Sunrise newcomers share stories of adjustment to life in Las Vegas

Change is a constant in the Las Vegas Valley, and as part of that change, there is a constant influx of newcomers arriving here for work, family or just to try their luck at something new.

A CAREER MOVE

One of those newcomers is Laurens Tan, an artist who works with large projects and hopes to bring his talent and shift production to Las Vegas.

"I'm just following the opportunities that come before me," Tan said. "As it happens, the U.S. market is responding to the work I've done lately, and I'm just responding back."

Tan was born in Australia, but his most recent home was in Beijing, where he was working. He still maintains a studio in Beijing and a home in Australia. He has three large museum shows set up in Florida, New York and Los Angeles, so Las Vegas is centrally located for the planning and implementation of those shows.

"I'm looking for collaborators, replicators and manufacturers to work with out here," Tan said. "I thought I could find them here because of all the things that need to be built for the casino industry."

The central location to ongoing projects isn't the only draw for Tan. He did his doctoral work in Las Vegas, writing a thesis on the architecture of risk. He still has a lot of friends and connections here. There were three cities he might have settled in, but he chose Las Vegas because he felt it was a city of opportunity and talent. There was one other thing that drew him to the city initially.

"I used to be a keen blackjack player," said Tan, "but now I gamble on my art."

NEWCOMERS LOOKING TO RENT

Real estate agent Jack LeVine said that, in a strange twist, most of the newcomers he's encountering these days are looking to rent first, while most of the new homeowners he works with are living out of town and looking to rent out their new homes.

"I'm getting a lot of people who plan to retire here," LeVine said. "They feel, why not buy at these prices and these interest rates and go from there? They'll rent out their place and then in a few years retire from Michigan or whatever and move out here."

While LeVine said the real estate business is turning back around, there are still a few challenges that weren't there during the boom years.

"The banks are slow, and there's no bank-owned inventory," he said. "The flip sellers are asking for too much money. There's no shortage of buyers, but you have to explain to them that we've had a 20 percent increase in prices since January. You have to have more than a usual down payment to buy a house right now."

NELLIS HELPS MAKE THOSE NEW TO BASE
FEEL AT HOME

Nellis Air Force Base has so many new people arriving and making it their home that a special meeting is held every week to orient new personnel and their families.

The program, called Right Start, is held every Thursday. Tracie Atkins is in charge of the four-hour program, which starts with an information fair with booths operated by several local organizations, including colleges, banks and base agencies.

"We have about 70 people here every week, so that adds up to around 3,600 people we help every year," Atkins said.

A number of speakers are brought in to pass on their expertise on subjects including basic safety issues, equal opportunity and an on-base hospital overview. The speakers also deal with some darker subjects, such as the sexual assault response program and a lecture that outlines the 13 known hate groups in the valley.

"All the basic things they'd need to know about any community they were moving into," Atkins said. "It gives them an idea of what to expect while they're here; the environment is different here than a base in, say, Utah, because there's a greater chance of encountering drunk drivers. We do go into the specifics of how Vegas differs from other areas with bases."

The base commander makes a point of coming to these meetings, and according to Atkins, one of the questions he always asks is if everyone in the room has a sponsor. When military members go to a new base, the unit they're going into will generally provide them with a sponsor.

"It's someone from their new unit who will take them under their wing and get them things like a base phone book and all the local information they need to get prepared," Atkins said. "They sort of adopt them to make sure that there's a smooth transition. They let them know things like what the child care situation is here if they have children."

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.