Educated Non-Smokers Need Not Apply in Las Vegas
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2/8/2013
My Canadian wife and I moved to Las Vegas (from Georgia) last July 2012.
If you work in the field of Education-my wife and I do-Las Vegas is a true dessert. Education is not a priority here. It is not.
Homes are cheap enough. Rent is fairly affordable as well. As it happens everywhere, one must be careful with the area of town one chooses to live in.
If you work in the entertainment industry (read "gambling") your job prospects are decent in Las Vegas. If you have other areas of interest or expertise, expect poor results as there are no major industries in Las Vegas. All we do is mostly confined to the area of service.
Like any of the many thousands of people who come here, either permanently or just for a few days, I wanted to see the Strip and its beautiful casinos. The minute the heat became bearable, we marched there with great curiosity and the desire to have a good time. We were disappointed. The smell of cigarette/tobacco smoke is overpowering inside and around the casinos. The stench makes its way into food courts and rooms. We had to leave our hotel room and go to a friend's house. This applies to most hotels/casinos...no matter how fancy they might be. The famous Excelsiour is the biggest stench trap I have ever had the displeasure of visiting, albeit briefly.
Even if you go to certain movie theaters here, you must go through casinos and endure the stench.
Though discovered in the early 1600 by Blaise Pascal, the notion that gases do not have constant volume and travel erratically has not reached Las Vegas. Therefore, expect the stench of tobacco odors anywhere where there is the slightest bit of gambling. It seems that gamblers need to smoke in order to pull the lever and/or flip cards. Any form of lottery is strictly forbidden in Las Vegas in order to give 'our" the casinos any and all opportunities to attract gamblers. When jackpots reach over 100 million dollars, Vegans drive 1.5 hours into border towns in Arizona in order to buy their tickets.
So, here we are...in a beautiful city, with grandiose dining and spectacular entertainment. Some of the deals on food are great. Yet, we are not able to participate because there is no way we are going to smell that stench. It is like owning the best pastry store in the world and being a diabetic.
If education is important to you, do not move to Las Vegas (I'm a year older than the University of Nevada Las Vegas. If you value your health, do not move to Las Vegas. If extreme hot temperatures (4 months of over 100F in the summer are an issue for you, do not move to Las Vegas.
Winters are nice here, especially compared to the Northeast. Still, we have a great deal of unpleasant high winds.
If you are not a smoker, do not move to Las Vegas; every important recreational activity will be out of bounds for you.
As for living in the different "hoods" we have to offer...well, expect a lot of noise coming from "bassers" with their booming sounds. They will lower their car windows to conveniently regale you with a current selection of upbeat rap and hip hop, just for your entertaining pleasure. Add to that happy mix, impromptu car mechanics who do their repairs in front of their homes, and children and other young people who have never heard the expression "indoor voice". One of my neighbours has a rooster (and I live 2.5 miles from the Strip).
On the plus side, this city has an international airport that can connect you to any important place you think of. The roads are good (the drivers are so-so). Watch out for drivers who text and drive and/or use their cell phones while on the road. It is illegal to do that here, but many drivers ignore the rule.
There are many good restaurants that provide a fair variety of international cuisine. Avoid any eating place that has gambling machines and/or are inside casinos, as that means smoking.
Winters are mild, as I already stated. If you are in Las Vegas and wish to sky in the winter, a short one hour drive to Mount St. Charles will provide you with that opportunity.
During the fall, nearby Pahrump has a half-decent winery/restaurant.
During the hot summer season,there several public pools available, if you are the adventurous type.
There two Trader Joe's in town and a good selection of good ethnic stores where one can find exquisite treats from many areas of the world.
We do not have a single IKEA store in Las Vegas.
The racial mix here is featured by some degree of diversity, though highly stilted toward Hispanics. In some places, knowing Spanish is almost a must. We speak Spanish as well as English. If you are not multilingual...what are you waiting for, my amigo? I know, I know, this is America and the official language is English. No, it is not! Spaniards were here long before the English, just look at the names of some states: Montaña (you misspelled it as "Montana"), Florida, Nevada, California, Colorado and Tejas (Texas). Unlike Canada, the U.S. has no constitutional provisions of any kind to legislate the use of a national language.
Well, that's it for now. Make your own decision. These are the facts...as we see them.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Dave
Bp | Spring Valley, NV