Las Vegas is easy to overlook in some ways. When we say “Las Vegas,” we don’t just mean the gaudy extravagance that populates the Vegas strip. We also mean the places outside the tourist hotspots.
Believe it or not, not everyone in Vegas goes there for a party and leaves before the hangover has worn off.
The city has a population of over 600,000 souls, which makes it one of the 30 biggest cities in the United States. Transplants are drawn to the warm climate and lack of state income tax, among other benefits. Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether or not to pack up your belongings and head to Sin City.
Weather and housing: Living in Seattle and suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder due to the lack of sunlight? That shouldn’t be an issue in Vegas, which averages almost 300 sunny days per year. You’ll be living in the middle of the desert, so don’t expect a lot of rainstorms, either.
Other parts of the country get fifty or sixty inches of precipitation a year, but in Vegas, the norm is more like five or six inches. You won’t have to worry about putting snow tires on your car in winter, but you will have to make sure your car’s air conditioning can handle all the strain of Vegas summers.
But thanks to the dry air, a temperature reading of 100 in Vegas may not feel as bad as an 80-degree day in Texas.
Housing prices are up and supply is scarce in Vegas. That’s a problem faced by many other cities in the Western half of the country, but the median price of a house in Vegas stood at less than $300,000 as spring 2018. That’s much cheaper than you’ll find in most coastal cities on the West Coast.
It may be a little tough to find a house or apartment that’s big enough for all your stuff, but if you can’t find it right away, don’t worry. Look into self storage Las Vegas as a way to temporarily store the possessions you don’t have room to keep in your new Vegas residence. Finding a reputable storage company will go a long way towards helping you trust that your items will be safe until you can find space for them.
Vegas economy: It shouldn’t come as a surprise to find out that the economy in Las Vegas is heavily dependent on the tourism and hospitality industries. The city is considered one of the premier destinations in the world for adults who want to kick back and have a good time. It has a ton of hotel and meeting rooms for business conventions, and some of the best chefs in the world head to Vegas to open new restaurants.
If you want to see a show, you can watch the vocal acrobatics of a pop star like Celine Dion or the actual acrobatics of the very flexible performers at Cirque du Soleil. What if sports are more your thing? In 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights brought National Hockey League action to town, and they turned out to be much better than the typical expansion team.
In fact, they made the Stanley Cup Final in their very first year of existence. The sports action will pick up even more in the next couple of years, as the Oakland Raiders football team is scheduled to move from the Bay Area to the desert.
Like every other city, Vegas has some issues. Easy access to alcohol and gambling can be a really bad thing for people who are already struggling with addiction issues. While some of the locals ignore the slot machines and the card tables, others spend all their money and free time trying to hit the next jackpot.
Vegas is not a place for people without any sense of self-control, but you’ll be fine as long as you can handle the decadence in a responsible manner.