When you live in Las Vegas, there's never a lack of places to grab a great meal and enjoy the nightlife. After all, this town was built on the premise of the good times. There are hundreds of restaurants in Sin City, and many of them are very close to the neighborhood of Coronado Ranch.

At SkinnyFATS, anyone can find a breakfast that suits their tastes. Start the day the healthy way with a protein waffle and a cold-pressed juice. Or if you'd rather go all out with a comfort breakfast that satisfies your every craving, opt for the Drunken Monkey pancakes with crisp applewood bacon. SkinnyFATS bills itself as the best restaurant in the world, and they may be right. Customer's can choose from the healthy side of the menu or make a selection from the happy side. Either way, you'll get a great meal at SkinnyFATS on West Warm Springs Road just west of Durango.

Savor the menu at Island Flavor Hawaiian restaurant on Durango Drive near Windmill Lane. Patrons can start with a freshly made ahi poke salad seasoned with sesame. And for the main course, try the broiled opakapaka served on crunchy salad greens, drizzled with creamy sesame dressing. Order full pans of laulau, katsu chicken and other island favorites for your own luau.

For nightlife, residents can stay in the neighborhood or drive a few blocks east to the Las Vegas Strip. If you want to grab a burger and play some slots without having to deal with the tourist crowd, drop by T-Bird Lounge & Restaurant on West Warm Springs Road. The stromboli here is a meat lover's dream, piled high with salami, pepperoni, sausage and ham. T-Bird Lounge serves breakfast treats like biscuits and country gravy all day and all night.

LIGHT Nightclub is open three nights a week and it costs a bundle to get in. But it's worth it: LIGHT Nightclub presents a sensational venue with a bass-heavy sound system, trendy ambience and Cirque du Soleil acrobats hanging from the ceiling. Find The LIGHT Nightclub in the Mandalay Bay Resort on the Strip.

The Las Vegas Valley was at one time inhabited by little more than coyotes, rattlesnakes and jackrabbits. The comfortable community of Coronado Ranch was undeveloped desert. Today, Las Vegas stands as one of the most populated cities in the United States and by far the largest city in the Silver State. The Coronado Ranch neighborhood currently comprises four upscale housing developments: SouthBrook, Jones Crossing, Reserve and Woodbridge.

I-15, I-515 and US 95 are the freeways that move people into and around Las Vegas. In the Coronado Ranch area, the major north-south surface streets are Rainbow Boulevard, Jones Boulevard and Decatur Boulevard. Major east-west roads include Warm Springs Road, Robindale Road and Windmill Lane.

Public transportation is provided by RTC Transit. A two-hour bus pass costs $6. The Strip & Downtown Express offers fast, limited-stop service to and from the downtown area, the Strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center.

It's easy to hail a cab on the Strip. If you need a ride in Coronado Ranch, your best bet is to call a cab company directly.

The streets of Las Vegas are as flat as the desert beneath them. Much of the area is accessible by bicycle, but you've got to watch out for cars. If you're going to ride, wear appropriate clothing and carry water. Remember, temperatures here often exceed 100 degrees in summertime.

The average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in Coronado Ranch is $890. A gallon of gas costs about the same here as the national average. A cab ride in Vegas will cost you $3.30 when the driver drops the flag, and $2.60 for each additional mile on the meter. Get to the center of town with a two-hour bus pass that costs $6.

It's always happy hour in Las Vegas. A cold draft beer will cost you $3. Most casinos will give you a free beer as you're playing slots and table games.

For a superior selection of items, shop at Glazier's Food Marketplace. The only family-owned neighborhood supermarket in Las Vegas, Glazier's stocks thousands of items, typical and not-so-typical. One thing that sets Glazier's apart from the rest is their selection of regional foods. If you have a hankering for fresh pasta from Chicago, mustard from Cleveland or a pound of hard-to-find monkfish fillets, this is the place to get them. Find Glazier's at the corner of Warm Springs Road and Durango Drive.

One of the not-so-wonderful things about living in Las Vegas is the scarcity of one-of-a-kind grocers, bakers, butchers, and farmers markets. You'll find Smith's and Albertsons on South Rainbow and Whole Foods in Town Square near the Strip.

Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Dillard's, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue are some of the high-end department stores found at Fashion Show Mall.

Silverado Park presents baseball and softball fields, great grassy areas, a fitness course and room to run big and small dogs. There are picnic tables, drinking fountains and a playground, too. Find the city-run public park at 9855 Gilespie Street, just east of South Point Hotel & Casino.

Western Trails playground and dog park is a small rural oasis just minutes away from the lively Las Vegas Strip. The wagon-themed park on Rogers Street south of West Warm Springs Road provides ample parking, clean bathrooms, plenty of shade and several water fountains.

More than one million hikers, climbers and sightseers visit Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area every year. It's not in Coronado Ranch, but it's easy to get there from here. Only 17 miles from the Strip, Red Rock Canyon is a favorite day trip for people who live and work in the entertainment capital of the world.