Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Strip, looking south with condominium and hotel skyscrapers in the background. (2007)

Map of Nevada with the Las Vegas metropolitan area highlighted in red.

The Las Vegas metropolitan area, also known as the Las Vegas-Paradise-Henderson Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, consisting of Clark County.^[1] A central part of the metropolitan area is the Las Vegas Valley, a 600 sq mi (1,600 km²) basin in which is located the metropolitan area's largest city, Las Vegas. The area contains the largest concentration of people in the state. The history of the Las Vegas metropolitan area largely coincides with the history of the city of Las Vegas, whose name is sometimes used to denominate the entire region. The metropolitan area's population was estimated at 1,836,333 in 2007.^[2]As of 2010, the estimated population had grown to 2,282,708^[3]

Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the many tourist destination buildings in the area. As seen from space, Las Vegas is the brightest city in the world.^[4]

History

The area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864, beginning a long relationship between southern Nevada and the U.S. military. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a gaming center as well as a resort destination, primarily targeting adults. Relatively inexpensive real estate prompted a residential population boom in the Las Vegas Valley in the 1990s and is still expanding in every direction.

Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast corner of the valley. The ranges that the Nellis pilots use and various other land areas used by various federal agencies, limit growth of the valley in terms of geographic area. Due to this reason, the valley has seen more mid- and high-rise buildings erected.

Boundaries

Cities and communities of the Las Vegas valley

The United States Census Bureau defines the Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump combined statistical area as all of Clark County, as well as the community of Pahrump in southern Nye County, about 75 mi (121 km) from downtown Las Vegas. Some cities and unincorporated towns in Clark County include Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Paradise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Enterprise, and Whitney.

The government of Clark County defines an "Urban Planning Area" of Las Vegas. This definition is a roughly rectangular area, about 20 mi (32 km) from east to west and 30 miles from north to south. Notable exclusions from the "Urban Planning Area" include Red Rock, Blue Diamond, Mount Charleston, and Boulder City. These communities are noted as being outside the metropolitan area of Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department exercises jurisdiction in Clark County, including areas as far away from Las Vegas as Laughlin, about 90 mi (140 km) from downtown Las Vegas, but excluding cities with separate police forces such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City.

Residents often use the term "the valley" as a synonym for "metropolitan area", but this is a misnomer, as the valley is in fact a basin within the metropolitan area. The basin is an area generally defined by the Spring Mountains on the west, Sheep Mountains to the north, Muddy Mountains, Eldorado Range and Lake Mead to the east, and the Black Mountains to the south.

Geography and environment

Las Vegas Valley viewed in false color, from 438 mi (705 km) by TERRA satellite. Grass-covered land, such as golf courses, appears in red. The picture bottom is just south of Sunset Road and the airport, the Spring Mountains on the west and Sunrise Mountain on the east

The Las Vegas Valley lies in the Mojave Desert. The surrounding land is desert with mountains in the distance.

Climate

The Las Vegas Valley lies in a relatively high-altitude portion of the Mojave Desert, which tends to produce drastic changes of temperature between seasons, and also between day and night. The Valley generally averages less than 5 in (130 mm) of rain annually.^[5] Daily daytime summer temperatures in July and August are typically around 101 °F (38 °C) degrees.^[5] Very low humidity, however, tempers the effect of these temperatures, though dehydration, heat exhaustion, and sun stroke can occur after even a limited time outdoors in the summer. The interiors of automobiles often prove deadly to small children and pets during the summer and surfaces exposed to the sun can cause first- and second-degree burns to unprotected skin. July and August can also be marked by "monsoon season", when moist winds from the Gulf of California soak much of the Southwestern United States. While not only raising humidity levels, these winds develop into dramatic desert thunderstorms that can sometimes cause flash flooding.

Winter season is quite sunny in Las Vegas and temperatures are mild, with winter daytime highs near 60 °F (16 °C) and winter nighttime lows of about 40 °F (4 °C).^[5] Snow accumulation in the valley itself is generally uncommon, but every few years apart, the Las Vegas Valley can get snow. The mountains surrounding the valley are snow-covered during winter.

Air quality

Being located in a desert basin creates issues with air quality. From the dust the wind picks up, to the smog produced by vehicles, to the pollen in the air, the valley has several bad air days.

Pollen can be a major issue several weeks a year with counts occasionally in the 70,000 plus range. Local governments are trying to control this by banning plants that produce the most pollen.

The dust problems usually happen on very windy days, so they tend to be short and seasonal with full fledged dust storms occurring rarely.

Smog on the other hand gets worst when there is no wind to move the air out of the valley. Also in winter it is possible to get an inversion in the valley air that actually traps any smog in the valley.

