Posted on 10/28/2010 2:41:18 PM PDT by Libloather
Once-Booming Las Vegas may be Reduced to Ghost City
by Kathy Jones
October 24, 2010 at 5:49 PM
The housing market in Las Vegas is on the slide and many have already left for greener shores.
Earlene Howard is the only person left living in a house on her block in Sin City, and she's not sure how much longer she'll be there as the once booming Las Vegas housing market continues to spiral downwards.
The rest of her neighbors have seen their homes repossessed by lenders, and she's already behind two months on her mortgage after her husband lost his job with a local construction company.
"I think we may need to move back to Denver," said Howard, 42, who uprooted to Las Vegas in 2005 because jobs were plentiful here then. "This city is not in good shape. Not at all."
Howard lives in the epicenter of America's prolonged economic downturn.
The once-booming Las Vegas region has for 44 straight months led the United States in home foreclosures, and 80 percent of houses here are figuratively underwater -- worth less than the debt owed on them.
A staggering 23.6 percent of Nevada mortgages are in some form of delinquency or foreclosure, significantly higher than the national average of 14 percent, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
It's a confusing, devastating turn of events for a city that for two decades was the sterling example of an American boom town.
With only some brief pauses, this gambling and convention destination has enjoyed continuous visitor increases and population growth since 1989, when the first mega-resort, The Mirage, opened on the Las Vegas Strip.
Once I hit the lottery, I'm THERE! And I've gone Amish (just for obvious Commiecare concerns, of course).
Nevada has no state income tax. When the market makes prices and wages are cheap enough, businesses will begin to start hiring again and people will stop leaving and begin to come back.
If Reid is re-elected, we're not going. Neither next year nor the next 6. I will also not make any other business nor recreational trips to Las Vegas for the same period.
I'm not only voting next Tuesday at the ballot box, I'm voting the next 6 years with my wallet.
quick question....anyone really....what does a pit boss usually make in Vegas? I’d be very interested in knowing.
Also, they say Vegas is in bad shape yet they have experience record visitors....?
If they re-elect Reid, I’d support a national boycott of Nevada.
Again, once I hit the lottery, DOOD, I'm there!
What the heck is a Shot Show? Guns? Photography?
I visited Vegas this past March, for the very first time. I'm a right coast hick. There's nothing like it and I want to do it again.
That may need a thread of its own.
......80 percent of houses here are figuratively underwater....
how can it be so hot with so many fans?
It's huge but you need to be connected to the industry for admission. Held every year around Jan/Feb. Use to alternate between Vegas and Orlando. Now hosted solely in Vegas.
I like Vegas for this show and other reasons and use to go often. But if the people of Nevada are stupid enough to re-elect Reid, they can do without my money.
“...What the heck is a Shot Show?...”
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Is it easier for you to post on here than to google it?
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http://www.google.com/search?q=Shot+Show&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
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“The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show.”
http://www.shotshow.org/
Yer kidding - right? Here on the right coast we call 'em GUN SHOWS!
What's wrong with you people?
It is hot as hell in the summer and cold as the moon in the winter. High A/C and heating costs. Also it is far away from most large cities requiring significant travel costs to get employees to where the customers are.
Also, how many people really want to settle down and live in Vegas? There are people who really don't care where they live so long as they have a decent house, decent places to shop, and a few entertainment options. But lots of people just can't see living in a city which is basically casinos surrounded by desert. I personally love visiting the desert and occasionally gambling at luxurious casinos, but I couldn't see living in Vegas.
Who wouldn't want to live in Tahiti? How many Fortune 500 companies are run from Tahiti?
Well, technically, Chris Angel’s show is a Cirque show, and that’s one I’d recommend skipping.
So a guitar show (out there in them there parts) would be called something like 'Plinkers Anonymous'?
Please don't tell me Dingy Harry has tamed the wild west.
That's a personal problem.
You are speaking for yourself - yes?
They have gun shows in Cuba?
Damn.
I never knew.
It's Criss. Might as well get the cheaper home version while you're at it. (My favorite is the school/office supply section @ his website.)
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