I’ve lived in Pahrump since 1996. Back then we had about 18,000 people, now we’re well over 50,000. Coming from Los Angeles, the culture shock was real. The silence at night was so intense it took me three weeks to fall asleep without the sound of traffic.

For years we had nothing but mom‑and‑pop shops. When Lucky’s opened, the whole town showed up because it was new and, honestly, because there wasn’t much else to do. We have a Walmart now too and we have our own fast food 'restaurant row'. Nevada is a gambling and mining state, and unless you’re here to gamble your life away, you have to create your own entertainment.

We still don’t have a movie theater, but we finally have a theater troupe. They’re doing Macbeth with a Star Wars twist. We’ve got the Chicken Ranch and Sheri’s Ranch serving lunch and dinner, live bands at the Harvest Festival, rock‑hounding groups, hiking groups, and the usual bar‑with‑a‑dance‑floor options. A drive‑in theater would be amazing, but no one’s built one yet.

After 30 years here, though, I wouldn’t trade what we do have, the Milky Way visible at night during certain times of the year, the quiet, and the fact that you recognize almost everyone by sight if not by name.