Telecom North America relocation guide Our headquarters are located in Henderson, a subsurb of the Las Vegas metropolitan area, about 20 minutes from Mc Carran International Airport. We are located near 11400 S. Eastern Avenue, near the prestigious Anthem and Seven Hills residential areas. Henderson was ranked as the second safest city in America by Forbes Magazine in December 2011. A lot of statistical data about Henderson (neighborhoods, house prices, crime rate, pollution, schools, income levels etc) can be found here: http://www.citydata.com/city/HendersonNevada.html Climate We are located in one of the largest deserts in America. It is imperative to hydrate yourself well (meaning, to drink water even if you’re not thirsty) and to use sunscreen when going outside for prolonged times. Do not take a roadtrip or a hike without carrying sufficient amounts of water in case of any unforeseen problem. Housing There are many alternatives for housing all within 5 minutes of the office by car. The Seven Hills area has 2 apartment complexes with apartments starting at $700 per month, and access to community Tennis Courts and parks. Not far from Seven Hills, houses of 1500 sf can be rented for around $1000 per month. Larger houses can also be found both in the Seven Hills and Anthem area. A good place to locate rental properties is Craigslist http://lasvegas.craigslist.com Before selecting a rental property, it is imperative to ensure that the owner of the property is not in default, and that the property is not currently in foreclosure proceedings. There are many horror stories of renters paying their rent, only to be evicted by the Sheriff because the owner did not pay their mortgage and the bank was repossessing the property. You may ask Jean or Herve with assistance, to locate this information for a specific property. With good credit, it is currently possible to purchase a house in the area for around $130k with a 20% downpayment, resulting a mortgage payment around $600 per month. Living in other suburbs of Las Vegas may result in long commutes by car in mornings and evenings, which affect quality of life. Utilities When renting or owning, you can expect to pay for water (quite inexpensive), electricity (used for cooling in the summer, so the bills can be high if you keep your residence very cool), natural gas (used for heating in the winter, and for hot water all year round) and trash collection. For Internet service, the options are cable service from Cox (http://www.cox.com) or DSL service from Centurylink (http://www.centurylink.com). DSL service can usually be had for around $30 per month with some haggling. Be weary of offers with low prices, they usually contain small prints stating that the low price is valid for a short promotional period, after which it will increase without you being able to cancel the contract. TV service can be surprisingly expensive. HD service or PVR service usually costs extra. So do TV tuners for additional rooms. Cable service is available from Cox (http://www.cox.com). Satellite service, which is usually cheaper, is available from DirecTV (http://www.directv.com) or Dish Network (http://www.dishnetwork.com). It pays to compare as all 3 companies usually compete with promotional offers and free PVR equipment offers. It is also a viable alternative to live without TV service, as many channels nowadays make series available for free streaming from their website, or through free services like Hulu (http://www.hulu.com). Netflix (http://www.netflix.com) is a popular service to stream or rent movies. Water from the faucet is drinkable, but doesn’t taste good. Rather than buying bottled water (which in most cases, is filtered tap water), it is possible to buy a reverse osmosis system for about $100 that will produce water of bottled quality from your faucet. Getting settled Life in Las Vegas requires a car to get around. Many car dealers located at Valley Automall http://www.valleyautomall.com/ will sell cars on credit. For used cars, the best place for no haggle pricing is http://www.carmax.com, with 2 locations in the Valley. Furniture can be expensive. A good place to pay less is RC Willey’s outlet location at 4390 Flossmoor Street #100 in Las Vegas, where scratch and dent furniture, as well as returned electronics equipments (TVs) and appliances (Refrigerator, Washer, Dryer, Freezer..) are sold for less. Electronics (TVs, Computers, Cameras), tools, household applicances can also be bought inexpensively on Amazon’s Warehouse Deals http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=1267877011, usually with free shipping. The big advantage of buying anything online is not paying for state sales tax, which saves over 8%. Used furniture is best bought directly from consumers on Craigslist http://lasvegas.craigslist.org Schools Schools in our neighborhood are among the best in Clark County. The address of your residence determines which school your children will be zoned for. You can research the relevant schools for a particular address here: http://ccsd.net/schools/zoning/ This website provides ratings on public schools, so you can compare one school with another and better decide in which neighborhood to live: http://www.greatschools.org Driver’s license Upon establishing your residence in Las Vegas, you are expected to obtain a Nevada Driver’s license to replace any foreign license from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. The closest office is located at 1399 American Pacific Dr in Henderson. A current driver’s license from another state can be traded in for a Nevada license without any additional tests. If you only hold a foreign driver’s license, you will need to complete a theoretical and practical driving test (both very easy) before being issued a Nevada driver’s license. Insurance Renter’s or homeowner’s insurance is recommended to protect your personal property and provide liability coverage in case you injure anyone or destroy any property. It is very inexpensive, and the least expensive insurance company is currently Liberty Mutual Insurance http://www.libertymutual.com/. You also need at least liability insurance for your car. If you are coming from a foreign country, Progressive Insurance http://www.progressive.com is the only company that will insure you for a reasonable rate