The county is working to control these problems and has shown some success over the years. The constant tightening of Federal requirements for allowable particles in the air, make the task of meeting air quality standards difficult.

Water

The native flora does little to help the soil retain water. During the intense rains of monsoon season or (relatively) wet months of January and February, a network of dry natural channels, called washes or arroyos, carved into the valley floor allows water to flow down from the mountains and converge in the Las Vegas Wash which runs through the Clark County Wetlands Park. The wash system used to form a large natural wetlands which then flowed into the Colorado River, until the construction of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River led to the creation of Lake Mead. Further development in the 1980s and 1990s made Lake Las Vegas, which required directing the Las Vegas Wash into tunnels which run under Lake Las Vegas and into Lake Mead.

The Las Vegas area receives about 300,000 acre feet (370,000,000 m³) of water each year from Lake Mead, with credits for water it returns to the lake. The allocations were made with the Colorado River Compact when Nevada had a much smaller population and very little agriculture. The allocations were also made during a wet string of years, which overstated the available water in the entire watershed. As a result, precipitation that is below normal for a few years can have a major impact on the Colorado River Reservoirs.

Early Vegas depended on the aquifer which fed the flowing springs supporting the meadows that gave the area its name, but the pumping of water from these caused a large drop in the water levels and ground subsidence over wide areas of the valley. Today, the aquifers are basically used to store water that is pumped from the lake during periods of low demand and pumped out during periods of high demand.

Urbanization

The population doubling time in the greater metropolitan area was under ten years, since the early 1970s and the Las Vegas metropolitan area now has a population approaching two million people. This rapid population growth led to a significant urbanization of desert lands into industrial and commercial areas.(see suburbia).

Demographics

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.58% White (60.23% White Non-Hispanic), 9.08% Black, 5.74% Asian, 0.79% American Indian and 12.81% of other or mixed race. 21.96% were Hispanic of any race. As of 2009, the population in the metropolitan area had grown up to 1,902,834 people, being one of the fastest growing MSA in the United States.

In 1999, the median income for a household in the MSA was $44,616 and the median income for a family was $50,485. The per capita income was $21,785.

Economy

Exterior of the Palazzo hotel at night. A major part of the city economy is based on tourism including gambling and ultra-luxury hotels.

The driving force in metropolitan Las Vegas is the tourism industry and the metro area has about 150,000 hotel rooms.^[8] In the past, casinos and celebrity shows were the two major attractions for the area. Now shopping, conventions, fine dining, and outdoor beauty are also major forces in attracting tourist dollars.

While Las Vegas has historically attracted high-stake gamblers from around the world, it is now facing tougher competition from the UK, Hong Kong and Macau (China), Eastern Europe and developing areas in the Middle East. The financial and operating risks associated with pursuing the high-roller market will persist, but some U.S. casinos may opt out of chasing high-end players altogether as the costs to attract these players increase significantly and the relative incentive declines.^[9]

Over the past few years, retirees have been moving to the metro area, driving businesses that support them from housing to health care.

Las Vegas has been seeking to expand its manufacturing and research bases. There have been positive signs such as the World Market Center located in the city, and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, in addition to many smaller businesses.

While the cost of housing spiked up over 40% in 2004, the lack of business and income taxes still makes Nevada an attractive place for many companies to relocate to or expand existing operations. Being a true twenty-four hour city, call centers have always seemed to find Las Vegas a good place to hire workers who are accustomed to working at all hours.

Historical Visitors and Hotel Rooms
Data through 2008, Room Projections Las Vegas Convention Authority

The construction industry usually accounts for a large share of the economy in Las Vegas. Hotel casinos planned for the Strip can take years to build and employ thousands of workers. The same could be said of the housing boom. With the introduction of Turnberry Towers, developers discovered that there was a large demand for high-end condominiums. At the end of 2004, several major condominium towers were in various stages of development, however, by 2008, the construction industry was in a downturn due to the credit crunch.

Housing

Slab-on-grade foundations is the common base for residential buildings in the area.

Traditionally, housing consisted primarily of single-family detached homes. Apartment complexes generally were two story buildings. There have been exceptions, but they were few and far between. In the 1990s, Turnberry Associates constructed the first high rise condominium. Prior to this, there were only a handful of mid-rise multi-family buildings. By the mid 2000s, there was a major move into high rise condominiums towers, which had an impact on the region's skyline around the Strip.

U.S. housing market collapse

Las Vegas has been one of the top areas in the nation adversely affected by the recent subprime mortgage crisis and United States housing market correction, resulting in a freefall in home prices and mass foreclosures. As of January 2008, 1.9% of homes in the Las Vegas area were in the foreclosure process, almost triple the rate of a year earlier.^[10] The problems, as it was mostly nationwide, was rampant speculation from house flippers, who sought quick profits and never intended to live in the homes they purchased. Also, resetting of many mortgage rates increased foreclosures. As of April 2008, 51% of the more than 22,000 homes for sale in the area were vacant, according to Las Vegas real estate research firm SalesTraq.^[11]

Technology companies

Some technology companies have either relocated to Las Vegas or were created there. For various reasons, the Las Vegas metro area has had a high concentration of technology companies in electronic gaming and telecommunications industries.

