The Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection in Las Vegas, Nevada (Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard), the latter also known as the Las Vegas Strip is noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first intersection completely closed to street level pedestrian traffic in Las Vegas and its four corners are home to four of the largest hotels in the world, including the largest, as of 2004, the MGM Grand with 5,044 rooms. The four corners have a total of 12,890 hotel rooms as of 2004.

Tropicana Avenue is also the main local street into the airport and the first major exit from I-15 to the Strip for traffic heading north from the Los Angeles, California area. The heavy local traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is listed as a National Scenic Byway All-American Road, further adds to the number of vehicles in this area.

After much study, Clark County, Nevada decided that the only solution to reducing accidents at this intersection that would improve pedestrian flow and vehicular traffic flow was to separate the vehicles and pedestrians.

Tunnels were considered, but being enclosed and underground posed extra security risks. So a solution of uncovered walkways over the streets using escalators and elevators for access was selected as the best solution.

An elevated pedestrian walkway was constructed across each of the streets where the crosswalks would normally have been located. Platforms at the ends of the walkways provide elevator and escalator access between the street and walkway level. The final step was to barricade the sidewalks from the roads in the vicinity of the intersection.

Links

intersection traffic cam

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

References

• http://www.insidervlv.com/lasvegasmovies.html

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet Insert
Owner	Greenspun Corporation
Publisher	Brian Greenspun
Editor	Michael J. Kelley
Founded	1950
Political position	progressive
Headquarters	Green Valley Corporate Center Henderson, NV
Website: [1] lasvegassun.com

The Las Vegas Sun was one of Las Vegas, Nevada’s two daily newspapers. It is owned by The Greenspun Corporation and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group.

The paper was published in the afternoons on weekdays from 1990-2005. The paper is now included as a section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and continues operating exclusively on its website.

History

The Las Vegas Sun was first published on May 21, 1950, by Hank Greenspun, who served as its editor until his death. From its founding the paper was a published in the mornings. Starting in 1990 the paper switched to publishing in the afternoon.

The last afternoon edition of the paper was published on September 30, 2005. On October 3, 2005, the Las Vegas Sun began distribution as a section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a rival newspaper which it has a Joint operating agreement with.

Links

• Las Vegas Sun web site

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Stephens Media
Publisher	Sherman Frederick
Editor	Thomas Mitchell
Founded	September 18, 1909
Political position	populist-libertarian
Headquarters	Las Vegas, NV
Website: [1] reviewjournal.com

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and Las Vegas’ only daily newspaper. It has a daily circulation of 198,000.

The Review-Journal, sometimes referred to as the R-J, takes a very libertarian editorial stance, particularly compared to the afternoon Las Vegas Sun, with which it has a joint operating agreement that runs through 2040. In 2005, the Sun ceased to operate an afternoon newspaper and began distribution as a section of the Review-Journal.

History

The Clark County Review was first printed in 1909 and became the Las Vegas Review as 1926. In March 1929, the Clark County Journal began publication, and in July of that year, the Review bought the Journal and began co-publication as the Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal. In the early 1940s, the owners of the RJ bought the Las Vegas Age, which began publication in 1905. The word “evening” was dropped from the name in 1949.

The Review-Journal entered into its joint operating agreement with the Sun in 1990.

Links

• Las Vegas Review-Journal web site

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a public agency that runs the Las Vegas Convention Center, Cashman Center, and Cashman Field and is responsible for the advertising campaigns for the Clark County, Nevada area.

The fourteen member board is appointed by various elected governing bodies in the County. Funding is provided by a room tax on all hotels in the county.

Activities

The authority works to bring events to the Las Vegas area, sometimes by providing funds to subsidize events. These events include:

• The NBA 2007 All-star game
• The 2006 Tennis Channel Open Tennis Tournament

The authority is also responsible for the advertising campaigns for Las Vegas. Working with the same advertising company R & R Partners since 1982 they have developed ad campaigns like:

• Only in Vegas
• What happens here, stays here

Members

• Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas
• Jim Gibson, Mayor of Henderson
• Tony Santo, Caesars Entertainment executive
• Vince Matthews, Mandalay Resort Group executive
• Bruce L. Woodbury, Clark County Commissioner

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

A view of Las Vegas Boulevard at dusk from the Paris Hotel and Casino’s replica of the Eiffel Tower

Las Vegas Boulevard, State Route 604, is the current name for a road that has a historic past. Over the years it has been called:

• Arrowhead Highway
• Los Angeles Highway (named for its role in connecting Los Angeles, California)
• Salt Lake Highway (named for its role in connecting Salt Lake City, Utah)
• U.S. Highway 91 (entire segment)
• U.S. Highway 93 (from Fremont Street north)
• U.S. Highway 466 (from Jean to Fremont Street, including the Las Vegas Strip)
• Nevada State Route 6 (entire segment, not signed)

With the construction of I-15, Las Vegas Boulevard went from being the main through road to one that only served as a bypass for travelers. The name change reflects its local importance rather than past names when it served as a main intra city road.

