Top 10 Reasons to NOT Live in Nevada

In the spirit of the a previous post about the Top Ten Reasons to Live in Nevada, I thought to be fair I needed to put up a list of reasons why people might not want to live here. So here it goes… 

1. You are Highly Religious - Yes, Nevada has religious diversity and many churches. But…Nevada is second to last among active church-goers. This doesn’t mean that Nevada is full of people who aren’t religious in some way…it is just that they don’t go to church every Sunday to do it.
2. Moral Intolerance - Sorry to be rude, but it is the best wording I could come up with to describe this. Nevada is home to many things that many people find offensive…gambling, legal prostitution, 24 hour liquor sales, and the list goes on. Nevada is basically highly tolerant of other peoples views and beliefs, and has a “live and let live” culture. People who find this type of culture “uncomfortable” may not enjoy Nevada.
3. You Hate Heat - This isn’t such a problem in Northern Nevada. Yes, Northern Nevada can hit 100+ here and there. But the high elevatioin of Northern Nevada generally keeps daytime highs…even in mid-summer…in the upper 80’s to low 90’s. And with no humidity. But…Las Vegas is a different story. Normal summer temperatures are in the mid to upper 100’s…and that can take a while to get used to.
4. You Love Trees - Nevada has forests. And the major cities such as Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City are all nicely landscaped and have significant forestation. But…step outside of the cities and, well…trees are sort of a scarce commodity except up in the higher elevations of various mountain ranges.
5. You Need a Change of Seasons - All places in Nevada have a change of seasons. Places like Reno and Elko and Ely have have “mild winters”….snow on the ground, temperatures in the 30’s and low 40’s, and the occasional cold snap to remind everyone winter is here. Yet, Las Vegas has real mild winters…I’d be hard pressed to call a Las Vegas “winter” a “winter.” More like a Midwest late Spring, as high’s in Vegas in January are generally in the Upper 50’s and 60’s….sometimes warmer.
6. You Hate the Desert - Nevada is desert…plain and simple. Yes, the state has beautiful mountains that are forested. But still…90% of the state is desert. You can’t escape it. You either love it…or you hate it.
7. You Like Nice, Quaint Older Small Towns - So much in Nevada is new that you need to be careful where you put you hand…as fresh paint may come off! Nevada does indeed have some nice, quaint towns…but by no means can it compare to the older, quaint little towns found in the Midwest, the South and above all in New England. And indeed…many (but not all, of course) of the smaller towns in Nevada are, to put it mildly, rather ugly and dusty.
8. You Hate Gambling - Common sense stuff here…you won’t like Nevada. Period.
9. You Don’t Like Sparse Populated Places - Nevada wins the contest hands down for sparsely populated places, at least in the lower 48. Other than Reno, Carson City and the Las Vegas areas…Nevada has little in the way of population. Indeed…take out these three population centers and the amount of people in Nevada would drop by more than 80%. In a nutshell…step outside of the major cities in Nevada…and you’ll be in the middle of nowhere…which is not everyones cup of tea.
10. You Don’t Like Change - Nevada is a place that changes remarkably quickly. Boom. Bust. Boom again. Bust again. Stuff comes down. Stuff goes up. Change in the lifeblood of Nevada and is highly welcomed here. If you are not a fan of change, well…Nevada may not be the place for you.