A look at some of the quirks and culture you'll enjoy when you move to Las Vegas.

1. 7 Things You Should Know if You’re Moving to Las Vegas
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What to expect when living in the 24/7 town.
1) You will need a guest room.
Folks who move to Vegas find that long lost Aunt Grace and distant Cousin
Joe miss them so much they just have to come for a visit. Add one to the
number of bedrooms you thought you needed. The extra room doesn’t have
to be too big. Don’t make it too comfortable or they might never leave.
2) This is t he real “Cit y t hat never sleeps”.
You can go to dinner, a show, stop into a lounge for music afterwards. Maybe
play a little. Next thing you know you’re in line at the Valet as the sun comes
up.
It isn’t only the Casinos that are open all night. You’ll find fast food restaurants
stay open later. There’s a 24 hour manicure/pedicure shop close to the Hard
Rock. Most supermarkets stay open 24 hrs. Pho Kim Long on Spring
Mountain is open 24 hours a day for those who crave Won Ton Soup & Chow
Mein for breakfast. This is a town where night owls are at home. Just buy the
heavy duty black- out shades for those days when you get to bed at 6 a.m.
3) Sunshine and Blue Skies.
Vi n ta g e Ne o n s i g n s ca n b e s e e n a l o n g th e
S tr i p a n d i n th e d o wn to wn a r e a a s we l l a s
a t th e Ne o n B o n e ya r d
NV is the “Silver” State. Could be the “Sunshine State”. In Las Vegas, we
average 300 days of sunshine per year. It seldom rains in Las Vegas but
when it does it can pour. Average annual rainfall is only 4.17 inches over 21
days. Sometimes the little rain we get can come all at once. As much as an inch or two can pour down in half an hour
or less. When that happens, you may need a kayak.
On rare occasions it snows in Vegas. Maybe once or twice a year we might get a little of the white stuff. Snow in
Vegas is more like a well trained house guest. It shows up, looks pretty for a little while and goes away before you get
tired of it. Or have to shovel it.
4) We’ve Got Parks and Recreat ion.
Head East to the Grand Canyon. Bus tours to and from the Grand Canyon will take an entire day. Helicopter flights will
give you an incredible over- view of the park in a much shorter time frame. If you drive to the Grand Canyon, you’ll have
time to visit Lake Mead National Recreation area and the Hoover Dam.
To the North, we have Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. A great trip is to drive through Zion and on to Bryce
Canyon. Bryce will take about 6 hours by car and is a ski destination in Winter. Zion is three and a half hours and offers
views of sandstone formations.
One of the most surprising parks is Death Valley. It spans over 3.4 Million acres. You’ll find multi- hued Mountains and
Sand Dunes. In the midst of it is a Golf course with a date palm grove at Furnace Creek. It descends to 282 feet below
sea level at its lowest point. One of the loops in the park is “Artist Palette”. Once you see it, you’ll understand why
Death Valley is a visual feast. And it’s just over two hours from Las Vegas by car.
The Valley of Fire is just over an hour’s drive Northeast from Las Vegas and offers great hiking, camping and photo ops.
South of the Hoover Dam, Lake Mojave is popular for skiing and jet skies.
Tourists and locals alike enjoy Red Rock Conservation area.

