I am going to start this discussion about the good, bad, and ugly aspects of living in Las Vegas by comparing certain features to Southern California.
In comparison to the Greater Los Angeles Area of Southern California, living in Las Vegas is like living in a small town. It’s like one of those small towns with miles of undeveloped natural terrain surrounding it.
I spent the majority of my life living in Southern California, which is the quintessential example of a megalopolis. The Greater Los Angeles Area has 70 principal cities and dozens of smaller ones that are all meshed together. In the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, there are four (4) cities: Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City.
According to the US Census, the Greater Los Angeles Area consists of five counties: Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and Ventura County. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Area consists of one county, Clark County.
As of this writing, the population of the Las Vegas Metropolitan area is nine times less than the Greater Los Angeles Area.
I live in Henderson, which is located southeast of the Strip. When I first moved to Las Vegas, I lived in Summerlin. It is on the west side of the valley near the mountains. It’s a huge master-planned community and is considered to be one of the premium neighborhoods in Las Vegas.
In comparison to Las Vegas and even Summerlin, I have found that there is a greater sense of community in Henderson. Henderson has seven (7) recreation centers with meeting rooms, fitness equipment, pools, and more. There are 50 parks and 40 miles (and 50 more miles to be added in the future) of paved and unpaved trails (many through undeveloped natural areas) and bike paths. In the “Henderson Happenings” magazine, there are usually about 100 pages listing every kind of class, workshop, and sport imaginable. The fees for these activities are very reasonable, and a good number of them are free! And as with the rest of the Las Vegas Valley, there has been a large amount of new construction of homes, master-planned communities, business parks, and retail areas.
Each of the new, nearly new, and established communities in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area offers unique advantages. It all depends on your tastes.
Now let’s move on to my presentation on the good, bad, and ugly aspects of living in Las Vegas. I’ll start with the good.
Good
Abundant food, drink, and room specials, and giveaways
The hotel-casinos throughout Las Vegas continually offer a variety of food, drink, and room specials. They gear a considerable amount of their specials toward the local population. Those who don’t live in Las Vegas would not know about them unless a local friend or relative told them. Or they might learn about them during a visit here if they tuned in to a local radio or television station. A solid form of identification with your picture that proves local residency, like a driver’s license, is required to take advantage of these so-called “locals only” specials.
The hotel-casinos regularly offer gifts to locals with “players cards” who do a considerable amount of gambling on a regular basis. The gifts are often unique, seasonal, and they always have the hotel-casino’s name on them. A lot of the stuff is pretty cool and useful. But going out in public with a shirt, jacket, or hat with the hotel-casino’s name on it is not cool, in my opinion. It seems like only the newcomers and older senior men do that.
The best deals for food, drink, and room specials are NOT on the Strip. They are at hotel-casinos that are located far away from the Strip and closer to residential neighborhoods. These are known as neighborhood hotel-casinos, and they cater heavily to the local population. Here are some examples.
It is a well-known tradition that casinos will give you free drinks if you are gambling. On the Strip, you must put at least $20 in your slot machine and play at the maximum level before they will comp you a drink. And if you don’t remain active, they won’t give you additional free drinks. In neighborhood hotel-casinos, there are usually no minimums in the amount or level you must play before they will offer you a free drink. I have seen exceptions at premium hotel-casinos that happened to be located in residential neighborhoods like the Red Rock Hotel & Casino. But they still are not as vigilant in enforcing this policy as casinos on the Strip.
Here’s one more simple example that exemplifies the difference. If you ask for a bottle of water at a Strip hotel-casino bar, they are going to charge you 3-5 dollars or more. At a neighborhood hotel-casino bar, they are going to charge you 1-2 dollars or give it to you for free.
Abundant top entertainment
Top performers from almost every genre of music, comedy, and more do shows in Las Vegas. To get the best seats and prices for these shows, you need to get your tickets as far in advance as possible.
What’s great about seeing your favorite performer or group in Las Vegas is that the venues are smaller and more intimate than what you might find in other cities. Tickets for shows at hotel-casinos on the Strip can be pricey, however.
