Vacating Vegas: Las Vegas is growing, but some people are leaving

Melissa Schorr

Sunday, June 6, 1999 | 9:31 a.m.

At Jones Truck Rental, a Ryder Truck outlet at Jones Boulevard and I-95, authorized dealer Ray Mamola sees people who are moving out of Las Vegas every day.

"A lot tell you Vegas was not what they expected," he says. "That's the No. 1 reason we hear."

Mamola has also seen it all: the professional gamblers who find out they're not so professional; the wealthy-looking couple who drove into town towing a large truck, two cars and a fortune in jewelry -- and left four months later in a small truck, no cars, and wearing K-Mart watches; and the couple who came to blows in the rental office after the husband discovered his soon-to-be ex-wife was about to clear out their home.

A whopping 70 percent of Mamola's business is comprised of "one-way" customers, those on their way in or out of town, while 30 percent are locals moving across town to a new pad. But contrary to the much-touted Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority statistics of "6,000 residents" pouring in monthly, Mamoma finds that a large chunk move out as well. According to Linda Lee Nary of the Nevada State Data Center, IRS tax records show that between 1996 and 1997, approximately 81,000 people moved into Las Vegas -- but 43,000 left. On a smaller scale, in the coming month, Ryder has reservations for 278 trucks rolling into Las Vegas -- and 240 rolling on out.

We spent a few days polling customers -- couples, singles and friends -- about why they were getting out of Dodge -- er, Vegas:

* Who: Jonathan Lowewenberg, 30, and his wife, Jennifer, 26.

Why they came:

Jonathan: We moved here a year and a half ago to merge our long distance marketing company with another one based here.

Why they're leaving:

Jonathan: We were planning on staying, we just got a loan and were about to buy a house in Summerlin. That same day, we found out (a business associate) was screwing us. ... It was a great experience up until then.

Where they're going:

Jonathan: We're going to Nashville, where my brother has started a company, to join him.

What they'll miss:

Jonathan: I'll miss the mountains, the terrain, the proximity to different types of weather, like skiing in Utah.

Jennifer: Hiking in Mt. Charleston, the beauty of the desert.

What they won't miss:

Jonathan: The long traffic lights.

Jennifer: The dryness.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

Jonathan: Getting married (two weeks) ago up in Red Rock.

* Who: Kim Raptou, 44, and her husband, Alex, 65.

Why they came:

Kim: I moved here (by herself) two years ago from Tulsa, Okla., to work on sculpturing architectural effects for the Venetian.

Why they're leaving:

Kim: That job is over. My husband stayed in Oklahoma, after retiring from his job. We're going to rejoin our households.

Where they're going:

Kim: We've bought land in Sedona, Ariz. It's more congenial there, it's got a small-town mentality. I love the outdoors, and he wants to have a good view.

What they'll miss:

Kim: I enjoyed my time here, it was a good experience. I'll miss the work, the people. Also, the outlying areas, there's a lot of intrinsic beauty here.

What they won't miss:

Kim: The traffic.

Alex: The rudeness of the people.

Kim: Too many people bring their bizarre behavior patterns here. There's too many Easterners, it's like being in New York. You've got a lot of road rage. There's too many people. It's easy to get lost here.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

Kim: Seeing the Venetian open and having pride in seeing my work displayed.

* Who: Allan Miles, 52.

Why he came:

My parents were living out here 10 years ago. When I retired from the Navy, I pulled my mobile home out here. By the time I got here they had moved back to Florida.

Why he's leaving:

I had my own computer consulting business, but it fell through a year ago when some jerk in a truck rear-ended me. He was talking on his radio and he'd had a couple of drinks. He wracked up my back and I couldn't do anything for a few months and lost my business. I've got a computer degree, and I can't find programming jobs here, just operational jobs at casinos like Harrah's. I can't make as much money here as back east -- a couple of times, I was offered jobs there where I could have gotten double. Here, they can find people (who) will work cheap. I'd been trying to move for the past two to three years. ... I'm tired of the 24-hour town, having to work nights. It's hard to sleep during the day.

Where he's going:

To Tampa, Fla., for the time being, where my parents and sister are.

What he'll miss:

Going to see lounge shows. Playing blackjack. I'll probably come back to visit.

What he won't miss:

I'm tired of the city, I want to get back to the country. I'm from the Rochester, N.Y., area originally, a small town by the Finger Lakes. (Las Vegas) has grown too much. It used to be country out here by Lamb Boulevard, now it's all built up. I miss grass and trees.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

Bowling at Sam's Town.

* Who: Ron Maloof, 36, and his wife, Carolyn, 35.

Why they came:

Carolyn: Our job transferred us here 10 years ago. We work for HUD doing home appraisals.

Why they're leaving:

Carolyn: Our company promised us that if we moved back closer to the home office, we'd have to travel less.

Where they're going:

Ron: Arlington, Texas. The houses aren't all shoved together there. They've got drag strip racing and our own Six Flags amusement park.

What they'll miss:

Carolyn: I enjoyed the weather. Texas weather is unpredictable.

What they won't miss:

Carolyn: I won't miss the 12-month schools. I think the schools are wrong here, it makes it too hard on the parents. There don't have much for kids to do here.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

Carolyn: Seeing all the changes on the Strip.

* Who: Retired friends Mike Carter, 57, and Bill Allen, 60.

Why they came:

Mike: I moved to Vegas four and a half years ago. I grew up in Mississippi and had been living in Oakland, the Bay area, which to me is God's country. I came down here to help my friend, Bill, open a delivery service business. But I always wanted to go back to California.

Why they're leaving:

Mike: I like California a lot better. I like being around the ocean. I like to walk. It's too hot here for that. I like to ride a bike. California is me.

Where they're going:

Mike: To San Diego. The Bay area lifestyle was wild, but San Diego satisfies my needs now. I've got some nieces there.

What they'll miss:

Mike: Honestly, the only thing I'll miss is dropping a quarter in the machine at the Seven-11.

Bill: Playing in the Palace Station football pool every year.

What they won't miss:

Bill: Everything being the same color everywhere you go.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

Bill: The time I hit a royal flush and we went out and celebrated his birthday, eating steaks at the Outback, gambling. We spent his money well.

* Who: John Rogers, 33.

Why he came:

I moved here 12 years ago from Cedar Falls, Iowa. I lived here on and off most of my life. My grandparents used to live here and I'd visit during the summers.

Why he's leaving:

I went back home on vacation (from his job as a truck driver) and realized what I was missing. It opened my eyes to a different style of living. It was so much more relaxing. I was happy, content. I was close-minded when I was living here, thinking nowhere else was as good. There are things that Southern Nevada can't offer.

Where he's going:

Back to Cedar Falls, Iowa. I've already got a four-bedroom house rented for $425 a month. Rent there is quite a bit lower.

What he'll miss:

Racing my Volkswagon at the Las Vegas Speedway on Friday nights.

What he won't miss:

Twelve years ago, Vegas was still a lot smaller. It's changed a lot. I won't miss the traffic, the heat. I don't know if you ever really get used to it.

Favorite Las Vegas memory:

You can't publish my best Vegas memory.