Las Vegas One of the Rudest, Most Stressful US Cities

Here's some more good news for Las Vegas tourism: it has just been voted as being among America's rudest and most stressful cities! A new study by CNBC.com identified Vegas as the country's second most stressful city, right behind Tampa, FL. They base their findings on the Vegas area's high crime, horrible economy, bad traffic, crazy unemployment rate, and still-going-down home values. The city has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation and is lucky enough to have a high per capita violent crime rate.

The only "happy" thing about Vegas? Sunshine. We have the fewest cloudy days of any city surveyed. Awesome.

All that stress must be making Vegas Valley people very rude, because Travel + Leisure magazine just rated us the 12th rudest population in the US. The magazine's editors say they took into account culture, quality of life, shopping, nightlife options, trip experiences, and overall "friendliness" in making their list. They say Vegas kicks butt in the nightlife category but that people here (locals and tourists alike) don't necessarily enjoy interacting with one another very much.

Kind of surprisingly, Vegas was among the worst cities for "athletically active" people. Aren't we supposed to be one of the best cities for outdoor sports enthusiasts?? Not surprising at all, the city ranks extremely low for intelligence of the population, city pride, museums, peace, and public parks.

We say: Of course we're stressed and pissed off in Sin City! There are no jobs. Everyone's losing their house. The economy absolutely sucks. And Vegas seems to attract some of the least friendly people not just from the US but from all over the world (we're looking at you Vietnamese blackjack dealers... learn how to smile once in awhile!). Thank God for the sun...

Learn some mo': Study ranks Las Vegas as nation’s second most stressful city and Las Vegas one of America’s rudest cities

Las Vegas New Home Sales Hit 30-Year Low

Just a few short years ago Las Vegas had one of the hottest housing markets in the United States. In the world even! But in 2011 it's home-building industry was one of the coldest, falling to a 30-year low. New home sales topped out at just under 3,900 -- a fraction of the 2005 number of nearly 39,000.

According to Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc:

“2011 was the most difficult year the [Las Vegas] home building industry has ever been through."

He said it was the worst he's seen since he started tracking the Vegas market in 1987. In fact, it only barely beat the 1982 new homes figure of 3600. Maybe the scariest thing is that the Las Vegas Valley now has about 4 times more people than it did in '82.

The Vegas economy continues to be mired in high unemployment and huge number of "underwater" mortgages/foreclosures. The only bright spot is that Las Vegas houses have become incredibly cheap to buy! Many economists expect the Vegas economy to pick up slight in 2012 and continue to gain momentum into 2013 but there will almost certainly be no rapid, dramatic recovery for Sin City!

We say: Vegas needs jobs. That's all there is to it. Until our "brilliant" local business leaders and politicians figure out a way to bring new industries and decent-paying jobs into this city not much is going to change.

Learn some mo': Las Vegas new home sales hit 30-year low in 2011

Natural Antidepressant: Vitamin D?

Vitamin D may be one of the best natural antidepressants, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that people with low levels of the "sunshine" vitamin were much more likely to experience symptoms of depression compared to those with high levels. Experts say it backs up past research showing that vitamin D is an ultra-important brain booster.

It's not clear how or why exactly vitamin D has such a strong effect on mood. Scientists do know however that the human brain is full of special vitamin D receptors, so it's obviously an important nutrient for brain and mental health. The Institute of Medicine has recently raised its recommendations for vitamin D to 600 IUs for people under 70 and 800 for people over.

According to Dr. E. Sherwood Brown, a top researcher in the Texas study:

“[These findings] add depression to the spectrum of medical illnesses associated with low vitamin D, and people with depression probably should consider a blood test to see if their vitamin D is low and whether supplements may be needed."

But he warns that vitamin D may not be a "cure" for depression. It certainly can't hurt to make sure your "D" levels are high enough!

Learn some mo': Low Levels of Vitamin D May Be Linked to Depression

Best Diets of 2012 Chosen by U.S. News & World Report

According to a new report from U.S. News & World Report the best weight loss diet for 2012 is the Weight Watchers diet. The next best is the "Biggest Loser" diet followed up by the Jenny Craig diet plan. According to the people who put the report together, data shows that Weight Watchers dieters have the most success with both short term weight loss and long term weight loss/weight maintenance. They also say that Weight Watchers is one of the easier diets to follow, making it more likely that a client will stick to the plan over time.

The Jenny Craig program, another top commercial diet plan, can be effective but, according to researchers, relies too much on pre-packaged meals and is significantly more expensive than other options. It's interesting to note that, not very long ago, research from the Journal of the American Medical Association as well as ratings from Consumer Reports magazine showed Jenny Craig to be the best weight loss diet on the market.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was chosen has the best overall diet for 2012, for the 2nd time in two years. The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet and the Mayo Clinic diet took the 2nd and 3rd spots in that category. The rankings were created by a panel of 22 diet, nutrition, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and "food psychology" experts who voted on things like how easy a diet is to follow, nutritional completeness, safety, and a diet's ability to produce short-term and long-term weight loss results.

We say: US News & World Report has already shown their love for both Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig in the past. Could it be that they're being paid off by these billion-dollar diet companies? We'd give it 50/50 odds that that could be the case!

Learn some mo': Best Diets of 2012 -- New Rankings

Las Vegas Constables Get Embarrassing

Most Las Vegas residents who have had to deal with local constables already know that these "half-cops" aren't the most professional people in the world. They foreclose homes, serve legal papers, and even pull drivers over on the road (even though they're not really supposed to!). But now a new video recently posted on Youtube shows the Vegas constables office is actually much worse than we thought:

 

Constable offices from surrounding cities -- including North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City -- are already doing their best to distance themselves from this fiasco. They've addressed their concerns to the Clark County Commission, with one Henderson constable even saying this:

 "For the past 12 years, we’ve cleaned up the professionalism of the office... That, I’ll be honest, has been destroyed in the last 12 months."  

Las Vegas Metro Police have their own, more serious, problems to deal with. The fact that the city constables are basically acting like jackasses embarasses the entire city of Las Vegas. Thanks guys, just what we need right now!

 Learn some mo': Constables say system ‘out of control’