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Las Vegas Metropolitan Area - This article is about the Las Vegas area in the state of Nevada. For other uses, see Las Vegas (disambiguation).
The Las Vegas metropolitan area, better known as the Las Vegas Valley, is a part of Clark County in southern Nevada that contains the largest concentration of people in the state. The history of the Las Vegas metropolitan area naturally coincides with the history of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2005, the valley played host to 34.7 million visitors. History The area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a U.S. 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 gambling 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 continues to the present day. 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 to the north. Boundaries Las Vegas Valley While everyone knows what the valley is, it is not defined anywhere. The western edge is formed by the Spring Mountains. The northern boundary is the Sheep Mountains. On the east is Frenchman's Mountain, locally know as Sunrise Mountain, some adjoining mountains are capped by Vishnu Schist rock, which is some of the oldest on the earth having been created about 2 billion years ago. The Southern edge of the valley are the hills running west from Black Mountain. Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Encompases the Valley and adds Boulder City and Blue Diamond. Gaming Reporting Areas The state of Nevada divides the state into several gaming districts or areas. The reporting districts in the Valley are: need to find and add the rest Geography The land in the Las Vegas Valley is sandy desert with mountains in the distance. Water from the valley flows in to Lake Mead, an artificial lake created by the damming of the Colorado River. Air Quality Being located in a desert valley creates issues with air quality. From the dust the wind picks up from disturbed desert, to the smog produced by vehicles to the pollen in the air, the valley can have some bad air days. Pollen can be a major issue several weeks a year with counts ocassionally 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 seasonal and of a short duration. 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. Economy While some might conclude from the yellow pages that Lawyers and Escorts are the major businesses, the driving force is the tourism industry. While in the past the casinos were the major attraction, shopping, conventions and fine dining are major forces in attracting the tourist dollar. With about 130,000 hotel rooms, as of 2005, to fill, the conventions help fill the hotels, restaurants, and [[shopping malls on the strip. There is a balance between all of the tourist operations in town. The conventions need hotel rooms, dining, and entertainment options. The hotels need the conventions, and tourists to fill their rooms. The restaurants depend on travelers in the hotel rooms to fill their tables. Everyone depends on a good road system to get travelers into town as well as available and reasonably priced airline seats Over the past few years, retirees have been moving to the valley driving businesses that support them, from housing to health care. Las Vegas has been trying to expand its manufacturing and research base. There have been some positive signs from the World Market Center being developed in the City and the recently announced Alzheimer's research center in 2005 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 as well as expand into. Being a true 24 hour town, call centers have always seemed to find Vegas a good place to find workers willing to work at all hours. Construction is strong. New strip casinos take years to build and employ thousands of workers. The same could be said of the housing boom with new home sales around 15,000 units in 2004. With the introduction of Turnburry Towers several years ago, developers discovered that the was a large demand for high end condominiums. At the end of 2004, it was estimated that as many as 80 major condominiums were in various stages of development. Incorporated Cities Unincorporated Cities and Towns Media Newspapers Magazines Culture and Attractions Convention Centers At the end of 2004, Las Vegas had over 9 million square feet of convention center space. Events Landmarks - In 1959, Betty Willis created the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign for Clark County, receiving $4,000 for her work. The sign has been moved south on Las Vegas Boulevard several times over the years as growth has continued. Currently it is located just south of Russell Road across from the Klondike Casino just west of McCarran Airport. Some consider the sign to be the "official" southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. With the sign so far away from the city itself, the City Council erected a "Welcome to Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas" sign shortly after you enter the City of Las Vegas on Las Vegas Boulevard. The image of the sign is featured on the Nevada License Plate that was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the City of Las Vegas in 2005.
- The Las Vegas Strip is listed as a National Scenic Byway and designated an "All-American Road"
- The Fremont Street Experience which is the world's largest multi-media display in the world covering 4 city blocks.