Older performers, like classic rock groups, usually play at neighborhood hotel-casinos far away from the Strip. Their shows take place in small to medium-sized showrooms. Ticket prices for these shows are inexpensive. Many of these groups will give you the opportunity to meet them after the show.
Abundant excellent restaurants
Some of the best chefs and restaurants in the world are located in Las Vegas. Some of the restaurants are the same ones you have seen or been to in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and other major cities.
Most are inside the major hotel-casinos on the Strip. However, I have found many outstanding restaurants at the nicer neighborhood hotel-casinos.
There is also an abundance of superior standalone restaurants in the upscale neighborhoods throughout the valley.
So if you’re into fine dining, Las Vegas definitely has a huge menu of restaurants to choose from.
Abundant excellent hotel-casinos
There are about 35 five and four-star hotels in the Las Vegas area. These numbers change as new hotels open and as rating evaluations occur.
I’ve stayed in some of the nicest hotels in the United States and abroad, and I have to admit that the hotels here are impressive. The architecture and design are very creative and stunning. Many hotels use marble, art, sculptures, and water features copiously. The elegant amenities and spectacular pools and spas cannot be found in this abundance anywhere in the world, as far as I know.
As a local, there’s no need to fly or drive for five hours to enjoy a vacation at a fine resort hotel. There are enough choices here to last you 25 years! And once you reach the 25th year, there will likely be more new hotels to choose from.
Abundant new master-planned communities
For years, Las Vegas has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. This growth created a need for new housing, which led to a construction boom. The result is a large number of new and nearly new master-planned communities.
All the master-planned communities that I’ve visited are beautifully landscaped and full of amenities like parks, community centers, and retail areas.
According to my online research, there are 36 new, nearly new, and established master-planned communities in the Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson areas.
Abundant new schools, parks, recreation centers, and libraries
With the explosion of new master-planned communities came a plethora of new schools, parks, recreation centers, and libraries. To my knowledge, Henderson has the most recreation centers with seven (7).
There are parks of many different sizes. There are tiny parks in many of the individual builder housing tracks. There are medium-sized parks with a few select amenities. And there are large regional parks that have fields and courts for all the popular sports. Some of them have pools and fenced dog areas as well.
Many nearby state and national parks
There are adjoining state and national parks in the Red Rock Canyon and Spring Mountain areas. They are located just 30 minutes from downtown Las Vegas. From Summerlin, you can be inside the borders of these parks within a few minutes.
In addition, there are many more state and national parks within a one to two-hour drive.
Miles of new and attractive freeways
With the rapid increase in population and the growing number of residential communities, new roads, bridges, and freeways were needed. So there are miles of new freeways, freeway expansions, and new bridges.
The new freeways, and particularly the bridges and the on/off ramps, are attractive, well-lit, and efficient.
Moderate traffic most of the time
I have never been in a prolonged traffic jam except during rush hour near downtown Las Vegas or on the Strip on a weekend.
Most of my drives around town have been rather pleasant. Coming from Southern California, this is a HUGE improvement.
I have to commend the city planners for the good job that they have done in this area.
Good weather most of the time
Las Vegas’s climate is subtropical arid. There are about 300 sunny days a year and 4.2 inches of rain, which occurs on average on 29 days per year.
The summer months are very hot and mostly dry, with average daytime highs of 94 to 104 °F (34 to 40 °C). However, the humidity is very low and often under 10%.
The winters in Las Vegas are short and generally mild, with daytime highs near 60°F (16 °C) and nighttime lows around 40°F (4 °C). The surrounding mountains get snow during the winter, but it’s rare in the Las Vegas Valley itself.
One year, we got several inches of snow on Christmas night and on and off for several days after that. The snow melted away quickly, and it did not cause any significant problems on the roads. For a person who has lived a few blocks from the beach in California and Hawaii most of his life, the snow was exciting and beautiful!
