2011 will be a year of change

I love Las Vegas. Vegas is my home. Always will be. It's amazing to live 5 minutes from a destination that people fly thousands of miles to see. People come here from all over the planet and that's awesome. Unfortunately this is not the same city I moved to in 2007. Back then, this place was the economic beacon for the country. We had the lowest unemployment nationwide, a booming construction market, and a bright future. Now we have 15% unemployment, and there's a general feeling here the outlook will not turn around anytime soon. Unfortunately I have to move on. For the last 16 months, I've been looking for opportunity here and the fact is I'm not sure I'll find it any time soon. The natural question then is where to now? The answer isn't obvious. I could go east to Boston or New York. I could go to Seattle or Silicon Valley. I could even go to Austin. But all these options have flaws I can't overcome. Most are simply too far away but more importantly most don't have the entrepreneurial community I want. The balance of proximity, and entrepreneurial spirit comes in an unlikely place. Los Angeles. Perhaps I've been watching too much This Week in Startups but I really feel like that's the place to be. My lease is up in January and frankly I can't wait to get out of here. Between the onslaught of roaches and the fact it's an oven 7 months out of the year this apartment is not worth the low rent I pay. There are sacrifices I'll have to make but so be it. Any price is worth it in the long run. I can suffer the pain of work or I can suffer the pain of disappointment. A high price but I pay it gladly. 2011 will be a good year. Period. Stay tuned. Should be fun.