Las Vegas Boulevard, while running the length of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada is located mostly in Clark County, Nevada. “The Boulevard”, as it is sometimes called by longtime Las Vegas residents, starts at Apex, Nevada and continues south to about 2 miles south of Jean, Nevada.

At its northern end in Apex, the Boulevard starts in an industrial complex of manufacturing plants and power plants running along the Union Pacific Railroad line. As you travel south, the road meets Nellis Air Force Base on the east side and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the west side.

As the road enters North Las Vegas, it passes through some of the older commercial areas of the area. As the road approaches Las Vegas itself, you see some of what Vegas was as some of the older casinos appear along with some of the older and more famous strip clubs.

On entering the city of Las Vegas, the Boulevard showcases the city’s past with a number of museums. the Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park and the Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience. On crossing Washington Street, the Bolvard is designated as the Downtown Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway by the state. This designation continues down to Sahara Avenue.

Further south is a stretch of road that has many of the older motels, bars and wedding chapels that were among the high points of the old Vegas before the era of the megaresorts.

It is at this point the Boulevard leaves the city of Las Vegas and assumes its unofficial name for the next 4 miles: the Las Vegas Strip. This portion of Las Vegas Boulevard begins at the Stratosphere and runs to Mandalay Bay. This is the section of the road most people are familiar with: the home of the megaresorts and casinos with their lights and attractions seen around the world. It is designated as an All-American Road.

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, picture taken looking north up the strip

At the end of The Strip, Las Vegas Boulevard passes the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and approaches the backside of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign as it runs along the western edge of the McCarran International Airport property. South of Russell Road, the Nevada Department of Transportation assumes responsibility for the maintenance of the Boulvard.

South of this point, development thins out with newer shopping malls, hotels and condominiums as the Boulevard runs just east of Interstate 15. It passes though Sloan and Jean before ending in the Mojave Desert.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

The Lance Burton Theatre is located in the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas. It has 1,274 seats, and is comprised of three main sections: the main floor, the mezzanine, and the balcony. The theatre was specially built for Lance Burton’s magic show and is currently hosting Lance Burton: Master Magician.

Links

• Lance Burton: Master Magician

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Golden Nugget Companies Inc. was formed by Steve Wynn in 1973. The company was created after Wynn acquired majority control of the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company ceased to exist after it constructed The Mirage in 1989. At that time, the name was changed to Mirage Resorts, Inc.

The company held three hotel/casinos under the Golden Nugget brand:

• Golden Nugget Atlantic City
• Golden Nugget Las Vegas
• Golden Nugget Laughlin

History

Wynn’s, and the company’s interest, in Atlantic City did not last very long, due to frustration with gaming regulators in New Jersey. The Golden Nugget Atlantic City was sold to Bally’s Entertainment Corporation, which changed the name to Bally’s Grand Casino/Hotel.

The company and its casinos became part of Mirage Resorts in 1989.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Fremont Street is probably the most famous street in Las Vegas, Nevada besides the Las Vegas Strip. Fremont was the major street in the downtown casino corridor. It is, or was the address for many of the famous casinos such as Binion’s Horseshoe, Eldorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Golden Nugget, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club.

Prior to the construction of the Fremont Street Experience, Fremont Street was the picture of Las Vegas that was included in virtually every television show and movie that wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The abundance of neon earned the steet the nickname of Glitter Gulch.

Fremont Street by night.

History

Fremont Street dates back to 1905, when Las Vegas itself was founded.

Fremont Street’s illuminated “Space Frame”.

While gambling was well established prior to being legalized, the Northern Club in 1931 received one of the first 6 gambling licenses issued in Nevada and the first one for Fremont Street.

Glitter Gulch was closed to vehicle traffic in September, 1994 to begin construction on the Fremont Street Experience. (Wikipedia)

Fremont Street was the major street in the downtown Las Vegas casino corridor. It is, or was the address for many of the famous casinos such as Binion’s Horseshoe, Eldorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Golden Nugget, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club. Prior to the construction of the Fremont Street Experience, Fremont Street was the picture of Las Vegas that was included in virtually every television show and movie that wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The abundance of neon earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch. Fremont Street dates back to 1905, when Las Vegas itself was founded. While gambling was well established prior to being legalized, the Northern Club in 1931 received one of the first 6 gambling licenses issued in Nevada and the first one for Fremont Street. Glitter Gulch was closed to vehicle traffic in September, 1994 to begin construction on the Fremont Street Experience.

