How the Recession has Affected Mesquite, Nevada

Mesquite, Nevada is a town of about 18,000 people situated on the Utah/Nevada border, 90 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada. Two years ago, this place was a boom town! New construction was rampant, new businesses were moving in all the time, and lots of people were visiting the Mesquite casinos and golf courses. Today, February 2010, as I drive around the City of Mesquite, I see many half-finished homes standing as silent representations of the poor economy. Sun City is still selling homes, but few other subdivisions are producing sales. If I look in the want ads in the newspaper, there just aren't very many jobs listed and there are a huge number of rentals listed because of layoffs from the casinos. Rents have gone down in general, and since I am a renter, this has been positive. But friends looking for work have a hard time.

Golfers, who tend to be upper-income anyway, still keep the golf courses busy and inside the casinos one wonders if there's been a recession at all! People still flock to the Mesquite casinos for some reason. It makes me wonder why they keep laying people off. It just doesn't appear, from an outsider, to be justified. But hey, the recession is a good excuse to trim the fat for everybody.

Three of the four major casinos here just changed ownership, and I hear it's because the owner had too much debt. I can understand how that happened, because a few years ago, casinos were a good place to invest, especially in this once-growing town. But the City of Mesquite is still keeping the place looking good, with lots of improvement projects, and the main street businesses are mostly occupied. There's a huge sports complex being built that will mean more jobs in the near future, so it's just a matter of the citizens of Mesquite hanging on until things improve.

All in all, I love living here. The weather attracts so many "Snowbirds" and retirees that the base economy still has some money coming in, and the quality of life is quite nice. I look at the situation in poor Las Vegas...things there are pretty bad! Comparitatively speaking, Mesquite is still a good place to live and I love it here.