Notar fan is obviously biased towards Mesa, AZ, but consider that Nevada has no State Income Tax. For someone earning a nice living thats a lot of money....For us partially retired folks, its also nice.
Traffic in Phoenix area is just as bad as Vegas. Temperature just as hot in the summer.
BUT Vegas has great Restaurants and any store that you can imagine has one here.....
As to Restaurants, last night it was twofers at the El Cortez. Prime Rib Dinner for two $11.95. Big slab of Dead Cow, baked Potato, and salad.....Try that in Phoenix. Blackjack makes the price of Dinner go up if you dont watch out.
If the Wife is a crime anaylst, Vegas is the place, they have more crime than they can handle. Also Gaming industry has their own criminal division which pays pretty well. For an engineer, I cant say much about Vegas, but We have a major air hub here so travel anywhere is no big deal.
We do have some great airports around which offer Gliders and smaller aircraft, if your into building those small toys.