rain expansion that they did get funding for has now doubled in price & is being downsized by the day-and it's going to take 10+ years to build.

 

[Doug]

I'm surprised that he's that bad off with an engineering degree. Then again, the multi year housing boom in Colorado has come to a screeching halt-which is long overdue.

They are still building, but at a rate that is a long, long ways that it's been in the last 7-10 years.

Maybe if you wouldn't accept under 80kbase annually ( or so) , it's different ? Before I had a falling out with him... he sure seemed to have all kinds of work time to create interesting emails... suggesting he wasn't designing chips, and just playing it out. He's always been a Bullshitter, like he's so damn good at whatever he does, when he's more like just good ( competent) at construction or engineering. Another bag of wind. :missingte

 

[BAGIANT]

San Diego is way better ( if you don't much care about gambling), I've lived in both places. Oceanside ( North of SD, but still SD county)is a great value.

Doug I live in Vista and used to live in Vegas also. I'm ready to move back there in a heartbeat.

Ever go to Ocean's 11?

 

[Fishhead]

ICEMAN---Im disappointed you chose Summerlin over Green Valley...........the traffic is much worse where you live and the area gives off a cookie cutter feel.

Having lived in every corner of the valley, I have come to be an "east Vegas" or "southeast Vegas" guy.

My favorite area is that within 1-3 miles of Sunset Station...........

I concur with much of what Soccerbob said.....Vegas is a shithole for the most part, HOWEVER, there are great positives................

1. First off, the weather is FANTASTIC!!!........and for me in the close to 20 years living there, only 2-5 days in the summer is what I would describe as hell. Heck, I loved golfing during the summer months in Vegas and I walked the courses and carried my own bag.......and somedays played 27-36 holes. Living in Florida I have come to dislike the humidity and the lightning, not to mention hurricanes.

2. GREAT food at GREAT prices

3. Totally disagree with Iceman on this........I find Vegas residents as a whole very friendly..........just the crowd you choose. Again, this may be a result of the area your living.......people as a whole are more friendly on the east side in my opinion.

4. Low taxes and insurance............about 5x less than here in Tampa..........and no CDL fees and if any, low HOW fees.

5. Major leagues of gambling, bar none.

6. Mt. Charleston and Red Rock Canyon..........outstanding recreation areas.

VEGAS was so awesome when I moved there, as the population was under 300,000, compared to around 2 million today.

If I moved back, would consider living near Sunset Station......or near Boulder City, Mt. Charleston, or Lake Las Vegas.............and if worst came to worse, Summerlin, as its at least "ok" in my book.

 

[Illini]

Scottsdale would be an ideal place to live, provided you are okay with finding scorpions in your house and being stung occasionally.

 

[Iceman]

I dont feel confident about everything I wrote but I do when it comes to area. I think you might want to look into the whole Summerlin vs GV area again, Fish. Most everything here really took off within the past few years. I tried to stay away from Summerlin as my GF works too far from there but there is no doubt in my mind that Summerlin is a way better communtity then GV. Summerlin has a very big reputation also on how nice it is. Everytime you bring it up to others you get this look like wow that area is nice. That is what everyone says about it. I would be surprised if you polled 100 30-45 year olds and asked them nicest area to live around here and Summerlin didnt win easily. I noticed people take a lot of pride in living there. When we would ask around where to live the Summerlin folks got almost defensive about their area being the nicest. When we drove the streets for weeks we just couldnt get over the hometown feel summerlin had. There wasnt even a comparision between the two. From the beautiful upkeeping of the landscape to the parks and people out everywhere exercising it is a communtity that is alive. I seen none of this is GV and believe me we tried as it would have been so much better for us to live in GV. In fact I was badly disappointed on in the GV area as a whole. I would be surprised if that area has fallen off quite a bit the past few years. If anything the Summerlin area has done it's best too get away from the Vegas feel to a feel of it's own area with it's own idenity.

 

[Doug]

Doug I live in Vista and used to live in Vegas also. I'm ready to move back there in a heartbeat.

Ever go to Ocean's 11?

I lived in Vista when I first got to the SD area, also San Marcos,Solana Beach,Del Mar,O-side,and mostly Carlsbad. I left around 1988. I'm not sure if Ocean's 11 existed at that time, but I have played in some O-side area cardrooms back then, but not much. The Indian casino definetly didn't exist at that time. I haven't been back to Calif in nearly 20 years.

 

[FairWarning]

Speaking about the uneducated part, that is the byproduct of having mostly service-type jobs. Certainly don't need a college education for that. If I had to do it over again, I would have got a degree in some kind of hotel management, casino management, or something similar.

 

[TTinCO]

Speaking about the uneducated part, that is the byproduct of having mostly service-type jobs. Certainly don't need a college education for that.

Very true. That's pretty much a given in a place where there are so many service industry jobs.

Scottsdale is a very nice area, but pricey. The whole Phoenix area is kind of strange....there reallly isn't a normal downtown area-at least not one with much of anything going on. It's like each burb has it's own little downtown, but I guess that's what happens when it's as spread out as Phoenix is and the growth comes so fast.

 

[ChalksR4Kids]

As much as I love Las Vegas, since your question is from a non gaming point of view, the Phoenix area, especially Scottsdale, is the best choice. The traffic in Las Vegas is just bloody murder everywhere, every time. Also, I don't know why, but the people of Phoenix are just plain nice in general.
Also, consider the Biloxi area, in particular, Ocean Springs. Billions of dollars are going into the recovery, real estate is reasonable, 5-10 years from now this is going to be a very impressive place. There are endless opportunities for legitimate businesses there as they need all sorts of stuff.