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The center of gambling in the US, Las Vegas is sometimes called Sin City due to the popularity of legalized gambling, availability of alcoholic beverages any time (like all of Nevada), various forms and degrees of adult entertainment, and legalized prostitution in nearby counties (it is illegal, though, in Las Vegas and Clark County; Nevada law prohibits prostitution in counties which have populations greater than 400,000). The nickname favored by local government and promoters of tourism is The Entertainment Capital of the World. The city's glamorous image has made it a popular setting for films and television programs.
Economic history
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 from the town of Bullfrog, that shipped their goods out to the country. With the growth of the railroads, Las Vegas became less important, but the building of the Hoover Dam injected new blood into Las Vegas and the city has never looked back. Federal dollars from Hoover Dam soon converted to tourist dollars after the dam was built. The increase in tourism and 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.
Las Vegas has also benefitted from the economic woes of California, whose high-tax, high-regulation business climate has caused companies desiring or needing a West Coast presence to relocate to more business-friendly Nevada.
Links
- Official Government Website
- Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- Las Vegas information
- PBS American Experience 100 years of Las Vegas History
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Video: Las Vegas Strip
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