 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
One of the most frequently asked questions to Gayvegas.com is “where are the gay neighborhoods?” Most people are surprised to discover there is no “Gay neighborhood” in Southern Nevada. The gay population is spread all over the valley. There seem to be higher concentrations within some of the more popular master planned communities such as Summerlin and Green Valley, but they are far from exclusive. With that in mind, there are more important factors to consider when selecting a home in Southern Nevada. Market area factors include 1. Climate, including air temperature and quality 2. Infrastructure including streets and utilities 3. Balance and conformity of land uses 4. Crime 5. Proximity to the job place, shopping, and other frequently visited locations, including time and distance to destinations 6. Neighborhood density and traffic volume 7. Proximity to negative influences i.e. flooding, aircraft noise, freeway and rail traffic 8. Lot sizes 9. Street widths 10. Immediate area population density 11. Builder quality and reputation 12. Home floor plan
Market Area Factors Climate The topography of the Las Vegas valley creates microclimates in various areas. The western portion of the valley is higher than the eastern portion. Temperatures tend to be a few degrees lower in the higher elevations of the valley than the lower areas. Additionally, prevailing winds are generally from the south and west. These winds tend to move smog and dust to the eastern and lower ends of the valley. As a result the air quality in western portions of the valley is slightly better than in the eastern portions. Infrastructure The Southern Nevada population explosion has created great challenges to the local and state governments. Intense construction of infrastructure has taken place during the last 20 years to keep up with the growth. As a condition of their development, property developers are mandated to construct the roads and bring in utilities to their projects. This relieves the burden from the taxpayers and places it on the developers who realize profits from those ventures. Master Planned Communities such as Summerlin, Southern Highlands, and Green Valley have a much better planned infrastructure than other comminutes who rely on a patchwork of land use and development. Likewise, a balance and conformity of land uses, including residential, commercial, and public facilities is better achieved. These master planned community benefits are not without cost. Special improvement districts (S.I.D's) are created mandating homebuyers to pay additional fees to the developers for construction of the infrastructure. As an example of this, Howard Hughes Corporation constructed the Summerlin Parkway, portions of the Interstate-215 beltway, and major arterial streets through the Summerlin area. The cost of construction is passed on through individual homebuilders and eventually to the homebuyer through S.I.D. fees. The fees can be considerable. It is advisable to weigh the benefits of the neighborhood with the cost of these fees. Many have the benefits to be worth the fees. As a result Summerlin and other master planned comminutes are very popular. Crime Certain areas of the valley have more incidents of crime than other areas. Violent crime is usually reported by the news media. It seems we hear of more reports of violent crime in the lower income areas, including downtown area, North Las Vegas, and other central areas. Lesser crimes in the suburbs aren’t widely reported to the public through the media; however, when they are reported they seem to be more or less limited to home invasions and burglaries. Crime numbers and patterns seem to be dynamic, and tied to the economy. I advise checking the Crime View Community page on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department website for more information on this. Proximity to the Job place, Shopping, and Other Frequently Visited Locations One of the factors that carry a high priority in our lives is the time and distance to and from work. It is important to consider time over distance since use of the freeway system can decrease traveling time compared to use of the surface streets. Additionally, time and distance to shopping and other frequently visited locations carries a priority. Proximity to Negative Influences Generally the portion of the valley experiences higher aircraft noise than the north portion. Some neighborhoods experience high degrees of aircraft noise. Those include Green Valley and others located south of Sahara Avenue and west of I-15. Clark County Aviation has acquired many parcels of land in the southwest. The purpose of acquiring these parcels is to prevent further residential development in areas of high noise level. Never the less, homebuilders are currently building on parcels in this area that were acquired prior to the airport's acquisition. A spur of the Union Pacific Railroad traverses Green Valley. Rail traffic carries chemicals to the factories located near downtown Henderson. A friend who owns an ambulance company informed me “People really would be frightened to know what is transported in those rail cars." Most people don't know that information. Additionally, homes located near the Henderson factories can experience obnoxious odors. The same is applicable for homes near sewer treatment plants located east of the Boulder Highway. Homes abutting freeways or having frontage on busy arterial streets experience higher noise levels. However, homes within close proximities of freeways but not abutting them can experience higher property values due to the better access to work centers. Neighborhood Density and Traffic Volume Prior to 1990 typical single family lot sizes were 6,000 square feet and larger. Typical lot sizes were 60 feet x 100 feet. With the increase in land values homebuilders designed smaller lots, enabling them to force more homes in a given area. The trend continued. Now it is rare to see a new subdivision with 6,000 square foot lots. Some builders have gone to extreme, showing greed in the form of profit maximization as their primary motivation. Many developers push the envelope to cramming more homes into a given area. Developers mandate their civil engineers to design narrow streets and shorter driveways. This creates a very undesirable situation and can compromise public safety. Vehicles parked in driveways now may overhang onto sidewalks, forcing pedestrians into traffic on the streets to walk around the vehicles. Homes are closer to the streets and create a canyon effect that also enables backing vehicles to enter the street before the driver is able to see cross traffic. Emergency vehicles may find it difficult to negotiate driving with in the neighborhood due to the narrow streets. Developers strive to vacate and abandon planned streets in an effort to save the cost of construction of roadways and to build more homes in that area. This forces more traffic onto the arterial streets and creates nightmares for government traffic engineers. Builder Quality and Reputation Some builders carry good reputations while others have a challenge to overcome the bad reputation they have created by cutting corners both in design and construction of neighborhoods and homes. Most of the homebuilders in Southern Nevada are about average in quality and reputation. However, a few homebuilders in Southern Nevada have shown to be very concerned about quality and service. Beazer Homes seems to have a good reputation for developing their neighborhoods to conform to local codes and asks for very few variances and waivers. They show to the community as wanting to build a good product for their customer without compromising public safety and value. Pulte Homes is a nationwide developer who builds a high-quality product with very good energy-saving designs. Their reputation for excellent customer service is also one of the best in Southern Nevada. Christopher Homes and William Lyons build excellent products for the high-end buyer. These companies recognize they are far from transparent, that their actions and the results of those actions are viewed by the public. Referrals and recommendations are important to them. On the other end of the home buying spectrum, based on the results of their actions and feed back from customers Realtors, and regulating agency employees, Its recommended to stay away from a few select builders. It has been said Astoria Homes, American West Homes, and KB Homes are the most aggressive in pushing the envelope of density and public safety concerns. They show as being only focused on maximizing profit while having little concern for their customers and the public. Additionally, deceptive practices have been observed in public hearings by at least one of those companies. It has been said at first glance it appears they offer a good deal for the money. In fact they have cut corners in places not evident to the general public. A word to the wise may be "There are no free lunches." Floor Plan All of the above influences are extrinsic to the home you select. You will be living in your home and it’s a good idea to be comfortable with the plan you select. Everyone has individual tastes and lifestyles that come into play in selecting a home. I'll leave that to you. As a conclusion, Don't limit your home search to new homes. Established areas have amenities such as mature landscaping and larger lot sizes that developing areas can't offer. Additionally, temperatures tend to be slightly cooler in the summer and slightly warmer in the winter in the most westerly portions of the valley. Aircraft noise levels and rail traffic problems are not negative factors. Proximity to work is a negative factor with high traffic volumes on I-515 (hwy-95), however the state is making progress widening that freeway and accommodating higher traffic levels. Additionally, due to crime influences, and more stagnant property values, to stay outside of North Las Vegas, you may consider avoiding the area east of Rancho Drive and North of Charleston Boulevard. |