Re: My trip to Vegas, I mean no offense.
Eh, I've lived in Vegas for 15 years and think everyone has valid points here. I haven't been to the strip/downtown in over 10 years as theres nothing of interest for me down there. Once you get away from the gambling and seedy parts of Vegas, it's a nice place to live if you like the heat.
We couldn't get out of Vegas for our anniversary this year so we stayed at a casino for a few nights... We were bored to death, no good movies on the TV or theater, restaurants closed early because of the economy, $100 gambling went like water through a sieve so we stopped, no perks. 2 months later we went to CA to actually celebrated our anniversary, spent the same amount of money and had a blast.
Vegas has changed from years ago and it's all about the casino's making money now, not about keeping their customers happy (and spending money). You used to be able to get great food and entertainment at a decent price and the casino's would make their money off the gambling. Now they ding you every way possible, making themselves more profitable, so I don't see the attraction to go to the casino's anymore. Seems every time we found a casino restaurant we like, they turn it into something else, oyster bar, fast food court. We went to our favorite casino restaurant a few weeks ago and it was changed to a chain restaurant, looked over the menu and walked out... It's not the same ol' Vegas anymore.
The suburbs are nice and I think it's a great place to live, lots of things to do close by; Charleston, Mead, Mohave, Utah is close and so is So Cal. No state tax is a bonus and while the traffic can get bad at times, it's nothing like Phoenix or So Cal. I don't mind living here, but would make a change in a heartbeat when/if the opportunity comes up.