I'm contemplating moving to Las Vegas to move into a position at one of the strip casinos. I'm doing a little research on what it's like to live in Las Vegas, and have read through several threads here that talks about it.

One thing I came across is this blog post from 2010 from a guy who was leaving LV after 6 years living there, wherein he lists his 10 least favorite things about living there. It's lengthy, split into 5 parts, and can be found here.

http://www.casinotop10.net/10-worst-...-vegas-1.shtml

It's somewhat humorous, but he seems 75%+ serious with his points. I was just wondering, anyone here who lives in LV or has lived there, who would agree with or refute any of his points? Would love to hear any perspectives.

Cliffs on his LV issues (with my level of concern if true in brackets, scale of 1 to 5, 5 being very concerned)

1. Weather - too hot, too cold, too dry [1]
2. People - LV attracts lots of unsavory people, and very few "top of their class" types [4]
3. Lack of Employment - Tourism is the only industry [1]
4. Healthcare - Just generally awful [5]
5. Police - Police are overly hostile and violent [5]
6. Public Transit - Only has a terrible bus system [1]
7. Public Education - NV and LV schools are terrible [4]
8. Housing - The housing market is very unstable, and is again facing a bubble [3]
9. Crime - There is a huge amount of petty crime/theft, with a high and growing number of break-ins as well [5]
10. English - A ton of businesses are staffed by people who speak little/no English [2]

11) People cross streets when they aren't supposed to, and nobody gets a ticket for it.

12) Las Vegas has some of the worst drivers that I have ever seen

Ever been to Paris, OP?
not referring to the casino, btw...

And the bad drivers usually have an out of state tag, primarily California.

I live in NJ now, and it cannot, simply cannot, be worse than here.

Casino yes, Texas yes, France no.

I lived in NJ for 26 years. Then I lived in Vegas for a year. Vegas drivers are worse, trust me

Well here's a timely article about the ridiculous rate of police shootings in Vegas, from today's LA Times. If I lived there I might be as afraid of the cops as the criminals:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...0,555470.story

Good blackjack players get the boot faster there than anywhere I have ever played. Also always seemed like the indoor weed was rushed and not flushed properly, fertilizers are not tasty.

Miami Beach is a much more fun 24/7 paradise. Instead of degenerates and the clutter of slob tourists and annoying casino sounds, you are surrounded by a diverse international scene, full of babes, athletes, artists, and physical fitness 24/7. Not to mention the best ocean in the US (possibly second only to Brazil in the world) are swimmable 9 months out of the year.

Echoing #12. Every single driver here has a death wish and doesn't give a ****

Timely indeed. Yikes.

Imagine what it's like to live and drive in California.

1. Weather - too hot, too cold, too dry [1] On the days when the weather gets ****ty, no one goes outside. It's 300 days of sunshine and for 6-7 months a year, the weather couldn't be better. Grow a set.
2. People - LV attracts lots of unsavory people, and very few "top of their class" types [4] I had a professor in grad school that used to say 'Vegas brings out the best in the best people, and the worst in the worst people'. Seems legit. But education/innovation is met with apathy and distrust in almost all sectors.
3. Lack of Employment - Tourism is the only industry [1] You're moving here with a job offer, right? You'll be fine.
4. Healthcare - Just generally awful [5] Yes, although I once went to an ER that didn't accept my insurance, but my insurance ended up paying anyway. I've honestly not had major issues here, but I've also never had a major health concern either.
5. Police - Police are overly hostile and violent [5] Been here seven years and never had a run-in with an unreasonable cop. Only ever been pulled over twice, and didn't fear for my life either time. But I'm white. So take all this with a grain of salt.
6. Public Transit - Only has a terrible bus system [1] Terrible is an understatement.
7. Public Education - NV and LV schools are terrible [4] Again, terrible is an understatement.
8. Housing - The housing market is very unstable, and is again facing a bubble [3] Yes it's unstable, but I imagine when you first get here you'll be renting. Renting is never a problem and generally cheaper than most major cities. Once you're ready to buy, you should have a good enough idea when it's stable or about to burst, and can plan accordingly.
9. Crime - There is a huge amount of petty crime/theft, with a high and growing number of break-ins as well [5] Had the back door of a house I was renting kicked in and a bunch of laptops/jewelry stolen. Got an alarm system and haven't had a problem since.
10. English - A ton of businesses are staffed by people who speak little/no English [2] Yep

I'm from Boston originally and drove around the east coast (NY, NJ, DC especially) quite a bit. Drivers in Vegas are the worst BY FAR for one simple reason - east coast drivers are more aggressive and angrier. Vegas drivers are completely oblivious and apathetic to other people on the road. I've witnessed two accidents and one pedestrian getting annihilated all because people behind the wheel simply cannot bother to give a ****.

