Harry Krause wrote:
What a disappointment.

First time I've been there without having to attend wall-to-wall
meetings, so I got a chance to look around in daylight hours.

Take two steps away from the glitzy hotels and you're in dumpster city,
with air pollution to match. All that money floating around and
obviously very little of it spent on what matters.

Got down to Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, both of which were spectacular.
Took the $11 tour of the dam. World class impressive. We had clear skies
for the trip, so the lake vistas were beautiful. Parts of Boulder City
were attractive.

Southern Nevada is not an area in which I'd care to live.

Welcome back.

If my son didn't live in Las Vegas, I just might go the rest of my life
without ever setting foot in Vegas again. If you don't gamble, there's
nothing there.

I wonder how many people know that just a couple of blocks from the
strip are some of the worst slums in the western US? There are
neighborhoods where the cops are reluctant to go. Prostitution, drugs,
and all of the other desperate vices are rampant. When I went to Vegas
a few years ago to help my son find an affordable apartment, we were in
neighborhoods with burned out cars along the side of the road, busted
glass crack pipes crunching underfoot, etc. Every single ground floor
window is protected by thick iron bars, and you can assume that looking
out through bars is probably not a new experience for a lot of the
residents. Two blocks away there are hotels with $500,000 chandeliers.
What a contrast! We had to settle for something just a bit less "iffy",
and it was at the very top of the range he was able to pay at the time.

My son has since moved out to Henderson, which is a nice suburb with
fast food restaurants, malls, car dealerhsips, casinos, etc. Booooring
(to me, but we all have different tastes), but at least they have good
weather (not). Day after day of 100-degrees plus? Does not compute when
you're from the Pacific NW. :-)

I'm sure Nevada has a lot going for it, but I wouldn't list Las Vegas
among its primary assets.