The Frement Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction that occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street. The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 feet high at the peak, that covers four blocks or approximately 1,500 feet. It was the first Las Vegas project of architect Jon Jerde, who went on to design the facade of Treasure Island, the Bellagio, and other projects on the Las Vegas Strip. The underside of the canopy is covered with an LED display, referred to as “Viva Vision” and built by the LG Corporation, programmed to show periodic sound-and-light presentations after dark. While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy.

The Frement Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction that occupies the westernmost 5 blocks of Fremont Street. The attraction is a barrel vault canopy, 90 feet high at the peak, that covers four blocks or approximately 1,500 feet. It was the first Las Vegas project of architect Jon Jerde, who went on to design the facade of Treasure Island, the Bellagio, and other projects on the Las Vegas Strip. The underside of the canopy is covered with an LED display, referred to as “Viva Vision” and built by the LG Corporation, programmed to show periodic sound-and-light presentations after dark. While Las Vegas is known for never turning the outside casino lights off, each show begins by turning off the lights on all of the buildings, including the casinos, under the canopy.

The initial display contained about 2.1 million lightbulbs controlled by 32 computers located in kiosks on the mall. The sound system, using speakers suspended over the mall, was rated at 350,000 watts. Strobe lights were added at some point to provide additional entertainment options on Disco Nights. Displaying images that looked “real” took some innovation. New techniques were developed to make these curved, low-resolution images viewable from the ground. One adjustment was to move images slowly across the display to prevent blurring. The 2001 upgrade to the sound system raised the power to 550,000 watts. The 2004 upgrade features a 12.5-million LED display and more color combinations than the original display. The old control system was replaced by a central control room using 10 computers. (Flickr)

Floyd Lamb State Park is a 2000 acre Nevada state park in Las Vegas, Nevada. The park contains the Tule Springs Ranch Historic Area which is an area that contains some of Las Vegas’ older buildings which were moved here over the years.

History

The area around the springs was a water stop for indians who frequented the area.

For part of its life, the area served as a dude ranch that was frequently used by spouses who needed a place to spend the 6 weeks it took to be able to obtain a divorce in the 1950s era.

The state acquired the park in 1977.

Links

• State park website

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Aviation Nation, sometime know as America’s Air Show, is the annual air show of the United States Air Force. The show is hosted at Nellis Air Force Base in November of each year.

Being held at Nellis means that the Thunderbirds usually perform at this air show at their home base as their last show of the year. Since Nellis is the leading Air Force combat center, the show is able to feature the newest Air Force Aircraft like the F/A-22 Raptor.

History

The show began in 2002.

References

• Aviation Nation

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Fashion Show Mall is located at 3200 Las Vegas Boulevard South on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fashion Show Mall is owned by the General Growth Properties Inc.. With almost 2 million square feet (200,000 m²) of space, this is one of the largest enclosed malls in the world. The mall has over 200 stores, including 7 anchors, an elevated stage, a fashion runway, and the Cloud.

Fashion shows occur in the Fashion Show Mall every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

The Cloud, at The Strip, entrance is about 128 feet (39 m) above the sidewalk and is 480 feet (150 m) long. During the day, the structure provides shade for the entrance and at night it serves as a movie screen.

The mall features several high end restaurants, some accessible from private entrances and elevators so they may operate when the mall is closed.

For the winter holidays, the mall has scheduled snow storms inside.

Rouse, the previous owner was purchased by General Growth Properties in 2004.

Restaurants

Auntie Anne’s
Bloomingdale’s B-Cafe
Cafe Ba Ba Reeba
California Pizza Kitchen
Capital Grille, The
Cento & Fanti Gourmet Market & Cafe
Cinnabon
Maggiano’s Little Italy
Mariposa at Neiman Marcus
NM Cafe
Nordstrom E-Bar
Nordstrom Marketplace Cafe
RA Sushi
Starbucks
Tropicana Smoothies / Swenson’s Ice Cream

Links

• Fashion Show Mall website

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Boulder Highway is a 17 mile divided roadway in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, Nevada, USA. It begins at Foothills Drive at the southeastern edge of the city of Henderson. It runs northwest through that city, and the towns of Whitney and Winchester. The Boulder Highway name ends at the Las Vegas city limit at Sahara Avenue. The highway continues northwest as Fremont Street for another mile, ending at the five points intersection of Fremont, Charleston Boulevard and Eastern Avenues. Fremont continues as an undivided road until it intersects with Las Vegas Boulevard, where it ends at the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall.

Originally, Boulder Highway began where U.S. Highway 93 and U.S. Highway 95 merge, east of Railroad Pass and west of Boulder City (about US-93 Milepost 11). This old section is also know as the Boulder Strip

It is signed as Nevada State Route 582. It was formerly known as US-93/US-95 before the completion of the Oran K. Gragson Expressway now designated Interstate 515, which also carries the 93/95 designation.

