I live here too, but I have also lived in Los Angeles and having lived in both places I would say that this is the lesser of two evils. Everything bad here is magnified by a factor of 10 in Los Angeles. Used to be that one could say that the weather is better there but forest fires and if there's such a thing as global warming then LA is definitely experiencing it. Malibu is where I lived right on the beach across from the ocean and there were several days well over 100° last summer and most people don't have AC In Malibu because "if you live on the beach you don't need it". What BS. Anyway, I empathize with your point about the quality of people here in Las Vegas. I sold my place in Malibu and have been here for about six years and the only way I can describe the way I feel here is a combination of PTSD meets hypervigilance which all in all is actually one in the same. Everyone here is out to steal whatever they can from you. Dentists should be imprisoned. They may be the absolute worst and most corrupt of all of the professional class in Las Vegas that I've had the distinct displeasure of Being roughed up financially. Lawyers everywhere. You see them on television at 3 o'clock in the morning all 50 of them trying to get you to sue for every fender bender. I do believe there are people here who are deliberately trying to get hit by a car to collect insurance. I'm so aware of the cons that go on out here on so many multiple levels that I don't even drink and party and go out anymore. I'm always on guard. There's a ton of unstable people walking around even in the suburbs out here that are supposed to be nice. But near the strip you don't know what you're going to come up against. It's legal to carry guns out here without even a license. I see a lot of modern middle-age wannabe tough guys who look like they want to be a combination of Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke and a fighter in the UFC. And they walk around with guns holstered on their hips. A ton of middle-age males walking around all looking like they want to be the toughest guy on the block. Many stare downs. I'm always looking out for the next con and the next guy to step in front of my car trying to get hit and all of the other knuckleheads that are driving 100 mph and cutting me off every which way to Sunday either deliberately attempting to get me into an accident or they are just young dumb and stupid I don't know what. I feel sorry that you own a business out here. I had thought about that when I first arrived. I can and could afford to buy a business but after being here for a year or two I knew that this was a short-term proposition. Every day that I wake up I always have this idea that I'm only going to be here for a short time more and then I'm going to get out of here but strangely enough it's been six years and I haven't done so yet. It's easy to get complacent here as the housing is so incredibly cheap or at least where I live it is. Centennial Hills 2018 four-bedroom home for $1300 a month brand-new construction. Try finding that on the coast. Every day sunny and before you know it another year has passed. Anyway I like your post and the advice that I would give anybody living in Las Vegas but then again unfortunately for that matter mostly anyplace in this country but particularly Las Vegas is watch your wallet and grow eyes in the back of your head both literally and metaphorically. There's a lot of guys out here whose main job and goal is to work you over financially. As is the case for most US cities, Vegas was one hell of a whole lot better 40 years ago than it is today. There were 350,000 people here in 1983 and now it's over 2 million and I can tell you the quality of life is significantly worse but again you can say that about Los Angeles San Diego and probably most other cities. Las Vegas can be a scary place. Another sad thing I've noticed which may be the case in other cities I don't know, is that I can drive around my neighborhood and look at every single house and everyone has their shades drawn on every single window in the house. I don't see neighbors in the community getting together for barbecues or children playing outside. It looks like a ghost town though I'm certain all of these homes are inhabited but with the Blinds drawn it has the appearance of people hiding and cowering in their homes. This is not the feeling of a place that I had when growing up in my small town back east. Good luck
edmund | Spring Valley, NV | Report Abuse