[southwest1230]

I think you can attribute the problems unique to Vegas that indeed DO make it worse than most big cities(forget the cesspools like Detroit and Cleveland, we're talking typical cities), down to two. 1.)Vegas is a one-company town.....Of the casinos, by the casinos, and FOR the casinos. What should rightly go into tax coffers is skimmed by the casino-corporations more efficiently than Lefty Rosenthal and the Outfit could ever have imagined in their wildest dreams....this means no parks, schools, rec centers, pools, libraries, public buildings, services, for the locals. It makes for a crappy environment, and you therefore get a revolving door of residents, and no continuity that bodes pride of place. Where there is no pride of place, there is no joining of organizations, and an egregious amount of crime. And no one cares.....why should they?
2.) The revolving door of transiency...so many people coming and going, and not just tourists. They don't tell you that while 5,000 a month come, just about the same amount leave. If they all stayed, the metro area would be more on the cusp of 3 million now. Over the last 30 years, a good million folks bailed back to whence they came, and never looked back. Revolving door cities have no continuity on any level, breed crime, and keep the main godfather in the area, casinos, running the show. They want transiency, which stifles debate, and eliminates the possibility of any grass-roots bubbling up of tax referenda that would make Las Vegas a more livable city.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO, that's your answer in a nutshell as to why Vegas has problems as a livable city,
and why so many that come go right back out in the same revolving door. Hey, look
on the bright side, at least revolving doors can't hit you on the way out!
LOL!~

[WildWestDude]

Pretty much the whole city runs on the scam of the casinos.
The have the legal right to steal from people. We have been conditioned to say, " I lost money, but had a good time" or that its was "entertainment". This is for our hard working money. As long as they pray on that weakness they will be king.

[olecapt]

Tourism is our industry. Nothing wrong with that. Like manufacturing or steel making or technology. I think it neither better nor worse than other big industries. And it appears more sustainable long term than many others.

Gambling at this point is only one of the legs of that industry. It no longer dominates.

Detroit and Cleveland are prototypical of well over half the cities on the continent. So before you start comparing you throw out half the comparees?

Define transient please. Then show some evidence that Las Vegas is transient. Yup we get a net of a little less than 5000 a month. But mostly they stay. We lose about 3000 a month. Is that bad? Cite some source that such an outflow is excessive for a city of about 2 million.

las Vegas is full of myths...including what's wrong with it.

[southwest1230]

Gaming technically IS an industry. However, it was created by mobsters and racketeers for the express purpose of fleecing rubes from their cash. Sure, a certain amount of flash(shows, restaurants, etc) comes with the equation, along with jobs, but it is still legalized fleecing, and a simple extension of the same system established by the mob, eventually brought to a fine art by the same with the flamingo and stardust and such. This INDUSTRY owns the city, much as any factory controls a one-horse town. The residents are the last to benefit, and the first to suffer, under such a system. If anything, the gaming industry encourages transiency itself, to eliminate the possibility of any movement towards something approaching corporate responsibity for the city in which it derives its wealth.

In a nutshell, here is the order of priorities in Las Vegas
1.)Casinos, and everything directly related to them, and keeping all situations that get
in the way of profits of the same nipped in the bud
2.)Tourists....keeping them coming and spending, and spending 10 times more per sq.
ft. of improvements on the strip than any areas of the city where residents actually live.
3.)Residents......last priority...keep them transient, keep them quiet, and let them leave
if they feel frustrated at the lack of civic engagement and support by the aforementioned casinos..anything to keep them from any semblance of any political movement geared towards improving their way of life.

This is the way it is, and is the way it will always be........the city has sold its soul
to the corporation man, and will never get it back......

[Chest Rockwell]

....this means no parks, schools, rec centers, pools, libraries, public buildings, services, for the locals.

I guess you're exaggerating for effect, but obviously Las Vegas has all of these things. There is also a large gaming tax hike working its way through the legislative process.

I agree with most of your points except for the hyperbole, like how Las Vegans are fleeced and how the city is unlivable. You should be able to make this point with facts instead. Any corporation's default position is to maximize profits and please its stockholders. Corporate responsibility is a problem in all cities and in all corporations. Good luck living as a sherpa or wherever you plan to get away from the corporation.

