When I first moved to Las Vegas I thought it would be fun to rent an apartment near the UNLV campus. I was not very familiar with the UNLV area, but I was familiar with Las Vegas Strip night life and the basic demographics of the city, such as it has more than a million residents living there etc. I graduated from the U of A in Tucson, Arizona and the apartment my roommates and I shared near campus was perfect for a social lifestyle and convenient to restaurants, grocery, gym, and pubs. Therefore an apartment by UNLV should offer the same amenities, right? It has turned out to be much different than I expected.
Well, the scene next to my apartment building in Las Vegas has turned out to be quite different than what I experienced near my pad in Tucson. Though my roommate and found a pretty hip apartment practically on the UNLV campus…there is little campus life. The social life of UNLV seems to have been over shadowed by the Las Vegas Strip social scene.
Though I settled on a spacious apartment off of Maryland Pkwy, there are a plethora of small and large apartment communities near UNLV. My place has a resort style pool, which is a must on the hot summer days in Las Vegas. The UNLV area is blocks from the Boulevard Mall, a Super Target, plenty of movie rental spots, and grocery. Not much in the way of gyms that are walking distance, unless you are a student you can use the one at UNLV.
There are very few college pubs in the area…like maybe five? Most of them are off of Maryland Parkway between Tropicana and Flamingo. Maryland Pkwy runs north and south along the one mile length of UNLV. My hip apartment is right off of Maryland Pkwy so, I can walk to most of the pubs. Unfortunately, there are not enough little college type pubs to do a UNLV pub crawl along Maryland Pkwy, but you could swing a small 5k pub crawl to warm up for a big crawl maybe in Old Town Las Vegas or Freemont Experience area.
There is hope yet for UNLV and it’s campus social scene. There is a revitalization project called Midtown UNLV that was introduced in 2002, but really did not make any headlines until late 2006. Midtown UNLV will be revitalizing the area with more and new hotspots to eat, drink, and hang out. There will also be an expansion to include more apartments, dorms, and living quarters for faculty and students at UNLV. To learn more about the Midtown UNLV revitalization project visit their website at midtown.unlv.edu.
Below is a list of what social bars, pubs, or lounges I found on the UNLV campus in order of preference. I will be writing a blog about each of these hangouts because they are noteworthy and each make for a good time depending on your expectations.
Crown and Anchor Pub
[where: 1350 E Tropicana Ave , Las Vegas , NV , 89122]
(702) 739-8676
www.crownandanchorlv.com
Moose’s Beach House Bar & Grill
4770 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702) 798-0441
Paymons Mediterranean Cafe & Hookah Lounge
[where: 4153 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89119]
(702) 731-6030
www.paymons.com
Freakin Frog
[where: 4700 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89119]
(702) 597-3237
www.freakinfrog.com
Cheers Bar & Grill
[where: 1220 East Harmon Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89119]
(702) 734-2454
PT’s Pub
[where: 1089 East Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89119]
(702) 895-9480
www.ptspubs.com
Learn more about the UNLV neighborhood.
