[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by TonyC99

How far west of the Boulevard Mall is it bad? I'm marking areas on my map that are relatively dangerous just so I am sure to avoid them on future trips or if I move there.

Step out the back door of the Boulevard Mall, walk to the edge of the parking lot, and turn around. You're looking west. From there all the way to Koval Lane, and running north/south from DI Road to about Russell Road, is one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous place in town...but mostly after dark. When I see conventioneers parking on Sierra Vista and walking to the Convention Center, I always want to stop and yell, "Are you crazy?"

Actually, the areas adjacent to that are pretty bad too, and going north it doesn't get OK until you get about a mile north of Craig Road.

[Buzz123]

If you live in the northwest part of own, I discovered that taking Rancho Road was usually better than getting on US 95, especially if you have to get from I-15 to US-95 at the spaghetti bowl. From Maryland Parkway, I usually worked my way over to 4th Street, then over to main, and took Alta to Rancho. It was usually faster and less stressful than getting on the freeways.

Going to work in the morning I took Alexander to Rancho to Sahara to Joe W. Brown, etc. Sometimes I would turn on Oakey and get over to Main, then St. Louis to Paradise, but that is risky because of the train tracks on Oakey.

[Chest Rockwell]

Actually, the areas adjacent to that are pretty bad too, and going north it doesn't get OK until you get about a mile north of Craig Road.

You just said that the area between Russell and Craig is all pretty bad? You should really be more specific, since you've included the entire UNLV campus, the very nice Hughes Center, the entire John S. Park neighborhood and many other wonderful parts of Las Vegas.

How about just including the entire area between California and Utah, since we're going to be so vague?

[Cyberyukon]

I remember last year or so the Las Vegas Weekly magazine dedicated an entire cover story to those areas mentioned above and the crime problems there. I think they referred to it as "Little South Central".

So yeah. I pretty much scratched that off my list of neighborhoods to move to.

What about east Las Vegas? Out by Sam's Town? What's life like out there?

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

You just said that the area between Russell and Craig is all pretty bad? You should really be more specific, since you've included the entire UNLV campus, the very nice Hughes Center, the entire John S. Park neighborhood and many other wonderful parts of Las Vegas.

How about just including the entire area between California and Utah, since we're going to be so vague?

I know that you are pushing people into the old neighborhoods in the central area of town, but lemme tell you something. I've been here for 43 years and I know Las Vegas. I have lived in many of those areas that are now very run down, and as such, they attract low lifes and dangerous people. Maybe not all the people who live in the older areas are criminals, but by the very fact that they are run down it is cheaper for people to live there. The people who look for cheaper housing IN LAS VEGAS are usually not the kind of people that you would want as your neighbors. This town isn't like other cities in that we have established older neighborhoods where families have lived forever and will always live there because they have friends and relatives nearby. It doesn't work that way here...never has and probably never will, no matter how hard you are trying to get people to waste their money trying to revitalize those areas. It ain't gonna happen. Sooner or later you yourself will probably realize it's not getting better, and in fact is just getting worse. So I'm betting you'll give up eventually. It's a shame, but that's the way it is here, just as it is in LA, and other southwestern cities. And honestly, I hope for all our sakes that I'm wrong.

So here's what I'm saying and I don't care who disagrees with me because I've probably been here longer than anyone on this board, and I've watched it happen to every neighborhood in town but Summerlin. All the old areas of town on the east side of the Strip to the top of Sunrise Mountain, and running north and south from at least Sunset Road in the south to about a mile or two past Craig in the North are crap, and your odds of being robbed and/or killed are greater in those areas, as is, in my humble opinion, your odds of losing on real estate. At least I did.

The only reason that Summerlin, Desert Shores, the Lakes, Peccole Ranch, and parts of Henderson are still nice after 20 years is that they are so strict about what residents can and can't do. Also the public/common areas of those communities are taken care of by fees paid for by every resident.

In 20 years the typical Las Vegas neighborhood becomes rundown and looks like crap, and the residents that end up taking over are, shall we say, not motivated to take care of their property...they don't have much pride of anything let alone pride of ownership.

That is not to say that everyone in older neighborhoods are like that, but about half are, and I have just gotten tired of trying to fight it; that's why I finally gave up and moved to a gated community with strict CC&Rs. While it's not in Summerlin, it is right on the edge. When they first started to build Summerlin we looked at models there and decided the people were too California plastic and Stepford-like so we didn't buy there. Now we are sorry we didn't because it is the only part of Las Vegas that I've seen in 43 years that hasn't gone to sh** in 20 years.