The problem with the cops is that they're being overworked, under paid and they're remarkably under staffed. Then you get guys like the idiot at the Excalibur who got behind the wheel of an off-duty cop's car without his permission, and people wonder why there was an incident. Don't taunt the police and they'll leave you alone.

As a fairly new LV resident (been here a year now) I'm going to chime in and disagree with the driving part. I've found that driving here really isn't that bad. Sure, you get some derps, but hey, that's everywhere. I'm going to give you a few examples where driving is much crazier.

France has been mentioned. I present to you a much younger Katana (proof that I did have hair at one point). I'm driving down the Champs Elysees heading towards the Arc de Triumph. Look at the traffic in front of me. Mayhem. Plus people walking everywhere, and no lines in the road. Then you hit the roundabout around the Arc, and it's basically Mad Max in there.



Next photo is from me driving in Rome, Italy. Out of all the places I've been, easily a top 5 for worst traffic/drivers. Again, hardly any lines in the road, and these scooters zip by everywhere. I had to pull my arm in just to not get it ripped off.



And this one is from when I went to Thailand last year. Yes, those are kids on a scooter. Also four people on that thing! Also notice traffic going different directions, and people walking, and generally no one paying attention.



After driving in places like this, Vegas is a cakewalk.

"As a fairly new LV resident (been here a year now) I'm going to chime in and disagree with the driving part. I've found that driving here really isn't that bad. Sure, you get some derps, but hey, that's everywhere."

Anybody that says this is one of them

The bus system is not too bad. Its just too damn hot to wait for one in the summer.

Every las vegas road is designed like a drag racing track. Personally I love it.

Drivers are bad though.

Great pics K.

What a comfort to know that when you get rammed into!

If you think drivers anywhere is the US are bad, you should experience driving in some of the big cities in India. Any road markings are simply a job creation scheme and are ignored. Rental cars come with a free driver. If I'd rented a car and tried to drive myself, I'd still be waiting to turn left out of the airport. Crazy stuff.

In terms of living in LV, the quality of healthcare would concern me. The rest is pretty meh until you have kids to worry about imo.

Common joke for many years among residents:
Q: Where do you go for health care?
A: The airport.

Appreciate all the feedback. Very surprised to find out that drivers can be worse then NJ, but enough consensus here to let me know I'm about to learn the hard way. Super.

The healthcare is very concerning - I have a young son, so need to have a great idea about what his/our pediatrician experience is going to look like. I have some contacts through work with similar young kids, will dig into what they do.

The crime part is really concerning too. It sounds like living in Henderson or Summerlin makes it less worrysome, but I've never been in a place where I felt like I needed a security system before. Going to be tough to get used to that. Also, seems like my rent is going to go up a little bit - if it's another $99 per month for security as well then my modest raise is getting eaten into pretty quickly.

Speaking of not making enough money, regarding schools seems like I just need to accept that if I'm in Las Vegas, got to find a way to pay for public schools. My son is still 3-4 years off from that so have some time to figure it out (or decide LV isn't for us and head back east). But going to be very tough to find an extra 15k/year or whatever after tax and still put anything towards retirement.

13) escalators are constantly broken.

Mainly it's the ones who like to turn around facing the back seat to have their picture taken while driving that you have to worry about.

.

Actually, Vegas has some very good health care, *IF* you ask around and don't just pick randomly from a list. I see amazing specialists, although I'm switching back to my original general practice person once my insurance switches. Referrals are everything – you need to check your doctors before you go see them. You do have some very bad cases that make the rest look bad. After 7 years, I only have one horror story and one 'please train your nurses better and I won't jump you for disregarding a direct medical directive'. Considering I have worse horror stories from elsewhere in the country, I'm okay with that ratio.