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“Never Bet Against Las Vegas”
E
verywhere we look today, people are losing their jobs, banks are broke, businesses are closing, and bankruptcies & foreclosures are an everyday occurrence. Our homes are now selling for an astounding 60% less then they did in 2005, and the Las Vegas unemployment rate is over 13%.
Yet, 30 years ago everything was much worse for Las Vegas. I moved here in the winter 1979, and for the next 10 years Las Vegas was considered dead. By 1985 most of our hotel casinos were over 30 years old and falling apart. The Rat Pack days were gone, Frank Sinatra was 70, and Dean Martin was 68, Liberace was 66, Elvis and many of our big headliners had passed away.
There was a huge recession in America that all but stopped home building in Las Vegas, and the new kid on the block, Atlantic City, was siphoning off our east coast gamblers. The wise guys that ran The Strip for decades were old and their days numbered. Money had dried up; in 1980s, Las Vegas couldn’t even get a car title loan.
Despite all this, Las Vegas did not give up. In the 1980s we expanded, the airport, the convention center, added the Fashion Show mall, The Lakes, and much more. No one gave up, some great people, from public officials, to all the entrepreneurs that lit the fuse for what would be the most incredible 20 years of our history.
Beginning with the opening of the Mirage in 1989, Las Vegas never stopped building and getting better. We now have the most concentrated first-class, entertainment city on Earth. Nowhere in the world will find this much of everything in one place, and its safe, clean, beautiful, accessible, and affordable.
We have fantastic people living in Las Vegas, and we are unique; there is always plenty of money changing hands, our city will thrive once again. If anything is sure, it’s change, America’s economy will recover, our home prices will increase, and our community will continue to grow and get better. So Don’t Worry, Be Happy—we’re living in Las Vegas.
 
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The above article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Vegas Community Online, its editors/publishers, and/or other Vegas Community Online columnists. VCO respects the right of each author to express their opinion. If you have an opposing viewpoint or would like to send feedback on any article, please send email to feedback@vegascommunityonline.com; state the title of the article and your comments. VCO reserves the right to add any submissions to its feedback page.
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