When I first moved to Las Vegas, I hated the hot summers. People would often say to me, “You’ll get used to it.” Or “It’s a dry heat, so it doesn’t feel as hot.” Initially, I just blew them off, thinking they were just trying to make themselves feel better about moving here. After about a year or so, I came to realize that they were right.
You do get used to it. Your body does adjust to the heat. You adjust your schedule so that you do your shopping and other activities in the early morning. And heat with low humidity is not nearly as repressive as heat with high humidity. Amazingly, the low humidity also makes the lower winter temperatures feel less cold.
Las Vegas does feel cooler and more comfortable than towns I’ve lived in Hawaii, where the humidity is high. And the most pleasing difference is that you do not sweat!
In addition, I discovered a number of benefits that were also mentioned to me, but I chose to ignore them as bogus. During the hottest times of the summer, it is great to be able to go outside at any time during the night or early morning with just shorts and a tank top and be very comfortable. The most pleasurable benefit is the ability to go swimming in the pool during the day, night, or early morning and not feel cold when you get in or out of the water.
Outstanding home purchasing opportunities
There is a tremendous amount of new construction housing being built in every area of the Las Vegas valley. These include apartments, condominiums, townhomes, houses, and estates.
Prices fluctuate with the local economy. The cost of new and previously owned homes is significantly less than in Southern California.
Outstanding opportunities for new and relocating companies
Economic challenges in the past have led government officials to realize that the region can no longer rely solely on the gaming, hotel, and convention industries for economic stability. This understanding has led government office-holders to seek out ways to build infrastructure and create incentives to attract companies to the area.
Most of what is needed for a company relocation is already here. There is ample housing, and new business parks are being built. In addition, Nevada has no corporate income tax, no state income tax, and no personal income tax. It is also one of the least expensive states to form and maintain a corporation.
24-hour access
The traditions of the Las Vegas gaming industry have led many retail businesses to stay open 24 hours a day. This practice has extended to all areas of the region beyond the Strip. It’s not uncommon to find many restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, and large department stores like Walmart open 24/7.
This provides great flexibility and convenience. And if you’re in your 20s and 30s, it provides the conditions for many all-night adventures.
US origin population and enthusiasm
People have moved here from all over the United States. Although a large portion of new residents came from California, a significant number came from New York in particular, and many other eastern and midwestern states. Because of this influx, Las Vegas has become a kind of melting pot within a melting pot.
What is unique about the creation of Las Vegas’ melting pot is that most of the people who moved here came from within the United States. So there are many cultural similarities with the people. The result is that everyone easily gets along and shares a common enthusiasm about starting a new life. You do not get any negative vibes related to being the newcomer because there are so many people who have recently moved here. It’s really quite refreshing and inspiring.
Bad
Poor school system
As I recall, the Clark County School District ranks near the bottom nationally compared to other school districts. Here’s what caused this, as I see it.
The city’s original foundation was not built on creating an infrastructure geared toward strong family life and higher education. It was built to support the gaming and hotel industry. Sin City wasn’t built for children.
The new, nearly new, and upscale neighbors are in a different situation. They have many new schools, which, being new or well-funded, are well-equipped and well-staffed. There is also a relatively high number of private schools available in these areas.
Government and school district officials are making serious efforts to improve things. They hired a new superintendent, increased funding, and hired more teachers.
Heavy saturation of slot machines & bars
There are slot machines, video poker machines, slots — or whatever you want to call them — everywhere! Hundreds of thousands of them in Las Vegas.
You’ll, of course, find gigantic areas devoted to slot machines in the casinos. But you will also find them in every grocery, drug, and convenience store. I’m sure there are many other locations that I didn’t notice simply because they are so prevalent.
There are typically at least four or more bars in each hotel-casino. In the mega hotel-casinos, there can be as many as a dozen or more.
There is also an abundance of independent bars with slots and small neighborhood casinos throughout the valley.
