Living in Las Vegas (Blog)

[gagger1]

Hiya Steve,

Great article ! The timing was spot on since I'm planning to move to Vegas in the next few months.

A couple questions:

1) The high crime rate in Vegas bothers me. What can you tell me about it & about the Vegas police efforts ?

2) I work & live in Los Angeles and haven't done a long distance job search before. What tips & advice can you give me ? (I am an IT professional)

Thanks,
George

[Erin Pavlina]

Gagger1, there is far less crime in Vegas than Los Angeles. Like any city you've got your pockets of high crime with gangs and you've got your pockets of low crime, usually the affluent suburbs. We live in a very low crime area ourselves, we checked on the police website where they report crimes in the area.

We used to live in Los Angeles so we know the difference. Way less traffic, crime, and smog. It takes 20 minutes to drive 20 miles. Less people too. You can park without paying, you can park up close to even busy places, it's awesome.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by gagger1

The high crime rate in Vegas bothers me... I work & live in Los Angeles...

LOL.

People in Vegas think the opposite.

[Angela]

When I was in Las Vegas recently for ICDI, I spoke with many locals, half of whom said it was a horrible place to live and they couldn't wait to get out (mostly because of crime), and the other half said it was heaven on earth. No in-betweeners.

My instinct is to give the most weight to the people who live there and love it, because people who love their lives are far more powerful and, from my point of view, their opinions are the ones to heed.

If you hate where you live and what you're doing, and you're still living there and doing it, I'm not going to be very inspired to take your advice on how to live a loveable life.

[seeker5]

When I mentioned to my mother last year I was very interested in moving to Las Vegas, she was quite concerned I'd end up buried in the desert. I think mafia movies like "Casino" don't help in that regard

[Angela]

Originally Posted by seeker5

When I mentioned to my mother last year I was very interested in moving to Las Vegas, she was quite concerned I'd end up buried in the desert. I think mafia movies like "Casino" don't help in that regard

Now I'm imagining you strutting around the casinos like Joe Pesci.

You might send her some of the books set in Las Vegas that Larry McMurtry wrote. No one gets buried in the desert.

[gagger1]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Gagger1, there is far less crime in Vegas than Los Angeles. Like any city you've got your pockets of high crime with gangs and you've got your pockets of low crime, usually the affluent suburbs. We live in a very low crime area ourselves, we checked on the police website where they report crimes in the area.

We used to live in Los Angeles so we know the difference. Way less traffic, crime, and smog. It takes 20 minutes to drive 20 miles. Less people too. You can park without paying, you can park up close to even busy places, it's awesome.

Thanks Erin. Which affluent suburbs would you recommend ?

Did you have any advice on doing a long distance job search from LA to Vegas ? Any job networking groups and recruiters you could recommend ?

After reading the posts & Steve's article, I am very motivated to get this going & get out there finally. Vegas is a great town, especially for an ol' classic rocker like myself.

[Erin Pavlina]

It depends on your price range. Summerlin is great (that's where we live) and there are wide ranging prices on homes. It's a master planned community and very lush (you pay fees to keep it that way though) but it is not as desert-y as some other areas.

Southern Highlands is primo. That's where Nicolas Cage lives (or actually he just sold his house there). $2 million dollar homes and up.

Other good areas are the northwest, like near Centennial Hills and such.

I can't help you with the job networking though. I'm sure there are some.

[seeker5]

Hmmm, what are the really bad part of town in Las Vegas that one should avoid getting a place to live?

[gagger1]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

It depends on your price range. Summerlin is great (that's where we live) and there are wide ranging prices on homes. It's a master planned community and very lush (you pay fees to keep it that way though) but it is not as desert-y as some other areas.

Southern Highlands is primo. That's where Nicolas Cage lives (or actually he just sold his house there). $2 million dollar homes and up.

Other good areas are the northwest, like near Centennial Hills and such.

I can't help you with the job networking though. I'm sure there are some.

Thanks Erin - Appreciate the suggestions. Nicolas Cage also sold his house in Newport Beach, where I live, after he woke up one night and found someone standing in his living room, wearing his jacket.

[Erin Pavlina]

North Las vegas has a higher crime rate than other areas.

I'm not that familiar with the southeast part of town, Henderson and green Valley, so i can't comment.

We really like the northwest part of town. When they built it Vegas was experiencing it's boom cycle so they were able to plan accordingly. The layout is just great for travel and navigation, whereas when we visit the southeast (henderson, green valley) it seems like they've got just a couple of main arteries and the traffic is much worse than where we live.

Where we live, there are lanes aplenty and a hundred ways to get where you're going without having to find a major thoroughfare. I don't know, maybe it's my imagination. But I vote for the northwest

[Angela]

On the way from Hoover Dam to Las Vegas, Danger Man and I stopped in a little town called Boulder City, which reminded me of the little beach town I grew up in, except no beach. Touristy, but not all Vegas-y. The locals we spoke to loved it there. Seemed like a nice place to live, maybe.