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About Las Vegas
Las Vegas (often informally abbreviated to "Vegas") is the most populous city
in the state of Nevada, United States, and a major vacation, shopping,
entertainment, and gambling destination. It was established in 1905 and
officially became a city in 1911. It is the largest U.S. city founded in the
20th century.
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 mi (7.2 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the
Las Vegas city limits, in the unincorporated town of Paradise.
The center of gambling in the United States, Las Vegas is marketed as The
Entertainment Capital of the World, also commonly known as Sin City, due to the
popularity of legalized gambling, availability of alcoholic beverages at any
time (as is true throughout Nevada), and various forms and degrees of adult
entertainment. The city's glamorous image has made it a popular setting for
films and television programs.
Las Vegas (English: "The Meadows" or "The Grasslands") 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 or Meadows (Vega in Spanish), hence the name Las Vegas. John C.
Fremont 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, serving as a stopover for
travelers along the "Mormon Corridor" between Salt Lake and the briefly thriving
Mormon colony at San Bernardino, California. Las Vegas was established as a
railroad town on May 15, 1905, when 110 acres (44.5 ha) owned by Montana Senator
William A. Clark's San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Railroad, was
auctioned off in what is now downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas was part of Lincoln
County until 1909 when it became part of the newly established Clark County. Las
Vegas became an incorporated city on March 16, 1911 when it adopted its first
charter.
Las Vegas started as a stopover on the pioneer trails to the west and became a
popular railroad town in the early 1900s. It was a staging point for all the
mines in the surrounding area, especially those around the town of Bullfrog,
that shipped their goods out to the rest of the country. With the growth of the
railroads, Las Vegas became less important, but the completion of the nearby
Hoover Dam resulted in substantial growth in tourism, which, along with the
legalization of gambling, led to the advent of the casino-hotels for which Las
Vegas is famous.
The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented
by a new source of federal money. This money came from the establishment of what
is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of military personnel and casino
job-hunters helped start a land building boom which still goes on today.
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 live in what they call "Las Vegas" are
actually residents of neighboring unincorporated communities or incorporated
cities. In fact, of the over 1.7 million people who live in the Las Vegas
valley, only 575,973 live inside Las Vegas city limits. The largest suburbs 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. Paradise, Sunrise Manor, and Spring Valley are
unincorporated townships, while Henderson and North Las Vegas are incorporated.
The earliest, Paradise, formed during a 1940s water dispute between the City of
Las Vegas and early homeowners south of San Francisco Street, now Sahara Avenue.
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 officer 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 intergovernmental
relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments.
A Paiute Indian reservation occupies about 1 acre in the downtown area of Las
Vegas.
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.
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. High temperatures in the 90s F are common in the months of
May, June, and September and temperatures normally exceed 100 F (38 C) most
days in the months of July and August, with very low humidity, frequently under
10%. The hottest temperature ever recorded is 117 F (47 C) 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 (16 C) and winter nighttime lows
are usually around 40 F (4 C). The coldest temperature ever recorded is 8 F
(-13 C) 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.
Las Vegas has been the county seat of Clark County since the formation of the
county in 1909. The Census Bureau's official population estimate as of 2005 was
545,147. The city’s Planning and Development Department reported an increase of
41,126 in 2005, for a total population of 575,973. Recent figures place the
population for the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which includes all of Clark
County, at over 1.6 million people (2004), and the region is one of the fastest
growing in the United States. Las Vegas was ranked as the 29th largest city in
the United States in 2000, but recent estimates suggest that the city's
population has since surpassed that of Atlanta, Nashville, Washington, D.C.,
Louisville, Denver and Boston to place it 22nd in rank. It is likely to surpass
Milwaukee and possibly a few other cities to reach the top 20 by the time of the
2010 Census. As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 478,434 people,
176,750 households, and 117,538 families residing in the city.
There were 176,750 households out of which 31.9% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 25.0%
of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone
who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the
average family size was 3.20.
In the city the population was 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 were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there
were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,069, and the median income
for a family was $50,465. Males had a median income of $35,511 versus $27,554
for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,060. About 8.6% of
families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including
15.4% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2004 census estimate, the Las Vegas metropolitan area contained over
1.6 million residents, and contains the largest ethnic Hawaiian community
outside of Hawaii.
Primary public education is provided by the Clark County School District (CCSD),
which is the fifth largest school district in the nation.
Las Vegas does not have any independent four-year university within its city
limits. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is located in Paradise, three miles
south of the city limits. The University of Nevada Medical School has a campus
near downtown Las Vegas. Several national colleges, including the University of
Phoenix, have campuses in the Las Vegas area. Nevada State College and Touro
University Nevada are both located in nearby Henderson. The Community College of
Southern Nevada has campuses in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson.
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.
Tourism marketing and promotion are handled by the Las Vegas Convention and
Visitors Authority, a county wide agency. Its annual Visitors Survey provides
detailed information on visitor numbers, spending patterns and resulting
revenues.
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.
When The Mirage, the first Mega resort, 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 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.
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 11 theaters
(managed by Galaxy Theaters, Inc.), 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 May 2006, the property
has been sold and is under new management. Renovations are under-way to
revitalize Neonopolis. Look for new restaurants to open in the late summer to
early fall of 2006.
The city purchased 61 acres 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.
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 the
far west of the city to a new building downtown that opened in April 2005. The
IRS is expected to create a demand for additional businesses in the area,
especially 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 Condominium 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.
In 2005, on a lot adjacent to the city's 61 acres, 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.
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 office tower.