Need Advice on Vegas!

Anyone living in or around Vegas.

I hope you guys can help me out. I have been thinking about changing career fields and one of them takes me to Creech AFB about 30 min north of Vegas. So I was hoping you guys could give me the pros and cons of living in or around Vegas. I am big into being outside and hoping living in the desert wont hinder my recreational activates. I’m used to having trees and grass everywhere and I think that this will be my biggest shock. Also like fishing and water sports. I’m not big into gambling or anything like that.

I would appreciate any advice and insight you could give a guy thinking about moving to town.

 

How do you feel about extreme heat?...................

 

There's plenty of recreational activities to do around Las Vegas, tons of mountain biking, dirt bike/atv trails, rock climbing, hiking, camping year round, world class ski resorts just an hour flight away and plenty of nightlife. It's also sunny with clear skies 330 days a year. But You won't find too many trees or lakes around, I sold my boat and jet skis after I moved down here because I despise Lake Mead. The closest lake fishing would be southern Utah (2 1/2 hours) or northern AZ (2 1/2 hours) or Ocean fishing off the CA coast (4 hours).

 

x2 on heat;
no country roads to wander (you'll wander into the dessert [EDIT: that's "desert");
prepare to drag race between stop lights (Charleston especially); and,
tint your windows...if you haven't already done so.

Good luck, man!

 

thanks for the tips.

@Ecapvegas (nice name by the way) why would you dispise Lake Mead?

 

Lake Mead is pretty sad.....the water level has dropped a rediculous amount in the past couple years. The fish there, well I'd be afraid to eat them myself lol. We had a boat and sold it, our friends who still have theirs don't go out as much now as a few years ago.

My boss has a fishing boat and travels all over the state to fish in ponds, but they are fairly small. If you are interested I can always ask him for some names of places not too far away from town. He does fish in Lake Mead and doesn't have any issues there.

There are mountains nearby, so hiking, camping, offroading, climbing and things like that are available and close to town. Check out Red Rock Canyon, Mt. Charleston...
Also Valley of Fire, Logandale Trails, Amargosa Valley are some places to look into, lots of outdoor recreation there.

What kind of outdoor activites are you specifically looking for?
I've been here 25 years and I love the outdoors .

 

As far as the fishing goes, there is the Colorado River near Nelson's Landing, and lots of trails down to the river. There is also Willow Beach, Lake Mojave, and several lakes and streams to fish. Hunting is a different matter. There are lots of hunting areas, however, they are quite a ways out of Las Vegas. Depending on the type of work you do, it may get difficult to get a job. I know construction has slowed down a lot as the casinos are not doing nearly as much building, and other jobs have quite a few applicants for jobs that do open up. If you are a teacher, there may be open positions, but mostly for math and special ed. There may be openings for science teachers, but the openings in other fields is pretty scarce. Traffic here is a nightmare for the most part. I-15 is especially bad during rush hours, as is the 215 beltway. If there is an accident on any freeway, pack a lunch or dinner if you have to get from one end of the valley to the other. If you like shooting, the Clark County Shooting Park just opened and it is a fantastic facility. There is an archery range, a skeet and trap range, and a rifle/pistol range. Housing isn't a problem, as there are plenty of places to live, depending on whether you want to buy, or rent. I would suggest buying as it seems a lot (and I mean a lot) of people have been force out of their rentals by landlords who default on the mortgages of their rental properties.

 

@RogeLeader are you still in the Air Force? and if so are you stationed at Nellis or Creech?

 

I go to vegas all the time with my wife and our friends and we quit going in the summer because its 100+ and when the wind is slightly blowing its like walking in a friggin hairdryer.

Its tough for me to say it because I gamble alot, but dont get hooked onto gambling, because Vegas is EXPENSIVE!

 

I've been retired from the Air Force since 1971. I still go to the base for medical, as well as B-X and Commissary use. Creech AFB is located in Indian Springs, which is located about 27 miles from the present northern most communities here in Vegas. It's a small base, with really no facilities except for repairing and recovering aircraft who have inflight emergencies, and as I understand it, command and control of UCAVS.