BUILDING A NEW FRONTIER

摘要

When Bill Starkey and his wife went in search of retirement nirvana, they had two requirements: a dry climate and wide open spaces so they could see the night sky. A flat piece of sage-covered desert in the shadow of Sheep Mountain, 17 miles north of downtown Las Vegas, seemed perfect to the refugees from Orange County, Calif. "There was nothing here, and we loved it," says Starkey, who in 1986 moved into his new home with unobstructed views of snow-capped peaks. Today, the vista from Starkey's second-story deck features neighboring developments spreading across the land — some with homes packed so tightly that owners must get variances to put in a porch. Downtown Vegas, once a quick 15 minutes away, can't be reached in less than 40 now.