For the Vegas residents: I'm moving to Vegas in 2011. No, it has nothing to do with poker. But, since I'm about 6-8 months out, I'm starting to look at apartments and to re-familiarize myself with the city. I spent a good amount of time there as a kid (but I didn't drive at that time, so it didn't help much) and I've been back several times as an adult, but mainly stayed close to the strip.

So, some of the things I've been wondering about are:

1) How are towns like Whitney and Enterprise? Are those considered "nicer" areas than downtown Vegas?

2) What about up north by like Nellis AFB? Is it decent up that way?

3) What about by UNLV?

4) What areas offer the best value? Decent neighborhoods, good prices for a 1-bedroom?

5) If I got an apartment fairly close to the strip is it guaranteed that I'll be paying extra for that luxury? Or are their some cheap apartments in that area?

6) How long would it take to drive from Vegas to Lake Mead. I've heard that the Las Vegas Bay no longer launches boats because it is more or less dried up, but I'd like to be able to get a jet ski and get to the lake in less than an hour. Leave apartment ----> start setting up on the shore (in about an hour). Is that possible? I'd probably have to live east of Vegas if I wanted to be able to get their that quickly right?

Thanks for the info. I may have some follow-up questions once these are answered.

6: could there possibly be a worse lake to jetski in?

Is there another option in the Vegas area?

Believe you have to drive to Laughlin to jet ski.

Someone will answer your questions in more detail, but I'll just point out a couple of things. Generally the areas closest to the strip are the crappiest. Ditto for the area around UNLV and much of North (or north) Las Vegas. So it sounds like you might have a few of your preconceived notions backwards.

Thanks. No preconceived notions here. Just trying to figure out the city since I really have no idea at this point.

Look in the Summerlin, Green Valley, Spring Valley or Southwest areas. Nellis AFB area is one of the worst areas to live in. Between the crime and the AF jets flying 900MPH over your head all day I would say nix that area.

Areas near the strip are dangerous and crime laden.

Panorama, Sky, Allure, Meridien, etc. are all very nice. TYVM

I personally prefer to live close to the strip just because of the convenience. From what I've heard of my friends paying for decent condos 15mins from the strip compared to what I pay, there's no doubt in my mind it's worth the extra couple hundred a month.

right now I wouldn't move to las vegas unless I was reeeeeaaaaallllllyyy..... really deep or was nursing heavily upon the governmental tit in some way.

you can drive by frenchman mountain and launch at boathouse cove in 30 min or so.

OP: You mentioned Enterprise...I personally like the area between Blue Diamond to the south and the 215 to the north.

There's a lot of 1/2 acres older homes with some newer ones mixed in. I can get to most casinos in 10 minutes (parked and walking in). It depends on what you're coming to Vegas for, but it's nice to be able to unwind, relax, and sober up in a quiet off strip setting.

Plus, if you want to be on the strip you're going to end up in a high rise. Which is cool if that's your thing, but it's expensive for what you get. I looked at most of the strip condos when I moved here and for reasons such as parking, privacy, noise, convenience, etc. it made more sense to live off the strip.

Strange thing is no one ever recommends any of the neighborhoods just west of I-15. I've usually stayed at the Palace Station and gone on morning jogs in the residential area just across Sahara. Looks like a solid middle class area though not the newest being where it is. Still way better than anything north of Sahara east of 15. Take one look at it and you know its horrible.

Northwest is good, kind far from the strip but nice and cheap. New buildings and malls in the area.

+1 I would suggest west of I-15 between Tropican and Sahara

I live NW and can easily be in the lake within an hour.

Too many ppm?

or not enough rpm?

Please tell me you're joking. Unless you literally mean West of I-15 as in like 5 miles West. The immediate area to the West of I-15 is trash.

This sounds like my style. Thanks.

Will be moving into Sky next week. Thanks for the recommendation.

A few people mentioned Northwest, but then one person says its crap. I'm guessing just west of 15 isn't that good, but the further west you go, it gets better?

Follow up questions:

-A lot of sarcastic remarks regarding Mead. LOL. Is it that crappy these days?

-Decent 1-bedroom apartments in NW or SW areas (even extreme SW like Blue Diamond area): how much am I looking at? $600? $1,000? And I'm talking "decent" - I'm not looking to be a baller/shot-caller, but I want to be able to go jogging in my neighborhood in the evening.

Decent-Nice will run you between $650-$1000 a month depending on how big you want to go and what kind of community you want to live in. A good friend of mine lived in a 1 BR in Summerlin for like $850 that was basically the same square footage as a 2br condo.

Next to the 15 and the NW are not close to the same thing. Think of NW as North of the Summerlin Parkway and West of the 95 and you have a pretty nice, safe area. I have a condo in a very quiet community and it's a real safe area.

95 runs east/west as does Summerlin Parkway.

Otherwise true, but you're still in good neighborhoods all the way south from there. It's just a question of how far west you get from the 15. OP, you were correct when you guessed that it gets progressively better the further west you go, and that applies to the entire west side of the valley. For myself I don't think I'd be comfortable living anywhere east of Rainbow and ideally I'd be west of Ft. Apache.

Lol thank you for clarifying a highway I driver EVERY DAY to work. It is not an E/W exclusive highway. Once it hits the Summerlin Parkway it becomes N/S hence why I said West of the 95. Not worth arguing about.

You're right, my bad.

I was going to say. Your first post that said "West of the 95" made perfect sense with the map I was looking at, because the 95 appears to run east/west, then has a big bend in it and becomes a north/south highway.

Anyhow, I think I have a pretty good idea now of what areas to look for apartments. Whether it's NW, SW, or SE, I'll probably want to be at least a few miles from the strip.

I've never been on Lake Mohave, but hear good things about it, think it's about an hour away.

Lake Havasu is excellent for boating and jetski/waverunners but it's almost 3 hrs away, this is the lake most people from CA and even most serious boaters from LV go to, it is considered the PWC capital of the world and hosts the Jet Ski World Finals Race every Oct. Calm waters, lots of coves, you can be on the lake, or go up river, water is nice temp, good places to launch (Windsor Beach is best), parties everywhere on the lake and up river at the sandbar.

Mead is choppy with very few beaches and crappy launches, although, it's better than no boating at all. I go with friends on Mead sometimes, but keep my boat in Havasu and wouldn't consider bringing it up here.