Chris talks about living in Las Vegas since he was 6 months old. He also talks about starting his own valet parking company while he was in college. Later Chris talks about Silver State Film Productions, a film company he founded. The schools Chris attended during his childhood were located in Las Vegas, Nevada at that time. Film producer Chris Ramirez moved from Colorado to the east side of Las Vegas in 1973, when he was six months old. Son of Greg Ramirez, owner and founder of Viva Zapatas restaurants, Chris and his family moved to Rancho Bel Air, where he completed his school years, in about 1980. Chris and other Clark County School District students of his age participated in a school desegregation program unique to Las Vegas. After completing fifth grade at Howard Wasden Elementary School, Chris and his classmates rode a bus for one year to Mabel Hoggard Sixth Grade Center in North Las Vegas. After sixth grade he attended Hyde Park Middle School and Bishop Gorman High School. Chris’s family and school connections combined with the barter culture in Las Vegas combined to create an emphasis on “who you know” rather than “what you know.” Chris formed his film companies on the basis of his Las Vegas knowledge and his contacts and credits Las Vegas for allowing him to be in the right place at the right time to meet and work with celebrities and become an entrepreneur. Chris enjoys the urban excitement of living, doing business, and participating in the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas.

Includes meeting agenda and minutes and a letter.

Narrator affiliation: Secretary, Administrative Assistant, Holmes and Narver; U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

In 2011, Ian and Shanna Anderson moved into their McNeil Estates home with their two young children. Though both of the children born-and-raised Nevadan, neither Ian nor Shanna is. However, as the couple explains in this interview, letting their roots grow in Las Vegas has been quite easy. Ian has lived in Las Vegas since 1997 and Shanna since 2008. Ian was raised in Central corridor of Phoenix, where he explains he was in the minority as a white person. Shanna, by contrast, is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They met, married at Taliesin West (Scottsdale, AZ) and settled in Las Vegas, where both work in the office furniture industry. Shanna and Ian share a passion for design, especially midcentury modern design. So when they felt the need to move from their Summerlin home, they looked for a house in the center of the city. Something clicked when they saw 2601 Mason Avenue. It was a burnt out shell of a dwelling, but their vision of what could be became a tale of imagination and patience. They talk about the upside and downside of living in this Ward 1 neighborhood; there is the proximity to work, concerns about education for the children, and where they shops and play. They talk in detail about owning a perfect family home in a remarkable part of Las Vegas.