Some current technology companies in southern Nevada include Bigelow Aerospace, CommPartners, Datanamics, eVital Communications, Petroglyph, SkywireMedia, Switch Communications, and WorldDoc.

Companies that originally were formed in the Las Vegas region, but have since sold or relocated include Westwood Studios (sold to Electronic Arts), Systems Research & Development (Sold to IBM), Yellowpages.com (Sold to Bellsouth and SBC), and MPower Communications.

Shopping

Las Vegas has expanded its attractiveness to visitors by offering both high-end and affordable merchandise in many shops and shopping malls. Many hotels on the Las Vegas Strip also have adjacent shopping malls, giving the Las Vegas metro area the highest concentration of shopping malls in any four mile stretch of road. In addition to the malls on the Strip, there are several outlying malls in Las Vegas, Henderson, and the surrounding area. The monorail, lying somewhat east of the Strip, facilitates north-south travel, including a station at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Major malls include:

Culture and the Arts

The "First Friday" celebration, held on the first Friday of each month, exhibits the works of local artists and musicians in an area just south of downtown, now called the "Arts District".^[12]

The Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, also known as the Las Vegas Zoo, exhibits over 150 species of animals and plants.

The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is the only aquarium that is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the state of Nevada. It features 1,200 species and over 2,000 animals in 1.6 million gallons of seawater.

The $485 million Smith Center for the Performing Arts (currently under construction) will be located downtown in Symphony Park. The center will be appropriate for Broadway shows and other major touring attractions as well as orchestra, opera, and dance performances.

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is a facility presenting high-quality art exhibitions from major national and international museums. Past exhibits have included the works of Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and Peter Carl Fabergé. A self-guided audio tour is also offered. The nearby CityCenter also includes several public art displays scattered throughout the complex.

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum features robot dinosaurs, live fish, and more than 26 species of preserved animals. There are several "hands-on" areas where animals can be petted.

Wildlife

Festivals

Gardens

Libraries

Museums

Parks

Theaters

Communities

Cities

• Boulder City
• Henderson
• Las Vegas
• Mesquite
• North Las Vegas

Some neighborhoods of metro Las Vegas

Census-designated places

Other communities

Future developments

• Coyote Springs (planned for 240,000 inhabitants).^[13]

Media

Broadcast

Las Vegas is served by 22 television and 46 radio stations. The metro area is also served by two NOAA Weather Radio transmitters (162.55 MHz from Boulder City and 162.40 MHz from Mount Potosi).

Newspapers

• Boulder City News is a weekly newspaper, serving Boulder City
• Gamingwire an online news service about gaming and related topics
• Henderson Home News is a weekly newspaper serving Henderson, owned by Greenspun Media Group, publishers of the Sun.
• Las Vegas Advisor
• Las Vegas Business Press
• Las Vegas CityLife weekly paper
• Las Vegas Review-Journal
• Las Vegas Sun
• Las Vegas Weekly is an alternative weekly paper owned by Greenspun Media Group, publishers of the Sun.
• Summerlin News and its sister West Valley News serving Summerlin and Spring Valley, owned by Greenspun Media Group, publishers of the Sun.
• Valley Times is a defunct newspaper that was discontinued around 1985. It covered the North Las Vegas area in the 1970s and 1980s.

Magazines

• 215-South
• Las Vegas Style
• QVegas
• S Las Vegas

Transportation

The Las Vegas Monorail pulling into the Sahara Station in Paradise.

McCarran International Airport

McCarran International Airport (LAS) provides commercial flights into the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The airport serves domestic, international, and cargo flights, as well as some private aircraft. General aviation traffic, however, will typically use the much smaller North Las Vegas Airport, or other airfields in the county. Public transportation is provided by RTC Transit. Numerous bus routes cover Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and other suburban areas.

The Las Vegas Monorail runs from the MGM Grand Hotel at the south end of the Strip to the Sahara Hotel and Casino at the north end of the Strip. The street numbering system is divided by the following streets:

• Westcliff Drive, US 95 Expressway, Fremont Street and Charleston Boulevard divide the north-south block numbers from west to east.
• Las Vegas Boulevard divides the east-west streets from the Las Vegas Strip to near the Stratosphere, then Main Street becomes the dividing line from the Stratosphere to the North Las Vegas border, after which the Goldfield Street alignment officially divides east and west.
• On the east side of Las Vegas, block numbers between Charleston Boulevard and Washington Avenue are different along Nellis Boulevard, which is the eastern border of the city limits.
• All city street signs begin with a N, S, W, or E designation.

