Anyone near Vegas?

[kona]

I may have posted about this before (forgive me).  Does anyone have any experience living near Vegas?  M and I are desperately looking for a change and there is a job there paying six figures that seems really appealing.  If we didn't have kids it would be a no brainer to go, but obviously we have other ones to think about now. 

I have only been to Vegas once, when we drove across the country in 2009. I remember 2 things, my bike got stolen and the pavement was literally too hot for the dog after about 10AM so he had to go out early.

My real concerns are about family life in general.  Obviously we wouldn't live on the strip but how pervasive is the lifestyle off the strip?  And of course how gay family friendly is it? 

Thanks for any insights.

[rikkiandjulie]

I know several families that live there, aside from the strip it is pretty metropolitan. I think it's the same as any city, good and bad neighborhoods. I can probably get you the email of a lesbian family I know that lives there. It is pretty gay friendly as far as I know.

[JustJudy]

I have many friends that live there and they all love it. I could definitely see myself living there if it wasn't quite so hot in the summer. But rikkiandjulie, is right besides the strip being near by it's just like any other city. I have no idea what the schools are like though, you have a few year before that matters.

[cetcar]

I've never lived there and have only visited a couple of times but we have a friend that lived there for 7 years. She always said that once they had kids of school age they were going to move because the schools aren't that good- some of the lowest ranked in the country. They ended up moving earlier because their daughter was born with special needs and the hospital wasn't equipped enough to treat her (and she works in the healthcare field). While moving back to New Jersey (where she grew up) wasn't in the original plan, they ended up doing it so their daughter could be treated at CHOP.

They said real estate was very affordable. I noticed a lot of planned neighborhoods where the houses were similar but that's not every neighborhood.. To me, beyond the strip it seems very suburban with a lot of strip malls. And boy is it hot and dry! I constantly felt parched but maybe you would get used to it.

But again, I've only been a few times. Good luck with your decision! If you would like to talk to her more about it, I'm sure she would be open to it.

[kona]

Thanks for the responses. Despite our frustrations I'm not sure I can convince M to move there anyway. And poor schools are kind of a deal breaker.