Hi Vegas fans,
Trends come and go. One thing is constant in Vegas - change. Twenty years ago, it was the Mirage and the themed resorts. Mom and dad brought the kids, and casinos built theme parks. Then casino execs figured out that Junior couldn't gamble. Down went the theme parks, and up went the upscale joints. Wynn, Palazzo, Encore. Then, condos. That was the wave of the future. But, the economic downturn hit, and everyone stopped building.
In the mean time, there's downtown Las Vegas. A quirky "what do we do with this" kind of place. It's not on the same level as the Strip in terms of upscale adventures, but it's also not down in the dumps. There are some great properties here, including the Golden Nugget, but visitors just don't seem to know what to do with it.
Here's what I've been saying for years... downtown just needs a fresh coat of paint, a few promotions, and a little love. It's like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree - give it a little attention, and it will grow.
Especially now. Look at all of the stalled projects on the Strip. There's no better time to show visitors that 1) this is a great place to gamble/stay/play and 2) it won't cost you an arm and a leg... like some places.
I've pointed this out before with support from other publications. Here's a snippet from Vegas Today and Tomorrow, a good barometer for Vegas projects:
"Even though there's an economic slowdown, the downtown area is becoming a sustainable, modern, urban city. Transportation projects, public facilities, high-rise condo and loft residences are being built among new markets, galleries, shops, clubs and bistros. Yes, Downtown Vegas is becoming hip and livable."
Yep. Downtown has a lot of potential. Best wishes and keep up the good work. Let's see what happens next.
Viva,
Mike
2 comments:
I went last Thursday around 7p. It was still day light out, but the downtown area was full of miscreants and lowlifes. Binion's is redoing all of their rooms, so it was dead empty and the street was mostly littered with homeless people.
Two things - the above could be because of the odd time of day: not quite tourist day time, not quite party night time.
The other is that the city of Las Vegas could do more to police the loitering of belligerent drunks (we saw at least four in less than an hour) and the homeless people begging for money. These two steps would go miles towards refreshing downtown.
You can see pictures from my adventures in Las Vegas over the next week or so by visiting www.whereisjohnwilson.com
John - Welcome back. Glad you had a good trip. Pictures look great!
To me, Vegas is still a very safe city. I have been out on the Strip and downtown very late at night. Or is it early morning? Sometimes with one or two friends, sometimes by myself.
I am always aware of my surroundings, especially considering that I usually have a little cash on me, and people probably think as a tourist I have a lot of cash on me. However, I haven't had a problem.
Now I've seen drunk people in and outside the casinos, of course. But usually they are doing more harm to themselves than anyone else. I've seen people removed from casinos because they are causing a disturbance. In the 18 years I've been going to Vegas, I haven't seen that very much. Very rarely.
Mostly, the drunks I've seen are mumbling a little bit, stumbling a little bit, and losing a lot of money.
I do think that with revisions to the hotels on Fremont Street, downtown has the possibility of returning their district to its former style and class. Think Viva Las Vegas.
Mike
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