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In late 2007, the US Housing bubble burst, initiating the country- and the world subsequently, into what is now known as The Great Recession.

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In 2007, I moved to Las Vegas. It became my home for 11 years. A lot of the friends I made also moved to the city at that time.

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In late 2009-2010 there was a surge for social media sites, I often used chat sights to connect with my school friends from home. Many of my nights in high school were spent video chatting with friends and strangers across the globe.

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Many of my family members lost their jobs and homes due to the economic crash of 2008. Because of this, we could no longer afford to live in LA. My family, a long with many on the West Coast, moved several hours eastward, to Las Vegas. Where housing was much more affordable for the moment.

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MySpace, Facebook, Tumblr were also popular, but as I was into 'gaming', I gravitated towards sites like Club Penguin and ToonTown.

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Though the days are always hot in the desert, our community has been affected by the increase in days above 108 degrees. When I was younger, July and August had the hottest days. Now, you can expect to have at least 3 days over 105 before the end of June.

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The Southwest has been experiencing a 'megadrought' affecting Lake Mead. I spent summers here, enjoying water sports and now it is only 27% of what it once was.

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Around 2007, many people became familiar with social media, using it to connect to local friends and family, and then networking out, connecting with people across city and state lines.

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Due to the drought, laws were passed banning green lawns and capping how much water could be used in a pool. Many of my neighbors shifted from grassy lawns, to fake turf or rock displays.

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During the 2000s, education in Las Vegas was struggling due to a rapid boom in student population. Many of our schools suffered from overcrowding and low retention rates for teachers.

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From 'The Las Vegas Sun' newspaper, 2003

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During my middle-school and high-school years, Las Vegas ranked 50th in Education in the US by state, and that our high school dropout rate was 50%.

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The city's over-reliance on tourism, gaming, and construction made it highly vulnerable to economic downturns. The Great Recession of 2008 had a devastating impact on Las Vegas, leading to high unemployment, plunging home prices, and a significant increase in foreclosures.

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Las Vegas was the worst-hit market in the 2008 housing collapse—home prices fell 63%, wiping out generations of equity.

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The dominant industries in Las Vegas, the service and hospitality industries, often offer lower-wage jobs, many of which don't come with comprehensive health insurance benefits. This leaves a large segment of the working population uninsured or underinsured.

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Policymakers made significant cuts to public sector budgets after the recession, sectors including healthcare, education, and public safety. This meant less funding for preventive care, community health initiatives, and safety net programs.

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FirstMed Health & Wellness Center was founded in 2009 to serve the uninsured and underinsured in the city. They joined other community health centers to bridge the gap in access to health care by providing free or low-cost outpatient medical treatments, primary care, pediatric care, and women's health services. My family frequently used their clinic hours.

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My community was heavily impacted by the onset of the recession. Without it, Las Vegas would not have experienced the rapid population growth which led to many infrastructure changes within the city. I think the recession was the single worst and greatest social change to impact Las Vegas.

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The collapse of the economy heavily impacted our health care system, as it was already undergoing immense strain. The highlight of this is that once the effects of the recession weaned, we had legislation that focused on funding our schools and increasing the amount of physician practitioners we had in the state.