The section of Boulder Highway between Tropicana Avenue and Sahara Avenue is known as the “Boulder Strip”, in reference to the famous Las Vegas Strip to the west. The Boulder Strip contains Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Boulder Station, and several smaller casinos and motels.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Las Vegas, Nevada was given its name by Spaniards in the Antonio Armijo party, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las Vegas Valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas, hence the name Las Vegas, Spanish for The Meadows.

Southern Paiutes – Moapa- Las Vegas Paiutes wearing traditional Paiute basket hats. Paiute cradleboard and rabbit robe.

Prehistory

The prehistoric landscape of what is now the Las Vegas Valley and most of Southern Nevada was a virtual marsh of abundant water and vegetation. Over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, rivers that were present sank into the ground, and the marsh receded. The valley evolved into a parched, arid landscape that only supported the hardiest of animals and plants.

At some point in the valley’s geologic history, the water that had been submerged below the terrain sporadically resurfaced and flowed into what is now the Colorado River. This helped proliferate luxurious plant life, creating a wetland oasis in the Mojave Desert landscape.

Evidence of prehistoric life in Las Vegas Valley manifested in 1993 when construction workers discovered the remains of a Columbian mammoth. Paleontologists estimate that the mammoth roamed the area some 8,000 to 15,000 years ago.

John C. Frémont traveled into the Las Vegas Valley on May 3, 1844, while it was still part of Mexico. He was a leader of a group of scientists, scouts and observers for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On May 10, 1855, following annexation by the United States, Brigham Young assigned 30 Mormon missionaries led by William Bringhurst to the area to convert the Paiute Indian population. A Fort was built near the current downtown area. The Mormons abandoned the site in 1857, due to internal disagreements between Bringhurst and new comers who had more liberal views. The skeleton staff that was left behind mistreated the Paiute Indians. The Paiute retaliated and seized the upcoming harvest, forcing the last of the settlers back to Salt Lake City.

The U.S. Army, in an attempt to deceive Confederate spies in 1864, falsely publicized that it reclaimed the Fort and had renamed it Fort Baker.

In 1865, Octavius Gass re-occupied the Fort, and started the irrigation works renaming the area to Los Vegas Rancho. Due to his ability to make wine on his ranch, Las Vegas was known as the best stop on the Mormon Trail. By 1872, Gass was able to expand his ranch to 640 acres, and as a legislator, was able to have the territory his ranch resided on included as part of Nevada instead of Arizona. In 1881 as a result of mismanagement, Gass lost title to his ranch to Archibald Stewart, who acquired it to pay off a lien he had on the property.

The property (which was expanded to 1,800 acres), stayed with the Stewart Family despite Archibald’s murder in July of 1884 until it was traded in 1902 to Montana Senator William Clark for his ownership of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

Las Vegas circa 1895

The State Land Act of 1885 offered land at $1.25 per acre ($309/km²) drawing many, including farmers, to the area. As a result, farming became the primary industry for the next 20 years as farmers used the wells to irrigate their crops. The Mormons returned in 1895.

During the 1900s, water from the wells was piped into the town providing a reliable source of fresh water and providing the means for additional growth. The increased availability of water in the town area allowed Las Vegas to become a water stop, first for wagon trains and later railroads, on the trail between Los Angeles, California, and points east such as Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1905 the railway from Southern California and Salt Lake City was completed and run by William Clark’s brother. That year also set the stage of the two Las Vegases. The east-side Las Vegas (which encompassed the modern Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard) was owned by Clark and the west-side Las Vegas (which encompassed the area north of modern day Bonanza Road) which was owned by J.T. McWilliams, who was hired by the Stewart family during the sale of the Los Vegas Rancho and bought available land west of the ranch. In 1905 both auctioned lots on their land.

With the revenue coming from the rails and the mining town of Bullfrog, Las Vegas took off. On May 15, 1905, Las Vegas was founded as a city, when 110 ac (445,000 m²), in what would later become downtown, were auctioned to ready buyers.

Las Vegas was the driving force in the creation of Clark County, Nevada in 1909 and the city was incorporated in 1911 as a part of the county.

Las Vegas continued to grow until 1917 when the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad went broke. Although William Clark sold the remains of the company to the Union Pacific Railroad, a nationwide strike in 1922 left Las Vegas in a desperate state.

