In 2005, the valley played host to 34.7 million visitors.
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:
* North
Las Vegas
* Downtown
* Boulder Strip
* Las Vegas Strip
* Clark
County excluding the strip
need to find and add the rest
Geography
Las
Vegas viewed in false color, from 438 miles (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 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
Interior of a casino. A major part of the city economy
is based on tourism including gambling.
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, [[destination 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
* Las Vegas
* Henderson
* North Las Vegas
Unincorporated Cities and Towns
* Enterprise
* Paradise
* Spring Valley
* Summerlin South
* Sunrise Manor
*
Whitney
* Winchester
Media
Newspapers
* Las Vegas Business
Press
* Las Vegas CityLife
* Las Vegas Review-Journal
* Las Vegas
Sun
* Las Vegas Advisor
Magazines
* Las Vegas Life
* Las
Vegas Style
* S
Culture and Attractions
Convention Centers
At the end of 2004, Las Vegas had over 9 million square feet of convention center space.
* Las Vegas Convention Center 3.2 million square feet as of 2004.
* Sands Expo and Convention Center and Venetian Congress facility with over 1.8
million square feet as of 2004.
* Mandalay Bay Convention Center with nearly
1 million square feet as of 2003.
* Las Vegas Hilton with 220,000 square feet
as of 2004.
* Harrah's Las Vegas with 25,000 quare feet as of 2004.
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
* Bellagio
Gallery of Fine Art at Bellagio
* Clark County Museum in Henderson on Boulder
Highway
* Discovery Children's Museum located on Las Vegas Boulvard in the
downtown area
* Guggenheim Hermitage Museum located at The Venetian
*
Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum located at McCarran International Airport
* Las Vegas Art Museum Located at the Sahara Library
* Las Vegas Natural History
Museum located on Las Vegas Boulvard in the downtown area
* Neon Museum at
the Fremont Street Experience located at the Fremont Street Experience
* Nevada
State Museum and Historical Society
* Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder
City
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
* Federal
o Lake
Mead
Parks
* Federal
o Desert National Wildlife Range
o Lake
Mead National Recreation Area
o Red Rock National Conservation Area
o
Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area
o Spring Mountains National Recreation
Area
o North McCullough Wilderness Area
o Mount Charleston Wilderness
Area
* State
o Big Bend of the Colorado State Park
o Floyd Lamb State
Park
o Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park
o Spring Mountain Ranch
State Park
o Valley of Fire State Park
* Clark County
o Clark County
Wetlands Park
* City of Las Vegas
* Other
Golf
Hiking
* Federal
o Red Rock National Conservation Area
o Sloan Canyon National
Conservation Area
o Spring Mountains National Recreation Area
Rock Climbing
* Federal
o Red Rock National Recreation Area
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 Gladiators (Arena
Football League)
* Las Vegas 51s (Pacific Coast League, Class AAA minor league
baseball)
* