City, State, CountryLas Vegas, NV, USA
Average housing costA typical one room apartment goes for ~$900-1200/month. There are some more seedy parts of town where you can get under that, but then you'll have to deal with higher crime and sketchy management. There are also some more upscale places that can push $1500/month.
As for housing, there's options across the board:
- If you want something cheap for ~$100k, it's available. Largely in the part of town ~5-10 minutes east of The Strip. Some in North Las Vegas. Some in Chinatown. Others scattered throughout.
- The "sweet spot" is probably $200-400k.
- There are options a step up from that for maybe $400-800k too.
- Probably not relevant here, but there are million dollar homes, $5M homes, $10M+ homes. Largely in Summerlin, which is about 20-30 minutes west of The Strip, and then Green Valley in second place.
If you're looking for a more urban atmosphere, you can't really find that here in Vegas. The only option would be Downtown Vegas, ie. around Fremont Street. I lived there for a year and a) it isn't actually an urban atmosphere, and b) it is missing a lot of the practical things you'd need to live: supermarkets, libraries, parks, etc. The type of person that it'd be a good fit for is someone who eats out a lot and enjoys exploring different bars (or someone who wants to be within walking distance to casinos), but I don't expect many Mustachians to fit that description.
Indoor HobbiesAll of the stuff that you'd find in a major city: malls, shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, bowling, etc. The notable ones here that you wouldn't find elsewhere of course involve casinos. Gambling, shows, fine dining, etc.
There's also a lot of stuff on Groupon, maybe leaning on the touristy side.
Oh, and there's weed. It's legal and there are dispensaries everywhere.
Outdoor HobbiesThere are plenty of parks.
Being a valley that is surrounded by mountains, there's some good hiking on the outskirts. From one end of town to the other is only maybe 45-60 minutes by car, so you're never too far from hiking if it's what you want.
Be careful though, you might come across scorpions and stuff. The mascot of Nevada State College is a scorpion. I don't hike much so I don't know how common it is to come across stuff like that, but for me it isn't fun to be out there having to worry about encountering a snake or scorpion. There are also some coyotes in the mountains. I've had an encounter with them once.
There's also Lake Las Vegas which is maybe a 30 minute drive. I see a lot of people with boats who take advantage of that. And there's another lake somewhere about an hour away.
People near the mountains also do a lot of offroading. I live in Henderson right now and see it all the time.
If you like biking, there are some decent options, mostly on the outskirts of town. Check out
https://www.traillink.com/city/las-vegas-nv-trails/. It never gets too hilly. On the outskirts there's a little bit of an incline but it isn't too bad.
As for the more interior parts of town, it isn't a great place to bike. I bike as my means of transportation, and I don't think Vegas was really designed well for bikers. Sidewalks and bike paths mysteriously end sometimes, and it's usually hard to find a bike rack at places. And in some parts of town you have to worry about your bike getting stolen (I've had mine stolen outside of a bar, my friend had his stolen outside of a casino, and that's just generally the vibe I get. I'm not actually sure what the data says.)
Note that it's insanely hot for 3-4 months of the year, and you can't really be outside, which really sucks.
Weather (High Temps, Low Temps, Seasons, Sun)Summers are totally insane. 100-120 degrees during the day, with a very strong sun. You really can't be outside. I remember a friend who was visiting explained it perfectly: it feels like the wave of heat you feel when you open up the oven. Personally, I get headaches if I'm outside for too long, which sometimes is only five minutes.
Even at night time it's often 90-100 degrees and being outside is uncomfortable. So for 3-4 months out of the year you can't really be outside. To me this is the big downside with living in Vegas.
However, there are people who don't mind the heat. No one can be outside when it's 120 and sunny, but when it's closer to 100-110 some people enjoy laying out by the pool with shade.
Winters can actually get cold. We had snow last year, but hitting below freezing is very rare. It'll get into the 40s though.
And then of course fall and spring are in between.
Favorite thingsI play poker so that has to be my favorite thing about Vegas.
A close second is the food, and I don't mean on The Strip. There are some really awesome restaurants off The Strip. I've lived in Culver City, Gainesville, Pittsburgh, and Long Island and the quality of restaurants here really strikes me as something that is notable. It isn't consistently good, you do have to do your research and find the good places, but there are a bunch of really, really good mid-level restaurants with dishes in the $15-25 price range. Here are some of my favorites:
- Korean BBQ: Tofu Hut
- Thai: Archis, Arawan or Lotus of Siam
- Sushi: Sushi Neko
- Pizza: Settebello ($5 pies on Mondays), Those Guys Pies or Pizza Rock
- Mexican: Viva Mercados
- American: Carson's Kitchen, Hash House
- Italian: Eataly
- Diner: The Peppermill
- Donuts: Master Donuts
Note: I know eating out can be a little anti-Mustachian, but I think it's ok if you do it once or twice a month. That's what I try to do.
Least favorite thingsThe heat. For 3-4 months of the year, you really can't be outside.
Words of wisdom/Advice- Avoid eating on The Strip. Perhaps a little cliche, but it's true. There are so many great options off The Strip that are both cheaper and better.
- Chinatown is a fun place to hang out. I especially like exploring the ethnic supermarkets.
- Walking around The Strip or Downtown loses it's luster. Ie. it can be fun as a tourist for a few days, but it isn't an activity that remains fun after that.
- Once you're off The Strip, it really just feels like a normal town. Well, there are casinos and slot machines scattered around, and it's common to know people in the hospitality industry, but you get used to that. Once you're used to it it just feels like a normal town.
- Poker is a pretty fun hobby! Just make sure you take the time to learn the game. With a few weeks/months of study and experience you can be a profitable player at $1-2 blinds.
- Some other points about poker. 1) If you feel the need to give gambling a try, your expected return is probably better by spending 10 minutes reading about the basics of poker (eg. just stick to good hands) and playing poker than by playing the slots or something. 2) There's something magical and fun about the vibe at a poker table to me. It might be worth it just for the social experience.
- There are some really awesome views on the outskirts of town, especially at night. Since it's a valley the outskirts are at a higher elevation, so you get a really nice perspective of the whole town, with The Strip lit up in the background.
Sustainability options (gardening, solar, etc)I don't know too much about it, but with such a strong sun I assume that solar is a good option.
Electric carsMy girlfriend has an electric car. It has a range of about 75 miles (Ford Focus Electric). It works out relatively well here in Vegas. We can go from one end of town to the other on a full charge, but in a bigger city we wouldn't be able to do that, so Vegas' smaller size works out well for us. Our 75 mile range is small though, most electric cars have 100+ mile ranges.
One issue is that there aren't too many charging stations available. Also a lot of the places with charging stations only have 2-8 options, and they might be already taken by a different electric car owner, so you can't always rely on it being available for you. This makes it hard to spend the day driving around from place to place. We don't really have enough charge for that, but we would if we were able to charge it at more places we would. This is probably a blessing in disguise though, since driving around isn't something that I want to do anyway.
Living here without a carI've lived here for about four years without a car. Well, my girlfriend has one so it kinda doesn't count. Here's what I've found. With some research and a little bit of luck, you can find a location where all of your necessities are close by. I used to live at Ritiro Apartments in Summerlin and had a library, supermarket, gym, park, movie theater (half price on Tuesdays!), great restaurants, CVS, FedEx, and banks all within a half-mile of me. You can definitely find places like that in Vegas. Sometimes you'll have to bike 30-60 minutes if you're going somewhere further. And sometimes you might need to Uber, eg. if you're going shopping and can't hold it all on your bike, or maybe if you're sick and need to go to the doctor, but that's ok if you need to Uber sometimes. The biggest obstacle is probably grocery shopping. You might want to get groceries delivered if you don't have a car, especially if you don't want to be outside in the summer.
Also, the buses here are pretty good. I've used them a lot and they're almost always on time, rarely crowded, very comfortable air conditioning in the summer, and free WiFi that is plenty fast! Amazing! A single ride is $2 and an all day pass is $5. I used to take the bus when I lived in Summerlin and wanted to go to The Strip to play poker, or when I wanted to go to the Steelers bar (Noreens!!!). It takes longer than a car ride, but us Mustachians don't mind, right?
Tech sceneThere isn't really much of a tech scene here. I'm a programmer and entrepreneur. I'm also the organizer of the Indie Hackers Las Vegas meetup. It's really hard to find people to attend the meetup, and in talking to other programmers and entrepreneurs there, the consensus is that the tech scene is pretty weak here. I work out of coffee shops sometimes and don't meet a lot of other programmers or tech entrepreneurs. And as for jobs, Zappos is a good option, but there isn't much else. The messages I get on LinkedIn are all from weird gaming companies trying to sucker away more money from gamblers. No thank you.
People/CultureThe people here are... normal? I wish I could comment more, but I can't think of anything else to say. There's a variety of people. You'll meet different types of people in different parts of town. I don't really notice anything distinct about the people here in Vegas.
Maybe that's just me though. I lived in Gainesville, Pittsburgh and Culver City and would say the same thing about those places. Eg. I can't really point to something noteworthy about the people there. Growing up on Long Island there are definitely more of the pretentious wealthy types, but in day-to-day life I don't think it's something you notice. I've never been someone who notices much about the people around me. Maybe in more extreme places it'd be different. Like maybe the places I've lived in are all too moderate and something like Portland would be ultra-hipster or Iowa would be ultra farmy and conservative and I would notice that.
Actually, one thing to note about the people of Las Vegas is that there's a ton of transplants. You won't meet too many locals. A lot of the transplants come from California or somewhere else on the west coast, but definitely a fair share of those from the east coast as well. And it makes sense because Vegas just isn't a very old city. The modern Strip started becoming a thing in the 1980s and I believe most of the expansion happened around then.
PoliticsNevada is known as a swing state. My impression of Vegas specifically is that people lean a little more left. I don't have a good feel for this though; I haven't talked to many people I meet about politics.
The only thing that comes to mind is that off The Strip at some local casinos like Red Rock, there's a lot of old white men and sometimes you get a conservative vibe. Sometimes they'll even start rambling about politics, but that isn't too common.
DogsDogs seem pretty popular. I have one. There are plenty of vets and dog parks. The big thing worth mentioning here is, again, the summer. I walk my dog in the morning and at night during the summer because I don't want to be outside midday.
And, by the way, my dog doesn't want to be outside midday either! You can definitely tell. He's panting and sometimes stops walking and tugs on me like he wants to go home. Also, the pavement can get really hot and hurt their paws, so be careful of that.
SchoolsI've heard the schools are really bad here. From talking to people, I feel pretty confident that it's true. My girlfriend grew up here and went through the school system. A lot of people don't graduate or take it seriously, and the quality of instruction can be pretty bad. Standards are also very low. One issue is that the casinos often offer solid jobs for kids who are in high school that don't require them to graduate, and there's a feeling of "Why would I go to class when I already have a comfortable job available?".
My two cents are that this doesn't matter. You're responsible for your own education. If you want to learn something, libraries and the internet provide you with all that you need.
Actually, I'm sure that there are good options in wealthy areas. Maybe public, maybe private, I'm not sure.
ConclusionVegas is a great place to live other than the summers. It's pretty affordable and has everything you need. It could be more friendly to people without cars, you could make do.
The big issue is the summer. You really just can't be outside for 3-4 months out of the year, and that's a dealbreaker to me (once my girlfriend finishes school we plan on moving).