With U.S. Highway 91 reaching Las Vegas in 1926, Vegas was finally connected to California with a road. Even the addition of a modern road did not help revitalizing Las Vegas. In 1929, John Calhan, a newspaperman, said People in the city of Reno, or northern Nevada would have been very happy if Las Vegas had seceded from the state …

On July 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the appropriation bill for the Boulder Dam. Work started on the dam in 1931 and Las Vegas’ population swelled from around 5,000 citizens to 25,000, with most of the newcomers looking for a job building the dam. Las Vegas tried hard to put on a respectable air when the Secretary of the Interior Lyman Wilbur visited in 1929 to inspect the site. However one of his subordinates came to him with alcohol on his breath (this was during the time of Prohibition) after a visit to Block 16. It was decided that a federal-controlled town, Boulder City, would be erected for the dam workers. This still did not stop the flow of federal and dam worker money into Las Vegas and the city was recharged, literally, when the dam was completed in 1935. In 1937, Southern Nevada Power became the first utility to supply power from the dam, and Las Vegas was its first customer. After much discussion the name of the dam was changed from Boulder to Hoover Dam.

With gambling legalized in 1931, Las Vegas started its rise to world fame as the gambling capital of the world. Gambling (although already legal in Las Vegas) became organized and regulated. The city issued the first gambling license in 1931, to the Northern Club. As other casinos were licensed on Fremont Street like the Las Vegas Club and the Apache Hotel. Fremont Street developed its nickname as Glitter Gulch from all of the lights that were powered by electricity from Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam and its reservoir, Lake Mead, turned into tourist attractions on their own and the need for additional higher class hotels became clear. Fremont street received the city’s first traffic light in 1931.

In 1940, U.S. Highway 95 was finally extended south into Las Vegas, giving the city two major roads that provided access from the rest of the country. Also in 1940 Las Vegas’s first permanent radio station, KENO, began broadcasting replacing the niche occupied earlier by transient broadcasters.

On January 25, 1941 the U.S. Army moved into Las Vegas when Las Vegas Mayor, John L. Russell, signed over land to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for the development of a flexible gunnery school for the United States Army Air Corps. The gunnery school would become Nellis Air Force Base. The U.S Army was not pleased with prostitution being legal in Las Vegas and in 1942 used its clout to force Las Vegas to outlaw the practice, handing Block 16, which since the inception of Las Vegas, was the equivalent of the city’s “Red Light District,” its death sentence.

On April 3, 1941, hotel owner, Thomas Hull opened the El Rancho Vegas. It was the first resort on what would become the Las Vegas Strip. The hotel gained much of its fame from the all you can eat buffet that it offered.

Three years later, on October 30, 1942, R. E. Griffith rebuilt on the site of a nightclub called Pair O’Dice, that first opened in 1930, and renamed it Hotel Last Frontier. A few more resorts were built on and around Fremont Street but the next hotel on The Strip showed pubilcly the influence of organized crime on Las Vegas. Bugsy Siegel, with help from Meyer Lansky built The Flamingo in 1946.

The Flamingo lost money and Siegel died in a hail of gunfire. However, organized crime still saw the potential that gambling offered in Las Vegas. From 1952 to 1957, they built the Sahara, the Sands, the New Frontier, the Royal Nevada, The Showboat, The Riviera, The Fremont, Binion’s Horseshoe (which was the Apache Hotel), and finally The Tropicana.

All these casinos were run by different organized crime organizations, but Meyer Lansky was the guiding force. Even with the public knowledge of the dubious owners of these casino resorts by 1954, over 8 million people were visiting Las Vegas yearly pumping 200 million dollars into the casinos. Gambling was no longer the only attraction; the biggest stars of film and music like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Abbott and Costello, Bing Crosby, Carol Channing, and others perfomed in intimate settings. After coming to see these stars, the tourists would resume gambling, and then eat at the gourmet buffets that have become a staple of the casino industry.

While The Strip was booming, the Atomic Energy Commission on January 27, 1951 detonated the first of over a hundred atmospheric explosions at the Nevada Test Site. These atmospheric tests would continue until enactment of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 when the tests moved underground. The last test explosion was in 1992. Despite the dangers and risks, greatly under-estimated at the time, of radiation exposure from the fallout, Las Vegas advertised the explosions as another tourist attraction and offered Atomic Cocktails in Sky Rooms that offered a great view of the mushroom clouds.

The influx of government employees for the Atomic Energy Commission and from the Mormon-controlled Bank of Las Vegas spearheaded by Parry Thomas during those years funded the growing boom in casinos. But Las Vegas was doing more than growing casinos. In 1948, McCarran Field was established for commercial air traffic. In 1957 The University of Las Vegas was established. In 1959 the Clark County Commission built the Las Vegas Convention Center, which would become a vital part of the area’s economy. A new utility company, Southwest Gas exapnded into Las Vegas in 1954.