- Hoover Dam
Museums Recreation With approximately 90% of Nevada owned by the United States, it should not be a surprise that the Federal Government land offers some of the largest playgrounds in the area. Boating Parks - Federal
- State
- Clark County (as of 3/31/2005 there are over 66 parks)
- City of Las Vegas
- Other
Golf Hiking Rock Climbing Sports Las Vegas is one of the largest cities in the United States to have no major-league level professional sports teams. Several reasons have been cited for this: - Las Vegas only became a large market very recently.
- The perceived stigma of legal sports betting may be seen as being in conflict of interest with any potential pro sports team being located in Las Vegas by the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NHL. The former three leagues have especially strong anti-gambling policies. There are currently no laws preventing Nevada sports books from accepting bets on local professional teams, and many casinos have said they would not voluntarily take a local team "off the boards."
- Some potential owners believe a professional sports franchise would have serious difficulty competing for an audience in a city with so many entertainment options.
- Las Vegas is not on a work schedule similar to most cities. Other cities have most workers on a 9-5, Monday-Friday schedule. Las Vegas is a true 24/7 city. This results in a small market for any sports event since there are fewer people available when compared to a similar sized city. A local sports team also has to compete with other forms of entertainment that are not available in the same quanity in many other smaller markets.
- Las Vegas is still a relatively small television market, because the larger outlying areas were all drawn into the markets of larger cities farther away decades ago. For example, St. George, Utah is now part of the Salt Lake City market, and Bullhead City, Arizona is part of the Phoenix market. Las Vegas' TV market has been ranked as the 51st largest in the US, behind places like Albuquerque, Greensboro, Harrisburg, and Hartford.
Las Vegas is the home of the following minor league teams: Las Vegas hosts these motor sports at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Las Vegas hosts these pro tour events: - PGA Michelin Championship at Las Vegas Oct 7-10, 2004
- LPGA -- (to be named event)
- PRCA Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
- PBR -- Built Ford Tough World Finals
- PBA Las Vegas Open
Las Vegas hosts the Las Vegas Bowl, a college bowl game, around Christmas day. Previous Las Vegas Minor League teams Las Vegas has become an internationally known motor racing locale having hosted the elite Formula One racers at Caesars Palace and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for Indy racers in the early "80's. Las Vegas was also the home of the famed "Mint 400" Desert Race from 1968-1987 run in the unforgiving Nevada desert outside Las Vegas. Nearly 100,000 spectators lined the 100 mile (160 km) loop to view the 500+ off road racing vehicles. Sponsored by Del Webb's Mint Hotel and Casino, the event was the largest and richest event in the sport. The technical and safety inspection was held on famed Fremont Street and became one of the major must attend sporting events in Las Vegas history. The race ended when Del Webb organization sold the Mint Hotel to the adjacent Horseshoe owned by the legendary Binion gaming family. Las Vegas is also host to many professional boxing matches and has hosted many heavyweight boxing championship bouts. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels (Runnin' Rebels is used only by the men's basketball program) host Mountain West Conference events on the UNLV campus and eight miles (13 km) east, at Sam Boyd Stadium. Indoor sporting events involving UNLV teams are held at the Thomas & Mack Center complex, both at the main arena and at Cox Pavilion, a smaller arena attached to the complex. In April 2004, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig publicly revealed that MLB was considering Las Vegas as a potential future home for the Montreal Expos. However, MLB eventually chose Washington, D.C. as the Expos' new home. Theater Education Primary & Secondary The Clark County School Districthttp://ccsd.net/ runs all of the public primary and secondary schools in the county. There is a mix of private and religious schools operating in the area. Colleges & Universities Las Vegas Springs Preserve 'Las Vegas Springs Preserve, scheduled to open in 2006, is owned by the Las Vegas Valley Water District. The Preserve is intended to showcase and preserve the old springs that were the reason for Las Vegas's existence. It is also intended to show people how to live in the desert environment and how to take advantage of what is available. Part of this is a dual use concept. So the parking area is actually the roof of the reservoir. The shade structures in various areas are actually Photovoltaic cells used to generate power for the site.
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