What makes Las Vegas…Las Vegas? John Pryzbys (it’s pronounced like “frisbee” but with a “b,” if you’re curious) has an article that asks that question in today’s RJ. And I’m one of the ones who offered some answers. From, naturally, the LVRJ:
What is Las Vegas?
A place. An idea. A stereotype. And, for those of us who happen to live here, a city that defines us in ways we probably don’t even realize.
Las Vegas is a place steeped in contradiction and shaped, either subtly or overtly, by both natural and man-made forces that, in turn, shape us.
That’s why we batted around this question: What are the basic forces — things, ideas, conditions — that define Las Vegas and make it different from any other place in the world?
Here are our conclusions. We don’t pretend that our conclusions are the final word. Feel free to do some batting around of your own.
Here’s what I had to say about “transience:”
Some newcomers, Schwartz says, have a “boomtown mentality.” They want to get everything they can out of Las Vegas and move on. “We’re like a modern-day Virginia City or Goldfield or Searchlight with nicer buildings.
“People move here and think, ‘I’m going to get a great job and make $50,000 parking cars, and I’ll do that a couple years, save up, buy a house, get a lot of equity, trade out and move back home.’ And it doesn’t always work.”
It’s an interesting question–a sort of “why is this night different from all other nights?” query that leads to more questions than an actual answer.
One could write a whole book on the subject. Or two.