Casino noise
The casino noise created by slot machines and recorded music is exciting when you first come to Las Vegas. But when you live here, it becomes a serious irritant because you can’t get away from it.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of great food deals in Las Vegas. Most of them are offered in the hotel-casino cafés (coffee shops) and buffets. These restaurants are usually next to the casino, where all the slot machines are located. So, as you are trying to enjoy a meal and have a conversation, you’ll have to contend with the slot machine noise and the loud recorded music that is always playing in every area of the casino. The music is often classic rock, which I like, but not during a meal with friends.
Cigarette and cigar smoke
Where there is gambling, there is always a high number of smokers. And the smoke often finds its way into nearby restaurants, where you may be trying to enjoy a meal.
The nice restaurants are usually far enough away and designed so that smoke from the casino doesn’t infiltrate their space.
When you are walking through a casino, it’s impossible not to notice and often be physically affected by all the cigarette and cigar smoke. The newer casinos have done a better job of reducing the amount of secondhand smoke by installing more advanced ventilation and filtration systems.
Limited cultural infrastructure
Since Las Vegas was built on the gaming and hotel industries, there wasn’t much emphasis on investing in cultural facilities like museums, concert halls, symphony orchestras, art exhibits, and the like. That has since changed quite a bit.
The Henderson Symphony Orchestra started in 1987, and the Las Vegas Philharmonic launched in 1998.
Some areas included these features in their plans during the building boom. For example, Henderson has two (2) amphitheaters that offer a variety of cultural arts entertainment. The Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, which opened in 2007, includes desert botanical gardens, museum galleries, and indoor and outdoor theaters.
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2012. It is a world-class, state-of-the-art facility that is a game changer for Las Vegas and raises its cultural infrastructure by leaps and bounds. It is located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas’ new urban development, Symphony Park.
Hot weather during peak summer
For those who haven’t gotten used to hot, dry temperatures of 94 to 104 °F, and to sometimes near or over 110 °F, the heat can be hard to handle.
Even with an extremely difficult convert like me, once it goes over 110°F, which it rarely does, it’s quite a challenge for me to deal with it if I have business to do outdoors. But in the late evening and early morning, as I described earlier, the warm outside temperatures can be delightful. This is especially true when it has been really hot the day before.
Location of movie theaters
Almost all the nice multi-screen movie theaters are strategically located inside neighborhood hotel-casinos. Although these facilities are often very nice and conveniently located next to food courts, you are forced to walk through the casino to get there. If you have children with you, a casino with all its noise and smoke is not an ideal environment for them.
Ugly
High crime rate
According to crime maps, the area around the strip is where it’s concentrated.
This explains why Las Vegas has such a Wild West feel to it. You don’t hear much about violent crimes in the nicer areas, but you still know that it’s out there in rough neighborhoods closer to the Strip.
Dangerous crime is very low in the nicer, newer, and more upscale neighborhoods and master-planned communities. Even so, these areas sometimes see break-ins and burglaries. I am not aware of any home invasion burglaries in these neighborhoods. Break-ins usually occur when no one is at home or in vacant homes.
The sheriff and police departments seem to be aggressively taking action to change things. There has been a very visible ongoing campaign to recruit, hire, and train new officers.
I have to admit that I like this town’s Wild West feel. It adds a bit of spicy seasoning to the mix. It reminds me of what an old Western town may have been like just prior to becoming a tamed and civilized society.
The Strip’s artificial and circus-like atmosphere
As I described in the first section, there are many magnificent hotels on the Strip. Unfortunately, their propensity to imitate famous cities, landmarks, movie themes, and even trees, shrubs, flowers, and grass detracts from their own beauty.
When I walk inside a beautiful hotel-casino and am greeted by a garden of palm trees, shrubs, and flowers, I am delighted. However, when I discover, after close examination, that a good number of them are fake or freeze-dried, I feel disappointed and somewhat deceived.
There are flashing billboards and signs full of lights “everywhere” that contribute to the circus-like atmosphere. When you see these lights for the first time, it’s very exciting! But after you’ve seen them a dozen times and then spent an hour on the Strip seeing them again, the flashing lights begin to wear on your visual senses.
