Las Vegas Living

Environment and Climate

Las Vegas is located in the Mojave Desert, on the west side of the US in southern Nevada, surrounded by Arizona, California, Oregon and Utah. While tourism is one part of the city’s life, the incredible nature around it is mostly unknown by visitors and provides year-round outdoor recreational opportunities including hiking, mountain and road biking, rock climbing, skiing, sledding and more.

Lake Mead, formed by the Hoover Dam, creates a huge water reservoir for the greater Las Vegas area and is home to various wildlife and rare desert plants.

Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire are beautiful recreation areas with their signature red rock formations that are inviting for climbing, hiking and contemplating.

Mt. Charleston has beautiful hikes, mountain biking trails, camping opportunities as well as skiing, snowboarding and sledding during the winter months.

The dry, warm climate attracts many people to visit as well as relocate to the area. With an average yearly climate of 80˚F/26˚C, we have sunny days and moderate temperatures most of the year, allowing residents and visitors to enjoy being outside daily. During our extremely hot summer months, many of our parks are equipped with splash pads to keep cool, and many homes and communities maintain pools as well.

Water as Life Source

For centuries the Las Vegas valley was inhabited by the Paiute tribe. The Big Spring (also called Las Vegas Spring) provided these indigenous people with water and a green meadow oasis in the middle of the desert. Travelers who settled in the West following the Old Spanish Trail between New Mexico and California started profiting from the water and camped near the spring in the early 1800’s. The City of Las Vegas was founded in 1909 and since then has never stopped growing. The Colorado River that flows into Lake Mead provides a population of over 2,027,828 people with water in the valley today.

Culture

Las Vegas is a fast growing, multi-cultural city which hosts almost 50 shows at any time, including 8 Cirque du Soleil shows, that attract thousands of artists from all around the world. The city is also home to the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nevada Conservatory Theater, the Nevada Ballet Theater, the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas UNLV with 30,000 students. The shows on the Las Vegas Strip and the Smith Performing Arts Center offer a broad variety of performing arts. Other cultural attractions include the Neon museum, the Natural History museum, renovated downtown hosting First Friday, Container Park, Nevada Conservatory Theater at UNLV, Children’s Discovery Museum, Springs Preserve, Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, and the Nevada School of the Arts with an incredible Suzuki String program.

Higher Education

Living

Housing prices are relatively low compared to much of the United States.

No State Taxes!

Easy national and international travel via McCarran International Airport

All the benefits of a big city with the ease of living like a small town.

Lots of small local business, as well as larger corporations such as Whole Foods and IKEA.

A true foodie town with michelin starred restaurants on the strip to world class, small local eateries with a focus on sustainability.

Summerlin, master planned community with 20 parks www.summerlin.com

Clean city with lots of newly built areas, parks, malls, outdoor shopping areas, etc.

Food Consciousness

Despite being in the desert, there are many local farms in the Las Vegas Valley utilizing sustainable agricultural practices.

There are also many restaurants that use organic and locally sourced produce in their meals.

Restaurant options are vast and satisfy all palates and dietary needs. Our selection includes casual dining to over 15 Michelin starred restaurants (including at least one 3-starred restaurant).

We also have Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s and many farmer’s markets.

Intuitive Forager Farmers Markets

Fresh52 Farmers’ Market

Vegas Roots Community Garden

Quail Hollow Farm CSA

Vegas Food Coop

Gilcrease Orchard

Bloomin’ Desert Herb Farm

The Farm

Around Vegas

Grand Canyon National Park (123 m from LV)

Death Valley (149 m from LV)

Lake Havasu (153 m from LV)

Zion National Park (160 m from LV)

Bryce Canyon National Park (262 m from LV)

Lake Powell (270 m from LV)

Los Angeles (270 m from LV)

Resources