initially. Later, Liberty Mutual will be the cheapest alternative http://www.libertymutual.com/. Your employment with telna also includes health and dental insurance from United Health Care for you and your entire family (telna pays 100% of the insurance for you, and 50% for your family). This insurance allows you for example to see a generalist or specialist doctor for $20 per consultation. Make sure that the doctor is one included in the United Health Care network http://www.uhc.com/find_a_physician.htm, otherwise the insurance may refuse to cover for it. Please feel free to consult your colleague for doctor recommendations Banking Your employment with Telecom North America entitles you to a free checking account with Wells Fargo Bank (http://www.wellsfargo.com). You will need to visit any Wells Fargo branch and mention us as your employer, in order to receive this free account. This Bank is convenient because they have branches and ATMs all over the Southwest, even in very small towns, which is useful when taking a roadtrip. Your account includes a free Visa check card. Alternatively, Internet banks such as Ally Bank (www.ally.com) provide free checking accounts with interest, and allow you to use any ATM from any bank for free. In order to establish a credit history, which will later be useful to purchase a house on credit, it is recommended to open credit cards, use them as much as possible, and pay off the balance in full each month. Because you are paying the balance in full every month, using the credit card doesn’t cost you anything, but build your credit history and credit score. On the contrary, many credit cards offer you cashback on certain purchases as an incentive to use them. Cards from Discover, Chase or Citibank provide 5% cashback on rotating categories like Gas, Restaurants, Movie Theatres, Travel, Groceries etc. Fidelity offers a credit card that pay 2% on any purchase without limit http://personal.fidelity.com/products/checking/content/amex_rewards_card.shtml. This means that if you run $1000 of purchases through your card (for example gas, groceries, clothes etc), you will receive $20 back at the end of the month. And of course none of these cards cost anything! Taxes Nevada has no state income tax! This means that compared to other states like California, you are taking 10% more of your paycheck home! There is also an interesting provision in Federal Income tax law for homeowners: you can deduct the interest you pay on the mortgage for your primary residence from your income for Federal Income Taxes. In other words, this means that the federal government pays for one third of the cost of your mortgage. As a homeowner with children, you could achieve net income tax rates of 15% or less... Food There are several grocery stores in the immediate vicinity: Albertson’s, Smiths and Vons all with similar offering and prices. Unique groceries, a lot of them imported from Europe, can be found at reasonable prices at Trader Joe’s, 10345 South Eastern Av in Henderson. Other international and asian foods can be found at the International Market, 5000 S. Decatur Blvd in Las Vegas relatively inexpensively. Inexpensive and varied fresh seafood is available at Seafood City at 3890 S. Maryland Pkwy in Las Vegas, near the University campus. There is a farmer’s market on South Eastern Av every Sunday morning. Shopping Household goods and staple foods can be purchased inexpensively 24 hours a day at Walmart, 2310 E Serene Av in Las Vegas For things like tools, nails, screws, air conditioning filters and other home improvement items, there are 2 large home improvement stores in the vicinity: Lowes at 9955 S. Eastern Av in Henderson, and Home Depot at 2200 Serene Av in Las Vegas, next to Walmart. The closest Mall is the Galleria Mall at 1300 W. Sunset Rd in Henderson http://www.galleriaatsunset.com/ There are also 2 large outlets catering to tourists, which sell brand clothes for less: http://www.premiumoutlets.com The Strip Las Vegas is famous for “The Strip”, a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard with world famous casinos like the Bellagio or the Mirage. This area is definitely worth checking out, as most Casinos offer free entertainment to lure in gamblers. Many hotels also have shows (like Cirque du Soleil) and sometimes run 2for1 specials for locals. A lot of hotels have buffets with subsidized food. The quality of the food can vary greatly, and so does the price. The best buffet, something to experience for any newcomer can be found at the Cosmopolitan Resort. Note that the casino, by design, always wins, so it is smart to stay away from gambling, and spend money on more rewarding (and sometimes subsidized) things. Closer to our office, the Green Valley Ranch provides a very luxurious atmosphere tailored for the local public. It includes a large movie theatre and movies before 6 PM are relatively inexpensive. The District is a nice outdoor shopping area near the Green Valley Ranch, which several good restaurants. Recreation Red Rock Canyon provides some of the best rock climbing in America, and opportunities for bicycling: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/red_rock_nca.html Lake Mead, a lake the size of the country of Luxemburg, provides swiming from May to October, and boating yearround: http://www.nps.gov/lake/index.htm The Las Vegas Ski Resort on Mount Charleston provides opportunity skying from November to February: http://www.skilasvegas.com/winter/index.html Further away, many natural wonders await such as Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Lake Powell, Death Valley and more. Hollywood, Disney World and the ocean in Los Angeles, are about 5 hours away by car. The City of Henderson provides a lot of recreational activities including classes (Art, Swimming, English), outdoor activities (hiking) and other group activities, many of them for free. For a list of current activities, see http://www.cityofhenderson.com/parks/publications/henderson_happenings.php The following website offers a free weekly newsletter listing any special events, concerts, exhibits and discounts available during the following week: http://www.localsdovegas.com/ More information Many answers to specific questions about life in Henderson and Las Vegas can be found in this forum: http://www.citydata.com/forum/lasvegas/