Southern Nevada offers a lifestyle second to none. With sunshine 85 percent of the time, residents and visitors alike take advantage of the many outdoor recreational activities Southern Nevada has to offer.

Snow and water sports are both within an hour’s drive from the heart of Las Vegas. With more than 250 parks and recreation areas and five dozen golf courses, outdoor enthusiasts have plenty of nearby places to hike, mountain bike, horseback ride or just enjoy the open air.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas are just some of the abundant arts and cultural activities here in Southern Nevada. Performing arts centers, including the nationally acclaimed Nevada Ballet Theatre and The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, which broke ground in 2009 and is looking to welcome its first audience in spring 2012, along with museums, art galleries and theatres are all widely supported within the community.

   Source: 2011 Las Vegas Perspective

Southern Nevada is also home to a number of professional sporting associations including the Las Vegas 51’s Baseball team and the Wrangler’s Hockey team. Several national sporting events such as the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas are also hosted in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) is one of the most unique auto racing complexes in the world. The facility spans over 1,600 acres and includes a 1.5 mile superspeedway, 3/8 mile asphalt oval, 1/2 mile dirt oval, two road courses and the Neon Garage fan experience. The superspeedway is also home to the Kobalt Tools 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series each season.

Education is a top priority in Southern Nevada. The Clark County School District operates 357 schools as of the 2010/2011 school year and is the fifth largest school district in the nation.

The majority of Southern Nevada students choose to continue education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  Founded in 1957, the University recently announced the formation of the Brookings Mountain West Initiative, the creation of The Lincy Institute at UNLV and the Engelstad Scholars Program.

Nevada State College (NSC) and College of Southern Nevada (CSN) are two additional education programs for Southern Nevada college students. NSC is a comprehensive college offering bachelor's degrees in more than 20 fields of study.  NSC is the first four-year state college in Nevada. CSN enrolls over 43,000 students and provides more than 3,000 courses per semester in more than 120 fields of study, including more than 25 degree and certificate programs that are entirely online.

To meet the demands of a growing community, some of the finest healthcare facilities in the nation have been built in Las Vegas. Sixteen major hospitals collectively provide over 4,000 patient beds and nearly 15,000 qualified physicians. The area is also served by a number of major Health Maintenance Organizations and several nonprofit health support organizations.

Religion also plays an important role in the lives of Las Vegas valley residents. The area boasts almost 600 places of worship.