New home for the holidays

While Las Vegas is a tourist destination drawing millions of visitors yearly, the city also serves as a place people come to start their lives over.

According to the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research 2012 report, the average age for newcomers in 2011 was 41.

Of the relocators, about 34.5 percent are employed full time, 32.5 percent are unemployed, 15.1 percent are retired and .9 percent are students.

Some come out to Las Vegas alone - 46.5 percent of relocators are people who never have been married, while others com arrive with a spouse - 36.4 percent are married.

According to the report, 42.5 percent have a high school diploma or a GED diploma, 24.4 percent have some college experience but no degree, 11.8 percent have an associates degree, 6 percent have a bachelor's degree and 3.2 percent have a graduate degree.

Along with various demographics from career backgrounds to income levels and ages, each person carries with them a story of why they came to Las Vegas.

Leanne Proniuk and her family moved to Henderson on Nov. 15 from Canada after a job opportunity came up for her husband.

"We wanted to reduce our debt significantly," Proniuk said. "Plus, we weren't having family time. I was working weekends and he was working through the week."

Proniuk had been to Las Vegas before and had her doubts about the city.

"It is the city of sin," Proniuk said. "My first thought was, 'I am not raising my children there.' "

But after realizing that there were suburban communities beyond the Strip, some of her fears were lifted.

"It has been a very positive experience so far," Proniuk said.

For one thing, Proniuk, who is used to Canadian winters, loves the change in weather.

"I love that I can wear flip-flops in December," Proniuk said. "I think it's ironic that here, people dress their children in earmuffs, mittens and what I think looks like a parka while my daughter is in a spring jacket."

Proniuk is still getting used to cultural differences.

"Nobody comes out of their houses," Proniuk said. "They go into their garages, shut the door and don't come out. In Canada, we don't really have garages, and if we do we don't use them."

Proniuk doesn't know if it is because her subdivision is newer, but she said the higher walls in her backyard add to her not being able to get to know her neighbors.

Even when she picks her 5-year-old daughter up from school, there is no chitchat among many of the mothers.

"Don't get me wrong. I have met some wonderful ladies," Proniuk said. "But it seems many are buried in their iPhone. Maybe it is the changing of the times."

Despite that, Proniuk has met some friendly people.

"I know Canada is known for being friendly, but people in the service industry have been incredibly friendly here," Proniuk said.

Christmas, however, won't be the same, she said.

"We put up our Christmas tree and it just didn't feel the same," Proniuk said. "We are going to be missing our friends and family big time this year."

Judy Kinal spent her life trudging through the snow of Buffalo, N.Y., where she was born and raised.

Three years ago, Kinal's husband came out to Las Vegas on a trip.

"He came back and said he would like to move there," Kinal recalled. "But I didn't."

They visited Las Vegas several times that next year, and Kinal found a convincing selling point: no snow.

"So I gave my family a year's notice," Kinal said. "I retired in June and moved out here in July."

They made the move to Henderson in 2010. To make sure they were ready for Las Vegas, they first rented an apartment for a year.

"If neither one of us liked it, we were prepared to move back," Kinal said.

They spent about nine months traveling to national parks.

"But then reality set in and my husband had to get a job," Kinal said.

Kinal joined a church group to make friends. She then stumbled across the Desert Newcomers Club, a social group for women who have been in the area less than three years.

Since then, Henderson has become home for Kinal, who has added many people to her friendship circle.

Family members come out to visit Kinal often. She also returns to Buffalo to see them, as long as it's before the snow starts.

Kinal said she has adapted to the heat.

"In Buffalo during the winter, you just go from your house to the car to escape the cold," Kinal said. "In the heat, it's the same thing. You just go from the house to the car (to escape the heat). You just adapt."

Kinal is adjusting for the holidays. Since her husband is working on Christmas, she plans to do a ladies lunch with other friends from Desert Newcomers.

When she thinks about Christmas, Kinal thinks about snow.

"But I can go up to Mount Charleston if I want to see it that bad," Kinal said. "Christmas really is in your heart. It's the people you are with."

Gayle, who asked that her last name not be used, moved to Las Vegas in October. After about 21 years of marriage, she said she needed a reprieve from the abuse she had endured.

"I did not feel safe," Gayle said, prompting her to leave her friends and start life anew.

Gayle called her cousin, a Henderson resident with whom she remained close over the years, to ask him about coming to stay.

"I told him I wasn't going to stay just for a few weeks," Gayle said.

She made sure he realized she would be there for a few months until she could get on her feet again.

Gayle packed up what she could and left furniture, art, dishes and everything else she had accumulated over the years. But what she brought with her was her sense of adventure.

"There are so many free things to do here," Gayle said.

Though Las Vegas is known for being a 24-hour city with people working odd hours, Gayle thinks that fits her personality perfectly.

"I am a night person and have always had trouble fitting into society," Gayle said. "Here, people work all sorts of hours. It's great meeting people who are available in the day because they work at night, then meet with people who work at night and are willing to stay up until 2 or 3 a.m."

Living all over the country, Gayle had acclimated to different climates from extreme heat to below-zero temperatures.

Coming from Virginia, she was ready to be rid of the snow.

"People asked if I was going to miss the rain and snow or the changing of the seasons," she said.

But she won't.

As a newcomer, Gayle joined different communities and groups through meetup.com.

One of her new friends gave her a windshield tour.

"We met for lunch and he brought maps," Gayle said. "He spread them out and showed me where we are and where the I-15 meets to 95."

Afterward, he and Gayle drove Interstate 15, U.S. Highway 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway to help her get her bearings.

"He took me to old Vegas and by the Strip," Gayle said. "There was always the fear of being lost at 11 p.m. when you're tired and just want to get home yet have no idea how to get there."

That tour, which Gayle recommends for any newcomer, helped her learn the city.

"Now I know as long as the Luxor is on the left of me while I'm driving north, I'm good," Gayle said. "I used to look for the mountains or the oceans. Now it's the Strip."

Even with the holidays, Gayle has adapted. Gayle said it was peculiar to go to a buffet for Thanksgiving.

"Thanksgiving was always the day that no matter where you were in the world, family would come together," Gayle said. "I would go over to my parents' and wake up to the smell of turkey. We'd eat breakfast, play games, check the turkey."

Instead, Gayle and her cousin waited in line at the Sam's Town buffet.

"It was good, but it wasn't my mother's," Gayle said. "And I didn't have leftovers to do turkey soup. At least I was with family."

Gayle was raised Jewish but is a practicing Buddhist. During the holiday season, she said she always observes Hanukkah.

"I was unpacking my boxes and I found my menorah," Gayle said. "I kept it aside."

Gayle placed it in the window and went through each night, as she had done every year of her life.

Her goal in the next few months is to find and buy a place.

"So I can settle down and stay here," she said. "Moving here has been the best decision."

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.