How Las Vegas became an attraction
What started as an attempt to bring large numbers of people into the city of Las Vegas quickly blossomed into the city’s main source of economic success. The original intention of bringing hotels and casinos to Freemont Street was to lure the thousands of workers that came to Las Vegas during the construction of the Hoover Dam. The city that was once down in the slums and struggling due to the Great Depression had now found its loophole. The success that the hotels and casinos in Freemont Street had encouraged Mobsters to open up even more hotels and casinos except this time in a more conventional area, one that would attract more and more tourists. By 1966, Howard Hughes had bought more than $300 million worth of hotels, in a time when mob interests were banished by corporate businesses.
Suddenly the city had something new that it was known for and everyone wanted to have a little piece of the gold mine. By 1989, Steve Wynn, a casino developer, opened the Mirage Hotel, the city’s first “mega-resort” (1). In the next 20 years the strip transformed; between “mega resorts” and its booming entertainment industry, Las Vegas became the city to be. Various hotels began to take their artistic taste to a whole new level as they began mimicking certain wonders of the world to look like their hotels; places like Rome, Paris, and New York began to exist in Las Vegas’ very own valley.(2) People now didn’t have to travel half way across the world just to experience a little bit of the excitement of visiting some of these places. Casinos and the entertainment industry continue to be Las Vegas’ major source for jobs and economic success. As the city continued to grow with all the new hotels, resorts, mega resorts and attractions that came with them as did the city’s population and the number of tourists that visited each year (3). Even as our society undergoes a recession, rising unemployment rates and housing industry collapse, people still came to Las Vegas. In fact, the recession didn't seem to have affected the city very much because of the constant number of tourists that continue to come and give to the never ending cycle.
The town notorious for its night life and entertainment quickly developed a reputation for quick marriages as well. Las Vegas became a place where one could come and forget everything else that was going on around them; thus establishing its nickname “city of sin.” For the most part, this “city of sin” nickname is one that has seemed to have a double standard. For the most part, Las Vegas has developed a reputation that it has still to this day lived up to: gambling, entertainment, and of course its notorious night life. Originally this was not the intention when it came to building the city, but as years passed and the booming success of different casino hotels were noticed, it became what Las Vegas was known for. The tall buildings, the bright beautiful lights, and the notorious amounts of entertainment available seems to put a typical visitor in a hypnotized trance that keeps you coming back.
Reference
1. Earley, P. (2000). Super casino : inside the "new" Las Vegas. New York : Bantam Books.
2. Las Vega. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/las-vegas
3. Denton and Morris. (2001). The money and the power : the making of Las Vegas and its hold on America, 1947-2000. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.
Images (From top to bottom)
1. Retrieved from http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2010/marchapril/statement/vegas%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-recluse
2. Retrieved from http://www.johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=18417
3. Retrieved from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/vintage%20las%20vegas
4. Retrieved from http://www.hoolinet.com/Portals/0/drive%20thru%20wedding.jpg
1. Earley, P. (2000). Super casino : inside the "new" Las Vegas. New York : Bantam Books.
2. Las Vega. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/las-vegas
3. Denton and Morris. (2001). The money and the power : the making of Las Vegas and its hold on America, 1947-2000. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.
Images (From top to bottom)
1. Retrieved from http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2010/marchapril/statement/vegas%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-recluse
2. Retrieved from http://www.johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=18417
3. Retrieved from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/vintage%20las%20vegas
4. Retrieved from http://www.hoolinet.com/Portals/0/drive%20thru%20wedding.jpg