We always thought that if Las Vegas ever got in deep trouble, it would be because our massive growth ran us out of water. After 9/11, a lot of us worried that a terrorist attack at one of the big casino properties would cause an exodus. But nobody seems to have expected a big, worldwide economic downturn. I mean nobody. Just a few short years ago, we had huge projects on the drawing board. It wasn't just the City Center which (thanks to Harry Reid, and thank goodness we didn't have Sharron Angle) managed to open. There was Echelon Place, a project akin to City Center on the site of the old Stardust. It shut down when it was halfway finished, and sits there, a stillborn, half-built mess.
There were many others, one of which was called Viva, a project that Station Casinos was going to build on the west side of the I-15. They bought the land, even bulldozed some properties. The project was impressive, and included arterial roads, and more. But it never got off the ground, and Station is currently in a world of hurt. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
As Cenk Uygur mentions in the video below, we've got unemployment over 14%, foreclosures in every neighborhood (be it a poor or rich neighborhood), and a lot of sour, glum faces. I don't believe as Cenk does, that Las Vegas is dying. But it is very ill, and has a hacking cough. Can somebody get me some water?
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