And hey, I'm one of the Las Vegas cheerleaders...but I've been forced to be realistic about things like that over the years.

[Chest Rockwell]

The people who look for cheaper housing IN LAS VEGAS are usually not the kind of people that you would want as your neighbors.

The people I wouldn't want as my neighbors are the kind of people who make statements like this one.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

The people I wouldn't want as my neighbors are the kind of people who make statements like this one.

Now now...

There are certain things that beyond any reasonable doubt correlate with the income level of an area. School quality is one. Crime is another. Not all crime by the way. Burglars tend to go where housing is dense and the income high. No fun stealing from poor people.

I would and have suggested Huntridge/Park to middle aged couples who want an urban experience. If they were younger and had school age children I would not recommend it. (Not of course in my role as an RE Agent...RE Agents would simply have to refer them to a web site that says the same thing)

It is unfortunate in a number of ways but the income and housing values have very strong correlation with the quality of a neighborhood.

There are exceptions of course...which tend to prove the rule.

And I would point out the gentrification of a neighborhood tends to fix these problems...to rewards the early adopters who stick it out...and, with the increased property values make my initial position correct.

[Chest Rockwell]

And I would point out the gentrification of a neighborhood tends to fix these problems

Why wouldn't Las Vegas evolve as other cities have in respect to redevelopment and gentrification? I can't see why it wouldn't.

Yet, even if my neighborhood doesn't change for the better, I don't think that's at all a terrible thing, as I can find plenty of things right with it as is stands now. I think my neighbors are fine people, just as upstanding as you would find in any suburban setting of the same social stratus. The notion that as you travel along the freeway, the people become somehow more upstanding with each and every exit is delusional.

Of course, there are pros and cons to living anywhere, so the absolute terms that Buzz has given seem absurd to me. Telling prospective residents not to waste their time looking at anything between Craig and Russell is laughable. The conversation wasn't really about real estate at all, anyway. The original question was something to the effect of "What areas do I not want to even drive through because they are so terrible and dangerous."

I think this is the statement that upset me the most...

no matter how hard you are trying to get people to waste their money trying to revitalize those areas. It ain't gonna happen. Sooner or later you yourself will probably realize it's not getting better, and in fact is just getting worse. So I'm betting you'll give up eventually

First of all, I'm not trying to get anyone to do anything. I love where I live, and it seems that that is a sentiment you don't see very often in this town, especially on this forum. I'm just trying to give some decent advice to people, and have some nice discussions about Las Vegas. The idea that anyone fixing up older homes is wasting their money is upsetting to me too. I can see progress in just the few years since I've lived down here. At least 1/3 of the houses in disrepair have been renovated over this time. So it is happening. And as for me wanting to give up and move away, I already do. Mainly because my daughter will be going to school in a few years, downtown isn't the best place to live, but neither is Las Vegas for that matter. That's part of the pros and cons of living in a particular place. I'm capable of understanding them rationally, unlike others who have determined that the entire inside of the beltway is unliveable.

[5kingsinvegas]

If you use the 95 to get to work in the morning ALWAYS watch the traffic report in the morning before you leave....it doesn't matter if you are entering at Ann and there is an accident at Decatur....take the surface streets if you have any hope of being on time.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

The people I wouldn't want as my neighbors are the kind of people who make statements like this one.

If you had been here more than three years and understood the statement you might not say that. All I'm saying is that people do not buy a house in a nice neighborhood, raise kids, and grow old and die, surrounded by family and lifetime friends in Las Vegas neighborhoods like they do in cities back east. That actually goes for most of the west from what I've seen since moving here in 1964. But, as neighborhoods in Las Vegas grow old, they rundown faster than neighborhoods back east simply because our houses are built to last about 50 years or less, not 150 years as they are east of the Mississippi. As our neighborhoods lose their value they are taken over by low income people. Not all low income people are bad people. But many bad people IN THIS TOWN are low income. So you get neighborhoods that should be filled with cozy, quaint little bungalows, and nice old people who have been there forever being over run with people who live like pigs, and would cut your throat for a dollar. Sorry if that offends your senses but it's true HERE IN LAS VEGAS. It may not be true where you come from, and it may go against your plans to revitalize, but it's true. Buying in those old neighborhoods is a risky investment. Living in them is dangerous. I see that you agree that raising your children downtown is not something you want to do. Why is that? Aren't you saying the same thing I'm saying?

I'm just making observations based on 43 YEARS of experience in Las Vegas, and having lived and owned property all over town. How much experience do you have here?