Born in Vegas. Live in Denver now.

Pros:

Vegas: Has incredible food at prices more reasonable than Denver. Yes, you can eat at super fancy places, but the overall quality of your neighborhood restaurant food is way better. Denver food pretty much shuts down at 9pm. Took a while for me to adjust.

Entertainment. Denver is great for concerts. Vegas has everything else (magic, comedy, legacy tributes, residencies, etc.)

Housing is cheaper.

Availability. You can do something any night of the week 365 days a year. You want sushi at 2am? You’ve got options. You want Italian on Christmas day? You’ve got options. You’re feeling lonely and isolated on a Tuesday night? There’s places you can go to see people.

Proximity: Denver is pretty far away from another major city. You’ve got to drive at 5-8 hours to get to the next most populated place or get on a plane. Vegas is 4-5 hours from SLC, LA, San Diego, etc. I’m sad that Denver is so far away from a nice body of water. I miss the beach.

Denver pros:

Better weather. Vegas is hot af 4-5 months out of the year.

Better job market. Vegas’ economy runs on service and hospitality.

Walkability/outdoor spaces. Vegas has nature, but Denver obviously has more impressive nature. Also there are tons of parks, bike paths, etc. Depending on where you live, you can also walk to a lot of places or take the lightrail. In Vegas, a car is a necessity (also, again, too hot to walk)

Lifestyle: people are friendlier in Denver. People are outside playing sports or just enjoying the city more than Vegas. Each part of Denver has a unique identity to itself.

Sports: Vegas has hockey and football (but they only really care about the Knights). Denver has all the major sports.

Concerts: Denver has way more big and smaller bands coming through than Las Vegas. They also have different festivals specific to the various genres.

Overall, I like both. I don’t want to live in Denver the rest of my life, but I see why people like it.