[yellowsnow]

Tourism/gambling is an industry, just like manufacturing cars. AND it's an industry that can't be outsourced! I wish I knew how to figure it out but I would bet Vegas is one of the few places in the US with a positive balance of trade. Las Vegas does what it does quite well. In the hinterlands of the world, if you talk to the locals, they want to visit the US and see LA, NYC, and Vegas. Haven't heard anyone mention Detroit or Cleveland yet. We have a viable product people want.

Las Vegas is gambling, fun, and entertainment. It is what it is. Millions visit and have a great time. They spend their vacation money and leave. They choose how to spend their money. They must be having a good time because they keep on coming back. That bodes well for the future of Las Vegas.

[olecapt]

Jane Ann Morrison got into the act on why Vegas this morning...
"I love Las Vegas because it makes me laugh. And it's one of the best news towns in the United States. Sometimes those are one and the same, since our news is often of the most ridiculous kind. Where else do they put up historic markers that aren't true? Or even consider using tax dollars to help a strip club refresh its exterior? Only in Las Vegas.

I love Las Vegas because the valley and surrounding mountains provide an unusual beauty that stirs my soul. Even when I'm stuck in traffic, the mountain shadows capture something in my heart. And if I catch a glimpse of Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area, or the top of Mount Charleston, or Sunrise Mountain at sunset, it brings a moment of peace, even from a distance. "

See...

http://www.lvrj.com/news/10688521.html- (broken link)

There is also a piece on the slowing of growth in Las Vegas. See...

ReviewJournal.com - News - LV has modest resident growth


I would agree that, like most big industry, the tourism guys have immense pull. And it is statewide as Nevada is actually a state of two cities.

Fiscal policy however resembles that of the rest of the SW. AZ and NM and Utah are all similar. The real problem is that we won't tax anyone. Running on the cheap is a SW tradition.

[southwest1230]

I said all that needs to be said here. Gambling dominates more than ever. Removing it would be tantamount to shutting down Hoover Dam at this point. Take away gambling, and see how many folks continue to patronize the strip and environs......not only does it dominate, it controls the state legislature in its totality, and itself dictates government policy to the gov't officials it has in its collective back pocket. It even extends its presence to all locations far off the strip that locals frequent, in the guise of slots, the crack of gambling. Is it really necessary for machines to be in every laundry and convenience store? Do off-strip casinos realy need to fleece locals of their hard earned cash, never mind all the tax benefits they will never see from the casinos themselves?
My point, again, is that the gaming industry runs this city implicitly and explicity, 100%.
This is to the direct loss of its residents of proper city services and benefits, that are never taxed due to these same corporations having the entire state legislature, Clark county commissioners, and the nevada gaming board in their back pocket.

[olecapt]

You bring strong opinions and shallow understanding to the discussion.

The last time a broad tax was defeated was in the 2003 legislative session when the gaming industry supported a broad based business tax. The state chamber of commerces however ganged up and killed that. It quite well demonstrated that the other business interests in Nevada could well over-ride gaming and the governments when it came to taxes.

Numerous groups have veto power. Gaming among others.

Hangon. You are about to see the gaming tax increased. And I don't think there is anyway the gaming industry will avoid it. Initiatives are fun.

[johninvegas]

Don't know where the OP lives, but there are few states without a state income tax, Nevada is one of them. The gaming industry allows us to keep an additional 10% (compared to what I had to pay when living in CA) of our income. I think that is a pretty big benefit to the residents that has come from the gaming industry.

And hey, you don't like to gamble? When then, move to Florida where they fleece the tourists and locals alike with high-priced "entertainment". Or maybe Hawaii where they take close to 50% of the locals income to provide "health services" (among other things, but not gas which is, oh, I don't know, maybe $3.50/gal) to all--whether they work and contribute or not.

Different towns for different people. Personally, I don't like the summers here anymore and will probably move due to that, but I have never been coerced into dumping all my money at slots no matter where they were and have enjoyed all the benefits the gaming has brought--fine dining, entertainment and the ability to hold a job that pays well in a city that, in my opinion, is rather inexpensive to live in.