Then there are the street callers (town criers). Human billboards, as I like to call them. Smaller casinos and other business venues whose entrances are right on the sidewalk often have provocatively dressed women and men who call out to the multitudes of people walking by with food, drink, gambling, or souvenir special offers. There are also occasions when I’ve seen men wearing one of those ridiculous-looking sandwich billboards. I can’t think of a more humiliating job.
The worst ones are the lines of people who pass out leaflets. The leaflets are typically for escort services, massage parlors, strip clubs, and other sleazy businesses. They work in groups of 3 to 8 and stand near each other in a line along the sidewalk. As you walk by, each of them tries to get you to take one of their leaflets. If you firmly show through your body language that you are NOT interested, they will usually give up and leave you alone. Being verbally abusive to them only adds to an already unpleasant situation, and it’s classless.
Many casinos and other businesses blast music onto the sidewalk to attract attention and draw customers in. In areas where they are concentrated together, the music can be very annoying.
If you combine all these factors, you end up with a make-believe circus-like atmosphere. It reminds me of being at a traveling carnival. As you might expect, I rarely go to the Strip, which is true for many locals.
Poor reputation and image
With a nickname like Sin City, it’s no wonder that Las Vegas has the reputation and image that it does. Its early mafia connection doesn’t help either. Add to those well-known things like strip clubs, hookers, free-flowing alcohol, and gambling 24/7, and you’re faced with a huge challenge to change its image into something more respectable. This hasn’t stopped hotel-casino owners and government officials from trying to change the reputation and image of Las Vegas to attract more visitors, including guests with children in tow and young adults.
They have done this by building theme-based hotel-casinos that appeal to a broader audience. They have also added features and amenities that are enticing to young adults and children of their guests.
In the early 1980s, I was not aware of any nightclubs with dancing at the major hotels or anywhere else on or near the Strip. In those days, I was flying to Las Vegas, Reno, and South Lake Tahoe on business every month. And I was at an age where I was very interested in nightclubbing. So I knew what was going on. I remember being amazed when I was told that there were no nightclubs. Today, there are one or more state-of-the-art nightclubs in the major hotel-casinos. There are also events at their pools during the day on Sundays!
Even with these changes and improvements, Las Vegas still has a way to go to eliminate the stigmas of the past. I don’t think its Sin City image will ever be completely erased, but it has a good shot at transforming its reputation. And Las Vegas has already made huge strides.
Abundant lost souls
Las Vegas tends to attract many people who are down on their luck and looking for a quick way to turn things around. Many of these people are simply lost souls who come to Las Vegas to place their last bet on life, so to speak. These people end up living in the seedy parts of town, and some of them end up homeless and on the streets.
On this topic, I am not talking about the thousands of people who move here to buy or rent a home, find a job, start a business, relocate a company, or retire. These people, for the most part, come with the resources (financial and/or emotional) and outlook to create a better life for themselves. These people typically end up in nicer neighborhoods.
Most people who live in Las Vegas rarely, if ever, encounter these lost souls, but if you do, it’s hard not to feel compassion for them.
When you live in Las Vegas, the possibility of seeing these kinds of people comes with the territory. The reaction that you are left with if you see one of them gives you a powerful jolt of gratitude, however.
***
You probably noticed that I presented a lot more good than bad and ugly issues. When I started writing this article, I had no idea that it would come out so lopsided. I knew that I had come to appreciate many aspects of living in Las Vegas, but I wasn’t sure how many I’d identify or how I’d deal with the bad and ugly parts. I guess I can say that Las Vegas, and now Henderson, has become my home.
When you live in Las Vegas, the amount of good, bad, and ugly aspects depends on the way you look at things. As Dr. Wayne Dyer
Update
Due to an opportunity to have a brand new home in exactly the location I wanted, I moved back to Summerlin after living in Henderson for about four years. Although I enjoyed my time in Henderson, I’m pleased to be back in Summerlin.
One other thing I should mention at this point. I’ve come to love the Las Vegas Valley and Nevada. For a number of reasons, I don’t see myself moving back to Southern California. 🙂