Until 1997, the Amtrak Desert Wind train service ran through Las Vegas using the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) rails that run through the city; Amtrak service to Las Vegas has since been replaced by Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach bus service. Plans to restore Los Angeles to Las Vegas Amtrak service using a Talgo train have been discussed but no plan for a replacement has been implemented. The Las Vegas Amtrak station was located in the Plaza Hotel. It had the distinction of being the only train station located in a casino.

Two major freeways - Interstate 15 and Interstate 515/U.S. Route 95 - cross in downtown Las Vegas. I-15 connects Las Vegas to Los Angeles and San Diego, California, and heads northeast to and beyond Salt Lake City, Utah. I-515 goes southeast to Henderson, beyond which US 93 continues over the Hoover Dam towards Phoenix, Arizona. US 95 connects the city to northwestern Nevada, including Carson City and Reno. US 93 splits from I-15 northeast of Las Vegas and goes north through the eastern part of the state, serving Ely and Wells, and US 95 heads south from US 93 near Henderson through far eastern California. A three-quarters beltway has been built, consisting of Interstate 215 on the south and Clark County 215 on the west and north. Other radial routes include Blue Diamond Road (SR 160) to Pahrump and Lake Mead Boulevard (SR 147) to Lake Mead.

With the notable exceptions of Las Vegas Boulevard, Boulder Highway (SR 582), and Rancho Drive (SR 599), the majority of surface streets outside downtown Las Vegas are laid out along Public Land Survey System section lines. Many are maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation as state highways.

Airports

Rail and bus

While the Las Vegas area does not have any passenger rail service, there are a number of proposals to provide this:

• Desert Xpress to Victorville
• Z-Train to Los Angeles
• California-Nevada Interstate Maglev to Anaheim
• Desert Lightning To Los Angeles and Phoenix

existing services

Roads

Two major freeways - Interstate 15 and U.S. Route 95 - cross in downtown Las Vegas. I-15 connects Las Vegas to Los Angeles and San Diego, and heads northeast to and beyond Salt Lake City. Interstate 515 goes southeast to Henderson, beyond which U.S. Route 93 continues over the Hoover Dam towards Phoenix, Arizona. US 95 connects the city to northwestern Nevada, including Carson City and Reno. US 93 splits from I-15 northeast of Las Vegas and goes north through the eastern part of the state, serving Ely and Wells, and US 95 heads south from US 93 near Henderson through far eastern California. A three-quarters beltway has been built, consisting of Interstate 215 on the south and Clark County 215 on the west and north. Other radial routes include SR 160 to Pahrump and SR 147 to Lake Mead.

With the notable exceptions of Las Vegas Boulevard, Boulder Highway, and Tonopah Highway (better known as the northern part of Rancho Drive), the majority of surface streets outside downtown Las Vegas are laid out along Public Land Survey System section lines. Many are maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation as state highways.

East-west roads, north to south^[14]

North-south roads, west to east

Fuel

The Las Vegas area is dependent on imported gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel as is most of Nevada, which has only one refinery. The region is dependent on the Calnev Pipeline as its single supply. Limited diesel is delivered to a dedicated terminal in North Las Vegas by rail. Diversified supply is dependent on the planned UNEV pipeline.

Sports

Las Vegas is the home of the following minor league teams:

Education

Primary and secondary

• Public schools

The Clark County School District operates all of the public primary and secondary schools in the county with the exception of a few which are contracted out to a private organization.

• Private schools:
  • Alexander Dawson School
  • American Heritage Academy
  • Bishop Gorman High School
  • Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School
  • Calvary Chapel Christian School
  • Calvary Church Christian School
  • The Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy
  • Las Vegas Day School
  • The Meadows School
  • Merryhill School
  • Mountain View Christian School
  • Paradise Christian Academy [2]
  • Shiloh Christian School
  • St. Viator School
  • Trinity Christian School
  • New Horizons Academy
  • University Baptist Academy

Colleges and universities

• Public Schools
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is the major higher education institution in Las Vegas
  • University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) also has a campus for the School of Medicine in Las Vegas
  • Nevada State College located in Henderson, Nevada
  • College of Southern Nevada - formerly known as the Community College of Southern Nevada and Clark County Community College
• Private schools 4 year+
  • Design Institute
  • National University of Nevada
  • Touro University Nevada
  • University of Phoenix-Nevada
  • University of Southern Nevada, Doctor of Pharmacy degree

Hospitals

Venues in Las Vegas

• Music venues in Las Vegas
• Sports venues in Las Vegas

References

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