Las Vegas
is the most populous city in the state of
Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned
major resort city for gambling, shopping, and entertainment.
Although established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city
in 1911.
With the growth that followed, at the close
of the century Las Vegas
became the most populous American city founded in the 20th
century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century).
As the 28th most populous city in the United States, Las Vegas
is one of the most populous cities in the American West.
The name Las Vegas is often applied to the unincorporated
areas of Clark County that surround the city, especially the
resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4.5-mile
(7.2-km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the
city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and
Winchester.
Las Vegas, billed as The Entertainment Capital of the World,
is famous for massive and lavish casino resorts, the
unrestricted availability of alcoholic beverages (as is true
throughout Nevada), and adult entertainment. Once officially
referred to as Sin City, this image made Las Vegas a popular
setting for films and television programs.
When The Mirage, the first Megaresort, opened in
1989, it started a movement of people and construction away from
downtown Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Strip. This resulted in a drop
in tourism from the downtown area but many recent projects and
condo construction has seen an increase in visitors to downtown.
A concerted effort has been made by city officials to diversify
the economy from tourism by attracting light manufacturing,
banking, and other commercial interests. The lack of any state
individual or corporate income tax and very simple incorporation
requirements have fostered the success of this effort.
Having been late to develop an urban core of any substantial
size, Las Vegas has
retained very affordable real estate prices in comparison to
other western U.S. cities. Consequently, the city has recently
enjoyed an enormous boom both in population and in tourism.
However, as a New York Times series on the city reported in
2004, the median price of housing in the Las Vegas Valley is
now at or above the nationwide median. The urban area has
grown outward so quickly that it is beginning to run into
Bureau of Land Management holdings along its edges, increasing
land values enough that medium- and high-density development
is beginning to occur closer to the core.
As a reflection of the city's rapid growing population, the
new Chinatown of Las Vegas was constructed in the early 1990s
on Spring Mountain Road. Chinatown initially consisted of only
one large shopping center complex, but the area was recently
expanded for new shopping centers that contain various Asian
businesses.
Downtown Las Vegas: The Fremont Street Experience outside of
Binion's Horseshoe Casino. With the Strip expansion in the
1990s, the downtown area (which has maintained an old Las
Vegas feel) began to suffer. The city made a concise effort to
turn around the fortunes of downtown. The Fremont Street
Experience (FSE) was built in an effort to draw tourists back
to the area and has proven to be popular in that regard. The
multi-level Neonopolis, complete with 11 theaters (managed by
Galaxy Theaters, Inc.), was built to offer more retail
opportunity and services.
Many
highrise condo projects have also been underway as downtown is
transforming into a livable neighborhood. Other promising signs
emerged for the area. The city had successfully lured the Internal
Revenue Service operations from the far west of the city to a new
downtown building that opened in April 2005. The IRS move is
expected to create a greater demand for additional businesses in
the area, especially in the daytime hours.
The city purchased 61 acres (247,000 m2) of property from Union
Pacific Railroad in 1995 with the goal of creating something that
would draw more tourists and locals to the downtown area. In 2004
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman announced plans for the Union Park
Development which will include residential and office high-rises,
The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, an academic medical center, The
Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and a new City Hall.
After
failed negotiations with The Related Co. on the development of
Union Park in October of 2005, San Diego-based Newland Communities
was chosen by the city as the new development firm. The Newland
contract calls for Dan Van Epp, Newland's regional vice president
and former president of the Howard Hughes Corp., to oversee his
company's work on Union Park. The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is
expected to be completed in 2007.
Newport Lofts high-rise development under construction with newly
finished Soho Lofts in the background.Along with the Union Park
Development, other promising residential and office developments
have begun construction around downtown Las Vegas. New condominium
and hotel high rise projects have changed the entire Las Vegas
skyline dramatically in recent years. Many large high-rise
projects are planned for downtown Las Vegas as well as the Las
Vegas Strip.
The city council of Las Vegas has also agreed on zoning changes on
Fremont Street, which allows bars to be closer together, such as
the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. It is expected that this change
will bring more tourism and business to the downtown area.
In 2004, the city partnered with Cheetah Wireless Technologies and
MeshNetwork to pilot a wide area mobile broadband system. The
pilot system is installed downtown, around the Fremont Street
Experience.
In 2005, on a lot adjacent to the city's 61 ac (247,000 m2), the
World Market Center opened. It is intended to be the nation's and
possibly the world's preeminent furniture wholesale showroom and
marketplace, and is meant to compete with the current furniture
market capital of High Point, North Carolina.
On October 23, 2006, plans were unveiled to build a World Jewelry
Center in Downtown's Union Park. Similar to the World Market
Center, the WJC will be a one stop shop for jewelry trade shows
from around the world. The project proposes a 57-story, 815-foot
(248 m) office tower.Facts |
