North Las Vegas newcomers share their feelings about the holidays

While people across the valley celebrate their various traditions during the holiday season, North Las Vegas newcomers share which new traditions they will try to implement for their first winter season and which traditions they had to leave behind in their home states.

FAMILY FORGETS THE MIDWEST WINTERS
FOR A DESERT CHRISTMAS

When Kathleen Steacy moved from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to North Las Vegas, she not only had to adjust to living in a desert but also to working from home. A business analyst for a small consulting firm based in Iowa, Steacy said she was lured here with her husband after hearing from friends who made the same move and loved it. They chose to move to the same neighborhood as their friends after checking out a dozen neighborhoods across the valley.

She and her 12-year-old son moved to the area in September after her husband moved in January to get his business started. She said the transition has been great for her son, who has found a lot of neighborhood friends.

"I don't feel displaced by any means," she said. Still, she lived in Iowa for 10 years and said she misses the relationships she built. Most things are the same, except for one big change: "The size of the town has really been the only transition," Steacy said. "We miss having the small-town feeling."

Before Iowa, Steacy said she lived in a small town in Missouri, and she still has family in both locations. Her family plans to get together with their other Iowa friends in the neighborhood for the holidays. She said she will invite her family from the Midwest, but she does not expect anyone to make it. It was a family tradition to go sledding over the break, and she said they will look at visiting Mount Charleston to continue their family tradition.

"Hopefully we'll have a new tradition for Christmas," Steacy said, noting that they created a new Thanksgiving tradition last month. Typically, the family spends it as mother, father and son, but this year they spent it with other families, which Steacy said she enjoyed.

She said she does not miss the snow and cold weather, though. She wishes she could find more family-owned small businesses in North Las Vegas, and she's overwhelmed by the number of chain stores and restaurants in the valley.

WOMAN FINALLY MAKES IT 'HOME' TO HER DREAM DESTINATION

Because the area has changed so much, Connie Butler considers herself a newcomer to North Las Vegas even though she lived in the valley for five years in the 1970s. "I can't believe all the changes," she said. After living in Ventura, Calif., and Texas, she knew she always wanted to move to Las Vegas permanently. Butler moved to North Las Vegas in July.

"My father asked if I wanted a home in North Las Vegas or Missouri; obviously, I picked North Las Vegas," she said. Though she will spend the holidays with her family in Missouri, she said she will ring in the new year in her new North Las Vegas home.

"I fell in love with the community," she said. "I love it; it's real quiet, and the neighbors are nice." She was drawn to the area because of the entertainment industry, and she likes to play the penny slots, she said.

She said she would not have lived in North Las Vegas in the '70s, but she could not be happier now. "North Las Vegas back then was not a good area; I never came on the north side of town," she added. She cannot believe how the traffic has increased, she said.

For other newcomers, Butler has some advice: "Just be patient and learn the city the best way you know how. Don't be frightened by the big city."

WIFE MISSES FLORIDA, TRIES TO FIND THE POSITIVE IN NORTH LAS VEGAS

In July, Tiffany Mullen moved to North Las Vegas near Nellis Air Force Base to be with her husband, who is stationed at the base. She left her home in St. Petersburg, Fla., and said she had been to Las Vegas four times before - including for her themed wedding at the Excalibur - and had always thought the city was wonderful. She said she finds it harder to experience the charm of the Strip now that she lives here full time.

Mullen is no stranger to the unfamiliar. She worked in security oversight in Pakistan for a year, but she said she cannot get comfortable in North Las Vegas.

"As soon as I came to this neighborhood, I said, 'Why did you pick this neighborhood?' " she said. "The first couple of months, I was miserable. No one was friendly, and no one talked in the neighborhood." She said she has made a friend down the street, and Mullen is "forcing myself to like it." She said every time she sees a neighbor, she starts a conversation, invited or not.

"I think the Strip at night is beautiful," she said. "When you come as a tourist, that's all you see - the beauty, the shows, people spending money. Once you get beyond the Strip, it seems like it's got a rough quality about it." She said she tries to plan her weekends on the Strip, but it makes it hard to make friends because they are often tourists in town for only a few days .

However, she said her husband is happy in Las Vegas. He enjoys playing cards and gambling for fun, she said. Mullen said she does not gamble.

"Coming from Pakistan, I saw the extreme poverty there, so it (gambling) seems like a waste," she said.

For now, she said she is focused on staying positive until they can possibly move again in June. She said she's not interested in moving to a different neighborhood in the valley because she does not plan to stay in Nevada.

"I have not really been looking because I do want to leave," she said. "I'm so sad I don't see any grass anymore."

In Florida, she said she would run in the park along the pier and watch the ducks on the water.

"There's nothing beautiful about it except for the lights," she said about Las Vegas. When she first moved, she said she thought it was neat that she could see the Stratosphere from most places in town, but now it does not bring her any joy.

One thing she said she will miss when she returns to Florida? The tapas at Firefly's. She also said the shopping in Las Vegas is better than what she can find in Florida, and she loves how late stores stay open on the Strip.

Since arriving, she has gone back to Florida twice, home to Pennsylvania once and to South Korea for a month, trying to break up her time in North Las Vegas.

"I've been trying to get away, and now I'm like, 'I've got to stop and try to make it work,' " she said. She usually flies home to Pennsylvania for Christmas for a traditional turkey dinner with sweet potatoes, greens and macaroni and cheese but will celebrate in North Las Vegas instead.

She said she did not want to be in the snow, so she may cook a similar meal for her husband instead.

WOMAN PICKS LAS VEGAS
FOR THE ADVENTURE

Vicki Ross is new to the area. She moved from San Antonio on Nov. 6 because she thought it would be an adventure.

Though she had visited the Strip a few times, she decided to move to North Las Vegas because she said she was drawn by the good food.

Originally from Reading, Pa., she said she lived in Texas most of her life. When she initially told her two brothers, who live in Houston and San Antonio, that she was packing her bags for Nevada, they were shocked.

"They thought I was a little crazy because I've been here so long, and I thought, 'Why not try it?' " Ross said.

She said it is still too soon to tell if she will be here for the long term, but she said the city's proximity to California and Utah excites her.

"Right now, we love the weather," she said. "People are very friendly. I was a little skeptical because Texas is known for friendliness."

While she loves the buffets, she said she is on the hunt for good tamales.

"Everybody says you're going to miss Mexican food, but there's so much other good foods here," she said. She said neighbors told her the locals do not often visit the Strip, but Ross said she and her friend make a point to check out what is new around the casinos and shopping.

While she misses her friends in Texas, she said that is normal. She looks forward to getting back into the workforce as an administrative assistant in the new year, where she hopes to meet more people.

Her friend did not sell his three homes in San Antonio, so there is always the possibility of moving back, but Ross said she is happy in the valley right now.

"You just take a leap of faith, and you do it," she said.

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Laura Phelps at lphelps@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.