2. Tourists and locals alike enjoy Red Rock Conservation area.
It’s just a few minutes West of Summerlin. Red Rock Country
Club and the Ridges of Summerlin border the Conservation
area. Residents have access to hiking trails that lead into the
Mountains. Public access to Red Rock is just West of the
Paseos of Summerlin. It features a scenic drive that takes
about 45 minutes by car. At various points you can park along
the way and go exploring. There are miles of hiking paths.
Rock climbing is another big sport in the area.
5) Yes, Virginia, we do have “gaming” in Las Vegas.
Several years ago, home buyers received a z oning map of
the Valley with current and future Casinos outlined. It was good
for a laugh when asking, “Could you sign this form showing that
you know there are Casinos nearby?”
Me s q u i te Du n e s a n d m u l ti -h u e d Mo u n ta i n s o f De a th Va l l e y
Gaming isn’t only in the Casinos. You can find machines in grocery stores, drug stores, even the airport. If your mate
runs out to pick up a gallon of milk and doesn’t return for a couple of hours – maybe they were at the supermarket all
that time.
6) Las Vegas Has a Unique Hist ory t hat is st ill unf olding
Las Vegas incorporated as a City in 1905. Construction on the Hoover Dam brought the first major employment to the
Valley. As Las Vegas started to grow, it attracted some colorful characters. Bugsy Siegel may have led the way for the
mob connection but he wasn’t the only gangster to spend time in Sin City. You can find out more about that element at
The Mob Museum. Our former Mayor, Oscar Goodman was instrumental in building the Mob Museum. Goodman
himself is a former mob attorney. Long before Toronto had a mayor who likes to indulge, Mayor Goodman was
infamous for his Bombay Saphire Martinis. Term limits kept “the world’s happiest Mayor” from running for another term.
Instead we elected his charming wife Carolyn as the current Mayor.
Both Mayor’s Goodman have devoted themselves to promoting and revitaliz ing downtown LV. On top of the Mob
Museum, we now have the Neon Boneyard where many of the classic old Neon signs are on display. The signs are
also displayed along Las Vegas Blvd in the Downtown area and at several spots along Fremont Street.
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts opened in the Spring
of 2012. It has received international acclaim and brought a
diverse selection of talent to our town. It’s home to the Nevada
Ballet and the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Featured genres also
includes Broadway plays, jaz z , classical and a speaker’s
series.
Recently Tony Hsieh of Zappos fame has thrown his efforts
and finances into the Downtown area. He started by taking
over the old City Hall and transforming it into the Zappos
Headquarters. Hsieh’s vision of a revitaliz ed downtown is on
the Downtown Project’s website.
The latest opening is the Downtown Container Park with
shopping, restaurants and entertainment. It’s housed in recycled Cargo Containers. Other businesses are also finding
downtown worthwhile. The Lady Luck was closed, gutted and
re- opened as the Downtown Grand. New restaurants have
opened and the area is now a trendy spot for both tourist and
locals. Things are definitely looking up for Downtown Las
Vegas.
Da n ce r s fr o m th e Ne va d a B a l l e t a t th e G a l a O p e n i n g o f th e
S m i th Ce n te r
During the recession we saw a slowdown in new developments throughout town. We are now seeing new projects.
Most recent opening was the Linq which will soon feature the world’s tallest observation wheel. Next big Hotel/Casino

3. opening will be the SLS which replaces the old Sahara. Suburbs like Summerlin are seeing an increase in the
construction of new homes. Henderson has a new water park opening this Spring. The Shops at Summerlin will be
open later this year.
With all these activities and great weather, boredom is a word we seldom hear in Las Vegas.
7) There are Great Neighborhoods in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas sits on an East West grid that makes it easy to navigate. The Strip and the 15 Fwy run North- South through
the center of the Valley. The 215 Beltway surrounds most of the town. The 95 connects the Northwest and Southeast
corners of the valley. It’s easy to get around the entire town in an hour or less. You’ll find great neighborhoods on all
sides of the Valley. The most distant communities are still within a 20- 30 minute drive to the Strip.
Most People in Vegas are from somewhere else. They are friendly and welcome newcomers.
“7 Things You Should Know if You’re Moving to Las Vegas” is written by Debbie Drummond, a top Las Vegas Realtor.
Looking to buy or sell your Las Vegas home, call (702)354- 6900 or email Debbie@LVHomePro.com.
Thanks to our friend Rich Cedarburg for inspiring us to write this post. Thinking of a more laid- back desert town? Read
Rich’s 7 Things you Should Know if Moving to Albuquerque.