Since 1966

Bumps along the way

The first bump for Las Vegas was that The Strip did not reside in Las Vegas proper. Because of this, tax revenue was lost to the city. There was a push to annex The Strip by the City of Las Vegas, but The Syndicate used the Clark County Commissioners to pull a legal maneuver by organizing The Strip properties into an unincorporated township called Paradise City. Under Nevada Law, an incorporated town, Las Vegas, cannot annex an unincorporated township.

The second was the Las Vegas Sun. Editor Hank Greenspun led a crusade in those days to expose all the criminal ties, activities, and government corruption in Las Vegas. His investigative reporting and editorials led to the exposure of Clark County Sheriff Glen Jones’ ownership of a brothel and the resignation of Lieutenant Governor Clifford Jones as the state’s national committeeman for the Democratic Party.

The last hurdle was when a two-year investigation by Senator Estes Kefauver and his Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce concluded that Organized Crime money was incontrovertibly tied to the Las Vegas casinos. This led a porposal by the Senate to institute federal gambling control. Only through the power and influence of Nevada’s Senator Pat McCarran did the proposal die in committee.

Las Vegas – The Mississippi of the West

As Las Vegas grew, racial tensions grew with it. Organized crime-owned casinos were off-limits to African Americans except those who provided the labor for low-paying menial positions or entertainment. They were confined to frequenting businesses and clubs on the “west-side” of the tracks. Hispanics fared worse and their population actually decreased ninety-percent from 2,275 to just 236. There was a bright spot during that decade. On May 24, 1955, Wil Max Schwartz, and some investors, opened the Moulin Rouge. It was a very upscale and racially integrated casino that actually competed against the resorts on The Strip. By the end of the year though, the casino closed as Schwartz and his partners had a falling out. But the seeds for racially integration were sown. Along with the rest of the country, Las Vegas experienced the struggle for civil rights. Activists like James B. McMillan, Grant Sawyer, Bob Bailey, Charles Keller dragged Las Vegas to racial integration.

Another big force for equality was Mayor Oran Gragson. Spurred into local politics by a crooked ring of cops who repeatedly broke into his appliance store, he implemented infrastructure improvments for the minority neighborhoods in Las Vegas. He championed the cause of the Pauite tribe that owned a small portion of Las Vegas and stopped the U.S. government from evicting the tribe and actually make infrastructure improvements for them. His work helped reverse the trend of minority population decreasing. Local legislation kept up with the national legislation and integration was established. The only real violence was school integration with violent riots and fights occurring from 1969 to 1971.

On November 21, 1980 the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (today called Bally’s Las Vegas) suffered a devastating fire. A total of 87 died and 785 were injured in what remains the worst disaster in Nevada history.

Construction boomed in the 1990s as Las Vegas became one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. Numerous landmark hotels and other structures were razed to make way for ever-larger and more opulent resorts. In April 2005, Wynn Resorts Limited opened its new flagship, the Wynn Las Vegas, constructed at a cost of US$2.7 billion.

Sources

• Las Vegas website
• Ainlay Jr., Thomas & Gabaldon, Judy Dixon. “Las Vegas The Fabulous First Century”, Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
• Denton, Sally & Morris, Howard. “The Money and the Power – The Making of Las Vegas and It’s Hold on America – 1947-2000″. Knopf, Borzoi Books, 2001.
• Land, Barbara & Land, Myrick. “A Short History of Las Vegas”. University of Nevada Press, Reno, 1999
• Paher, Stanley W. ” Las Vegas -As It Began – As It Grew”, Nevada Publications, Las Vegas, NV, 1971.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Geography

Typical desert around the Las Vegas area.

Las Vegas is located at 36°11′39″N, 115°13′19″W (36.194168, 115.222060)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 293.6 km² (113.4 mi²). 293.5 km² (113.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.04% water.

The city is located in an arid basin surrounded by mountains varying in color from pink to rust to gray. As befits a desert, much of the landscape is rocky and dusty. Within the city, however, there are a great deal of lawns, trees, and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there is now a movement to encourage xeriscaping instead of lawns. Another part of the water conservation efforts include scheduled watering groups for watering residential landscaping.

Climate

Las Vegas’ climate is typical of the Mojave Desert, in which it is located, marked with hot summers, mild winters, abundant sunshine year-round, and very little rainfall. Highs in the 90′s are common in the months of May, June, and September and temperatures normally exceed 100 °F for several days in the months of July and August, but there is very low humidity. The hottest temperature ever recorded is 117 °F set twice, on July 19, 2005 at McCarran International Airport and July 24, 1942 at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Winters are cool and windy, with the majority of Las Vegas’ annual 4.49 in (114 mm) of rainfall coming from January to March. Winter daytime highs are normally around 60 °F and winter nighttime lows are usually around 40 °F. The coldest temperature ever recorded is 8 °F set on January 25, 1937 at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Showers occur less frequently in the Spring or Autumn. July through September, the Mexican Monsoon often brings enough moisture from the Gulf of California across Mexico and into the southwest to cause afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Although winter snow is usually visible from December to May on the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, it rarely snows in the city itself.

Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 478,434 people, 176,750 households, and 117,538 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,630.3/km² (4,222.5/mi²). There are 190,724 housing units at an average density of 649.9/km² (1,683.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 69.86% White, 10.36% African American, 0.75% Native American, 4.78% Asian, 0.45% Pacific Islander, 9.75% from other races, and 4.05% from two or more races. 23.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 176,750 households out of which 31.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% are married couples living together, 12.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% are non-families. 25.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.66 and the average family size is 3.20.

In the city the population is spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 102.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $44,069, and the median income for a family is $50,465. Males have a median income of $35,511 versus $27,554 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,060. 11.9% of the population and 8.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 15.4% of those under the age of 18 and 8.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

As of the 2004 census estimate, the Las Vegas metropolitan area contained over 1.6 million residents, and contains the largest Hawaiian community, outside of Hawaii.

Economy

Interior of a casino. A major part of the city economy is based on tourism, including gambling.

The primary drivers of the Las Vegas economy have been the confluence of tourism, gaming, and conventions which in turn feed the retail and dining industries. Several companies involved in the manufacture of electronic gaming machines, such as slot machines, are located in the Las Vegas area. In the 2000s retail and dining have become attractions of their own.

Las Vegas as the county seat and home to the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse, draws numerous legal service industries providing bail, marriage, divorce, tax, incorporation and other legal services.

The redevelopment listed below shows how the city is trying to diversify the local economy and revitalize the downtown area. The World Market Center is an example of this.

City redevelopment

The south end of the Las Vegas Strip in 2003.

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 which the downtown area is still trying to recover.

A concerted effort has been made by city officials to diversify the Las Vegas 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 nearby urban centers. 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 the 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, downtown Las Vegas began to suffer. The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) was built in an effort to draw tourists downtown. While greatly slowing the decline, it did not stop the decline in tourism and revenue. The multi-level Neonopolis, complete with food court and theaters, was built to offer more retail and services downtown. While there have been changes in ownership and management, Neonopolis has not been able to lease all the space available. As of March 2005, the property is for sale.

The city purchased 61 ac (247,000 m²) of property from Union Pacific Railroad during the 1990s with the goal of creating something that would draw tourists and locals to the downtown area. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has announced plans for the Union Park Development which will include residential and office high-rises, The Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute, an academic medical center, The Fred W. and Mary B. Smith Center for the Performing Arts, a new City Hall and a possible baseball stadium. 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 $50-million Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute designed by architect Frank Gehry is expected to break ground in August of 2006.[5]

The city council of Las Vegas has agreed on zoning changes on Fremont Street, which allows bars to be closer together duplicating efforts of similar cities, like the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. It is expected that this change will bring more tourism and business to the downtown area.

In the early 2000s, some promising signs emerged for downtown Las Vegas. The city successfully lured the Internal Revenue Service to move operations from outside the city limits to a new building downtown that opened in April 2005. The IRS is expected to create a demand for additional businesses in the area, epecially in the daytime hours.

Another promising sign of development has come in the form of high-rise development. A substantial increase in the number of high-rises under construction and proposed in Las Vegas began in 2003 and has continued into 2006. New Condominum and hotel high rise projects have caused the entire Las Vegas skyline to change dramatically in recent years. Many large projects are planned for downtown Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip including the largest privately financed development proposed in the United States- Project City Center. It is expected that high rise condominium development will transform the downtown area into a vibrant urban center, and change the demographics of the Las Vegas Strip by adding residential elements to tourist areas.

Las Vegas from space

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.

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.

Transportation

The CAT Bus is a popular means of public transportation among locals and tourists with various bus routes covering a large portion of the valley. The CAT system carries approximately 175,000 people per weekday, or about 10% of the Valley’s population. Ridership on the system has been increasing rapidly since the summer of 2005, when a combination of high gas prices and service improvements began attracting more riders. A need for increased frequency and new routes caused by the tremendous growth in the Valley stretches the system’s resources.

The Las Vegas Monorail runs from the MGM Grand Hotel at the south end of the Strip to the Sahara Hotel at the north end of the Strip.

The street numbering system is divided by the following streets:

• Westcliff Drive, US-95 Expressway, Fremont Street and Charleston Boulevard divides the north-south block numbers from west to east.
• Las Vegas Boulevard divides the east-west streets from the Las Vegas Strip to near the Stratosphere, then Main Street becomes the dividing line from the Stratosphere to the North Las Vegas border, after which the Goldfield Street alignment officially divides east and west.

