[quote=svelte]It really depends on what you like. I would hate living in Nevada and just visiting California. Here’s why.
Las Vegas: we go there a few times a year, and while the strip is fun I find very little else appealing about that area. Not only is it unbearably hot during the summer, what most people forget is that it is also exceedingly dry. The people we know who live there have huge humidifiers in their homes, and even that is not enough to keep my wife and my noses from drying out to the point of bleeding. Couple that with the bleak landscape, lack of greenery, and the boring sterile dirty look of the buildings (except for the strip, which locals avoid anyway) and I think living there would actually bring me down. Finally, the town attracts a very weird element…it is fun to watch them on a weekend visit, but I doubt I’d like to live amongst them.
Reno/Carson City: Las Vegas on a smaller scale. We go here often too (relatives) and I just can’t imagine living there. Since it is smaller than LV, it lacks the only thing LV has going for it: a plethora of fun things to do on the strip. The Reno strip is tiny and pathetic in comparison. But just up the hill is Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas which can take some of the sting out of it. Problem is, during the summer that area is one big traffic jam. A drive that can take 20 min with no traffic will take hours. We’re not into skiing, so that really doesn’t help us either. There are pockets of nice areas between Reno and CC which would be acceptable for living, but we wouldn’t have ready access to the nightlife that we have here in San Diego.
If you think you’ll be visiting Calif often, then I would submit to you that you’ll spend every penny you saved in Calif income tax on traveling back and forth to Calif. On top of that, unless you buy a second home in Calif, you have hotel expenses also. Then factor in what the travel time is worth.
I also shake my head at all the Californians who load up their trailers/campers with toys (dune buggies, boats, motorcycles)and head out to the desert each weekend. Obviously some ppl don’t mind the traveling and like the arid desert landscape. That’s not me but if it is you, more power to ya and you might want to consider moving to Nevada. :-)[/quote]
svelte, all good points. I hate breathing the dry air in NV as well. You can avoid the traffic jam from Carson City to South Lake Tahoe by living in South Lake Tahoe (CA side). This area is at the top of my retirement list and 1200-1800 sf 40-55 yo ranch homes there situated on about 8-12K lots right in town on the free bus line have current asking prices of about $175-$350K. There are *newer* (10-40 yo) multi-level homes in the >$350K price range available around the fringes of the Heavenly Ski Resort and west/SW of town.
This area has everything one would need . . . even a small hospital. The four seasons are present and its beauty is incomparable.
The OP should take note of this gorgeous area. High-speed internet service is generally reliable there unless you are living in a remote area W/SW of town. However, there may be a way to get reliable service in the more remote areas that I am not aware of.
The (Stateline, NV) casinos only take up a little over 2 blocks. If you aren’t into that lifestyle (I’m not), you don’t have to hang around there. It’s nice to be close to several entertainment venues which regularly book top music talent, however.
One drawback (which doesn’t really bother me): Two or more times per winter, for 1-3 days, one or all roads are closed in or out of South Lake Tahoe.
As for the SoCal deserts, believe it or not there is now admission charged to take “toys” out on some of the dunes just north of I-8 just west of Yuma, AZ, lol. Apparently, this “recreational element” was leaving a lot of trash out there after a weekend and the state/county did not have the resources to continually clean it up. So now they have hired a maintenance service, provided dumpsters, etc and are “charging” dune-users for its services :=]
I’ve driven thru enough desert “mirages” in my lifetime to place them end-to-end all the way to FL and back, lol. No thanks, that life is not for me.
