Bettie: For litcrit (my Vegas/Chi-town ramblings)

[Bettie]

Note: This was originally posted on another (non-bj) site, then posted here again in August of 2003. In another thread, litcrit asked me to re-post it today.

Bettie

Just had to put my two cents in regarding living in Las Vegas. From reading everyone's posts, it appears as if my husband and I are younger than most of you - late 20's/early 30's, so this may have a different slant than other reports.

We moved here in January 2001 from Chicago. We liked the weather and
the cost of living, so we took off. We were lucky - our jobs allowed
us to move, and we had no kids (though toting our cats across country
was no walk in the park).

I immediately felt like I was on vacation every single day. No
matter how many hours I worked that day, it felt like a vacation and
kept feeling like that until the end of the year. What happened?
Well, we went back to the Midwest for Christmas, and then came HOME
to Las Vegas. That was weird. I still feel very lucky and free
here, though.

Yes, the infrastructure sucks. If I had kids, there is no way that I
would live here. Stories of classes being held in trailers are
common, and the county had to hire over 600 new teachers this year in
order to support the number of kids coming in to the system.

To that effect, we are also in a drought, and one that is not going
away anytime soon. Remember that huge flood last week? It did
nothing to help, as we get our water from Lake Mead, which gets its
water from mountain range run-off. We are in conservation mode, and
everyday there are complaints in the paper that we are only
conserving water in order to let more people move in. The real water
limits should be placed on the developers, which would help
immensely, but would leave hundreds, if not thousands, of people out
of work. Of course, many of those are illegal immigrants who
shouldn't be here anyway, but that's beside the point.

Vegas is really just a small town dressed up as a big city. For all
the glitz and glamour, it's blue-collar electricians and construction
workers and plumbers that are driving the growth of this city. For
crying out loud, the Review-Journal readers consistently name
Applebee's the best restaurant in town in the Reader's Poll! That
has to be a clue as to the real roots of this community.

Ah, community. Nope, ain't got it. Even with all of the
Midwesterners moving in (Illinois is the second biggest feeder state
behind California), there's no real sense of community here. I'm
probably closer to my hairdresser than to most other people here, and
I even left him recently! We joined a gym and a few other social
clubs, and we are not totally without good friends, but trick-or-
treaters are few, bake sales non-existent, farmer's markets lame
compared to what I'm used to, and I don't know my paper boy or the
girls selling girl scout cookies. Oh wait, they don't even do that
door-to-door anymore - I buy them in front of my supermarket!

There are only 8 houses on my entire street, and I only met my
neighbor when we shared stories about being robbed. I haven't seen
her since. I'm afraid that if I go over there with cookies, she'll
think I'm a total dork.

We do have some culture, but you really have to look for it. We have
two symphonies (Las Vegas and Henderson), museums, and the Bellagio
hosts some wonderful shows in its gallery. Last Halloween, UNLV
hosted a concert of classical music pieces relating to death. We
have several musical choruses, at least two ballet troupes, and UNLV
has a center for performing arts. On a smaller scale, there are book
clubs galore and support groups for all sorts of issues. And, of
course, there are the shows at the casinos.

We have beautiful scenery - Red Rock and the Mt. Charleston Range are
relatively close, depending upon where you live. And it's different
every time you go - the animals, the scenery, etc. Especially Mt.
Charleston, since you can go at various times of the year to see the
leaves change, the snow fall, the spring colors, etc. There are
dozens of different trails to choose from, so the scenery really does
change every time. Besides, if you are a person who can get sick of
walking through our beautiful landscapes, there's something wrong
with you!