McCarran International Airport provides commercial flights into the Las Vegas valley. The airport also serves private aircraft, domestic and international passenger flights, and freight/cargo flights. Although general aviation traffic flies into McCarran International, other airstrips are available.

Intercity bus service to Las Vegas is provided by traditional intercity bus carriers, including Greyhound; many charter services, including Green Tortoise; and several Chinatown bus lines.

Las Vegas from U.S. Highway 93

Primary roadways into and out of Las Vegas include I-15 (north towards Salt Lake City, Utah, and south towards San Diego and Los Angeles, California, and other points in Southern California), US 93 (north towards Ely, Nevada and Jackpot, Nevada, and south towards Kingman, Arizona) and US 95 (north towards Reno and south towards Searchlight, Nevada), providing access to Interstates I-80 and I-40.

Until 1997, the Amtrak Desert Wind train service ran through Las Vegas using the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) rails that run through the city; Amtrak service to Las Vegas has since been replaced by Amtrak’s Thruway Motorcoach bus service. Plans to restore Los Angeles to Las Vegas Amtrak service using a Talgo train have been discussed since the Desert Wind was discontinued. As of 2005, however, no such service has been established.

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) is the only class one railroad to provide rail freight service to the city.

Culture and attractions

The city and surrounding areas offer many attractions for both visitors and locals to enjoy.

Not having a major league sports team does not mean there is a lack of sports activities in the area. There are also many options for boating, golf, hiking, rock climbing, and parks which offer a wide range of activities.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas fields Division I athletic teams and the NCAA football Las Vegas Bowl call the city home.

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS), just north of the city hosts NASCAR and other automotive events.

There are multiple sports teams: the Las Vegas Gladiators in the Arena Football League, the Las Vegas 51s, a baseball franchise in the Triple A Pacific Coast League, and the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL hockey league. However, due to illegal gambling risks, none of the major professional sports leagues have ever had a team in Las Vegas, though the possibility of relocating a team to or adding a team in Las Vegas has came up on more than one occasion.

Las Vegas is frequently depicted in film and television.

Sister cities

Las Vegas has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): Angeles City (Pampanga, Philippines), An San (South Korea), Huludao (China), and Phuket (Thailand).

Links

• Official Government Website
• Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
• Las Vegas information
• PBS American Experience 100 years of Las Vegas History
• Las Vegas Casino
• Las Vegas Casino Games
• Las Vegas Ideal Casino
• Las Vegas Net Casino

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

The Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse in Las Vegas is the first Federal Building built to the post-Oklahoma City blast resistant standards.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department provides most law enforcement services in the city and surrounding county. Exceptions include cities with their own law enforcement agency; including North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City.

Most of the people and businesses who call Las Vegas home actually live in neighboring unincorporated communities that have no city government or in other nearby cities, some of which are listed below. In fact, of the nearly 1.6 million people who live in the Las Vegas valley, only 575,973 live inside Las Vegas city limits. The largest of these towns are Paradise (188,768) between Las Vegas and Henderson(224,829), Sunrise Manor (184,801) east of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, and Spring Valley (161,286) southwest of Las Vegas. These towns formed during a 1940s water dispute between the City of Las Vegas and early homeowners south of San Francisco Street, now Sahara Avenue. Residents of these towns cannot vote for the Mayor and City Council of Las Vegas, but they can vote for members of the Clark County Commission, which governs their areas. They are also represented by advisory boards, which are appointed by and give nonbinding suggestions to the Clark County Commission.

The City of Las Vegas government operates as a council-manager government. The Mayor sits as a Councilmember-At-Large and presides over all of the City Council meetings. In the event that the Mayor cannot preside over a City Council meeting the Mayor Pro-Tem is the presiding body of the meeting until such time as the Mayor returns to his seat. The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day to day operation of all of the municipal services and city departments. The City Manager also maintains an intergovernmental relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments.

A Paiute Indian reservation occupies about 1 acre (4,000 m²) in the downtown area of Las Vegas.

City council

(Councilmembers’ official city websites are also available)

Oscar B. Goodman – Mayor and Councilmember at Large (Term Expires in 2007)
Gary Reese – Mayor Pro-Tem and 3rd Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)
Lois Tarkanian – 1st Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)¹
Steve Wolfson, Esq – 2nd Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)
Larry Brown – 4th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)
Lawrence Weekly – 5th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2007)
Steve Ross – 6th Ward Councilmember (Term Expires in 2009)

¹ Elected on January 26, 2005 in a special election to replace Councilwoman Janet Moncrief when recalled from office. Lois Tarkanian will serve the remaining two years of the Ward 1 seat.

City management

• Douglas Selby – City Manager
• Barbara Jo (Roni) Ronemus – City Clerk

Government offices

Marriage licenses are filed at the Clark County Courthouse.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.