Las Vegas (Pittsburgh, Washington, California: sales, real estate, hotels)

[MathmanMathman]

Awhile ago there was a Trib board and a member Vegas. He pretty much bashed Pittsburgh on a frequent basis using Las Vegas' success both in jobs and market value of its Real Estate. He liked to cast himself as Pittsburgh's "coach" when pointing out Las Vegas' superior trait "leadership" and chastising Pittsburgh to stop doing "stupid things". Sort of like the "good coach" who points out the obvious. Then the collapse happened and both he and the board fell silent and disappeared.

I was fortunate to recently visit Las Vegas. Las Vegas is an amazing place in terms of the sights and things to do. but I'd say it has little to offer as lessons for Pittsburgh. Las Vegas' success is largely due to its willingness to embrace and legalize vice. It has become a Disneyland for adults. I've heard stories of cheap buffets and free drinks at all hours with cheap shows. Apparently, that's all gone now as food there is expensive and the shows are pretty much the same market rate as in the rest of the country. It does have a Monorail which is useful in navigating the Strip and getting to the Convention Center as Las Vegas is extremely HOT this time of year. 112 degrees makes Houston look really good . Unfortunately, the Monorail does not go to the airport although that is an intention of further expansion. And the monorail ride is surprisingly uncomfortable, you'd think that would have been a primary consideration . And there is a long walk from the monorail station to the Convention Center. It should have rolled up right along side it. That LV sun is brutal .

About the only thing I can think of as a lesson for Pittsburgh is perhaps when Pittsburgh was going for a Convention Center hotel, it should have combined that with its desire for a casino. A hotel casino might have "taken care of both with one stone". Even Detroit has an MGM Grand with a casino. Would have been a good draw for conventions and such a hotel would have had a good reason to house some better upscale restaurants. Perhaps a monorail like device to go to the stadiums would have been good to attract those attending games from out-of-town. There is a free tram running between The Excalibur to Mandalay Bay hotels which was much appreciated by me. I believe both systems are autonomous and they work.

But I thoroughly enjoyed Las Vegas and would consider going back. Everyone should go at least once. The shows are amazing. Even Donnie and Marie were more entertaining than I had expected. The only ideas I took away from the experience is the hotel casino and there should be a rail connection to the airport .

[Craziaskowboi]

Hopefully VoodooLounger moved to Las Vegas in 2005.

[Retiredcoach]

We are all drawn to those places that have the amenities not available to us at home. Las Vegas has drawn tourists from all around the world because it was/is a mecca of gambling opportunities and unique entertainment. Now that gambling casinos are becoming commonplace throughout the country and Broadway shows are available in local cities , it should come as no surprise that Vegas is becoming less and less unique. What does surprise me, though, is that the state of Nevada was not in the forefront in the legalization of marijuana (Colorado and Washington are experiencing a major boon in tourism and tax revenue because of this).

[ElijahAstin]

A great place to visit is not necessarily a great place to live.

[_Buster]

I vaguely remember reading that vegas booster's posts. even at the time I thought that the idea of Pittsburgh emulating las vegas to spark a rebound was completely laughable, although he got a lot more cred than he deserved because it was before the housing crash, and Vegas was booming while Pittsburgh was still in bad shape. although it's true that Pittsburgh could get bigger conventions if it had a large attached convention hotel or even a large hotel with a lot of meeting space at the rivers casino.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

You can't compare Vegas to any US City at all. I would never live there, but love visiting the place (hey, I bet a lot of people say that, which is why their entire city is built on tourism). I actually prefer the weird, less touristy parts of Vegas. I don't care about gambling at all, so I'm all about partying in some of the more 'local' bars, seeing weird people, and riding my Ducati in the middle of the desert (while listening to Queens of the Stone Age) Vegas is badass. Any city called the Sin City is bound to be a good time.

[MathmanMathman]

Sounds like Rivers Casino has been a good deal.

Neighbors, communities big winners since Rivers Casino's opening | TribLIVE

• $476.4 million in state tax

• $146 million to Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund

• $65 million to Economic Development and Tourism Fund

• $57.3 million to Pittsburgh and Allegheny County

• $37.5 million to Consol Energy Center

• $4.6 million to Department of Education Library Fund

• $3 million to Northside Leadership Conference

• $3 million to Hill District groups

• $531,112 to community groups and foundations

Hate to sound greedy, but it Pittsburgh could keep all that revenue, it could do some serious improvements. PA seems to be the big winner. I mean that kind of money could fund an expansion of The T. Could Pittsburgh support another casino, say a Casino-Hotel beside David L Lawrence? Or would that only bite into the pie for Rivers Casino?

[sskink]

Originally Posted by _Buster

... although it's true that Pittsburgh could get bigger conventions if it had a large attached convention hotel or even a large hotel with a lot of meeting space at the rivers casino.

I bought into that line of thinking myself for a long time. But after interviewing with key people at the DLCC, I came away thinking sales and operations management were some of the most incompetent boobs I've ever met in the convention industry. It's one of the true "yinzers gonna yinz" operations around these parts.

Sure, a bigger attached hotel would help. But they use the excuse of not having one as a crutch. The meeting rooms at DLCC are empty most of the time, so they're not attracting smaller events that don't need large hotel blocks. For all the press that the main exhibit floor is heavily booked, that only represents part of the saleable space. Not to mention that VisitPittsburgh and the DLCC are not on the same page when it comes to booking events that require larger blocks or that Pittsburgh is viewed as one of the lesser desirable places to stage a large event due to issues with labor that, while not as bad as Philly or Chicago, are significantly worse than many convention centers in similarly sized metros in right-to-work states.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Las Vegas' success is largely due to its willingness to embrace and legalize vice.

And there's something wrong with that?

I love the people watching in Vegas best. Strolling the Strip is like your own personal freak show. teh food ain't bad either

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

Nevada was not in the forefront in the legalization of marijuana (Colorado and Washington are experiencing a major boon in tourism and tax revenue because of this).

I think that's the fallacy that liberal places love vices, which isn't really the case.

Nevada is actually not very progressive, and very on the fence between Democrats and Republican leaning. Generally, it's conservative, but the influx of Californians have been making it more purple (diluting the red). But, it's still not progressive enough, or attract the kind of people, that would legalize Marijuana.

Generally speaking, pot smokers and gamblers are two very different people as well. Nevada just doesn't attract the kinds of people who enjoy smoking pot. It actually seems to repel them. Pot smokers are more attracted to subdued 'nature' areas like CO, WA, CA, etc.