Traffic can be bad here. But, honestly, it's mostly the drivers that
scare me. In Chicago we had bad traffic. In Las Vegas, we have bad
drivers. I have never encountered as many people who refuse to
follow basic driving courtesy. Don't be in the fast lane if you
aren't going to go fast. If someone comes up behind you and flashes
their brights, move to the next lane so they can pass. Yes, I pass
people on the right, but only because they don't know what I'm doing
when I flash them. There is always - ALWAYS - an accident whenever I
get on the highway. That is not an exaggeration, as we started
keeping track one day. There is some nasty traffic in the Summerlin
area (which is why I live in Green Valley), but it's nothing compared
to Chicago. There is also a lot of construction on the roads, but
that's due to the fact that Vegas was built up as a small city, not
one that expects 5,500 people to move here every month!

I started off with a certain agenda of points I wanted to make, but
ended up going on a train ride to Rambles-ville. Even with all of
it's problems, I would still not live anywhere else in the US. Not
even the heat - which is really only bad in July and August - can
deter me. And, yes, the whole "dry heat" thing is crap. It's not
humid like the Southeast is, but it's not dry, either. I'm sure that
it used to be, but the proliferation of people brings more body heat,
brings more landscaping, brings more golf courses, brings more
restaurants with misters, and so on. The city is actually paying
people to take out their grass and replace it with rocks and brush!

Oops, there I go again! I'd better go before I get into religion and
politics!

Thanks for listening to me ramble,
Bettie

[Ouchez]

[litcrit]

Bettie,
Thanks so much for the repost. Enjoyed reading it immensely. I hate Chicago winters, and while my wife isn't exactly fond of them, her distaste for Las Vegas is probably equal to my affinity for everything to be found there. I shall have to be satisfied with my own yearly visits for the next three of four years, and for an eventual move to Arizona when, as they say, the dog dies and the kids leave home.

[oldnewbie]

Bettie,
For goodness' sake, take some cookies to your neighbor. If they are really good, she won't think you're a dork, and if they aren't, maybe she will help you with the recipe. If LV doesn't have any community, maybe you can start it right in you neighborhood! Good luck.

[Bettie]

You know, I never even see my neighbors. There are 8 families on my street - a young couple, two strippers (separate houses), us, a couple of snowbirds, two families who seem to use their houses as vacation getaways, and (the ones I see the most), a family of trash with a loud dog, louder kids, and a penchant for having their trashy friends over to sit on the porch and be annoyingly loud. I really hope they're only renters - I can't imagine that this family could actually afford the houses in our neighborhood.

The only one I've talked to is one of the strippers, and I never see her because she has a different schedule than I do. I really don't think I have anything in common with the others, for a variety of reasons. I may not have anything in common with the stripper, either, but I like her landscaping taste and I know she has cats.

Besides, I work all day at RGE and work all night gambling - there are very few people who actually understand the kind of life I lead, and I have very little time (and even less inclination) to try to explain it. I keep up regularly with a select few high school and college friends (the kind you can ignore for 3 months and then pick up like no time has passed at all), and that's enough for me. Anyway, I'm madly in love with my best friend of the last 8 years, so what more do I need?

Bettie

"Homosapiens have outgrown their use." - David Bowie

[Ouchez]

> Anyway, I'm madly in love with my
> best friend of the last 8 years, so what
> more do I need?

If he is as madly in love with you as you are with him then I must say you have a beautiful life, congratulations.

Ouchez.

[oldnewbie]

Point taken. I remember an apartment I used to live in...But I digress. I live in a great neighborhood now, and I have thought about moving to LV when I retire, in 7-10 yrs, but reading about your experiences, I am more inclined now to just visit every now and then. No offense, but Fort Worth just seems a lot friendlier!

[Bettie]

> I have thought
> about moving to LV when I retire, in 7-10
> yrs, but reading about your experiences, I
> am more inclined now to just visit every now
> and then.

For a more objective point of view, try reading Nevada in Your Future by Martin & Martin. It's a great book that covers just about every aspect of relocating to Nevada. It may be available in your local library; we have a used copy of the first edition in our web catalog; and the latest edition is bound to be in your local bookstore.

Bettie