There are quite a few unincorporated places in Southern Nevada and around Las Vegas. Paradise, Primm, Sloan, Jean, and Lone Mountain are just a few. There are also Whitney and Sunrise Manor, and it was recently announced that residents from these two unincorporated places are proposing that the two be combined to create a single city in East Las Vegas. 

This would mean a lot of things if this happened. One is that combining the two places would create the third largest city in Clark County. As explained by the Review-Journal, Las Vegas currently is the biggest city with 648,224 residents, Henderson has 307,928, and North Las Vegas has 249,180. If Sunrise Manor and Whitney were combined, the population would be roughly 260,779 and would take over the third spot. Combining the two places would also be great for residents as the change in city structure would help address their day-to-day concerns by giving them their own mayor and city council and providing more control over local issues.

Typical Homes in Clark County, NV

Last week, Clark County commissioners held a town hall meeting to hear input on why this city should exist. The meeting also discussed specific details that would be important to the potential city, like police protection, local government, tax revenue, and if creating a city is even necessary. As with most orders of business which require voting, elections, taxes, signatures, and approvals, this process will not happen overnight. As the Review-Journal's Michael Scott Davison explains, “incorporation, if it happens, could take more than a year.” 

Livability explains that currently Whitney is the smaller of the two places and has a population of just over 40,000. The average income is around $46,000 and the median home price is $111,600. Sunrise Manor has a median income of almost $40,000 and a median home value of just over $100,000. 

Whitney and Sunrise Manor both currently have very few amenities. Sam Boyd Stadium is in Whitney and is the home field for the UNLV football team. Nellis Air Force Base is in the Sunrise Manor neighborhood. It’s possible that creating a city out of the two places could enhance the area and give businesses, real estate investors, and housing developers reasons to keep the city on their radar. This change could also help the location expand and grow. This is currently the case with Mesquite, which is the last unincorporated place to become a Nevada city.