LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Mesquite is now the fastest growing city in Nevada, according to the US Census Bureau. The city in expected to continue to boom doubling its population in the next 20 years.
“I had never really lived in a real small town before, and it is just something that had intrigued myself and my wife. We didn’t have any ties when we moved here but our feeling was if it isn’t for us, we will leave. Well, that was 20 years ago and we are not going anywhere,” Mayor Allan Litman of the City of Mesquite laughed. Litman has now been mayor of Mesquite for 10 years.
“I love the people number one. I love the small town atmosphere number two. I love the safety of the city,” Litman shared. Liyman remembers what it was like even before the city was incorporated in 1984.
“I had been through Mesquite in 1965 when there were under a thousand people… there were more cows than people,” Litman recounted.
In the past few decades, Mesquite has grown from just a few thousand people to nearly 23,000.
“We are growing at about 3.9 percent a year right now which is very manageable,” Litman reported.
When Litman moved to town and bought property to build a home in 2003, resources were limited.
“It was almost impossible to find people to do any work. You couldn’t find roofers, you couldn’t find electricians, you couldn’t find plumbers,” Litman revealed.
That is changing. The second largest manufacturer of aluminum cans in the world now calls Mesquite home and there’s plenty of room for more businesses and more homes.
“Our land is very, very reasonable right now and there is lots of it,” Litman stated. The city has goals for the future growth but was set up to grow much bigger from the beginning.
“Mesquite was well planned to start with. We have fabulous infrastructure in Mesquite, we are not tearing up streets to widen them,” Litman reported.
So why are so many people, especially retirees, moving to Mesquite?
“The older you get the less stress you want in your life and that is traffic, that is crime and pollution. It doesn’t exist here,” Litman argued.
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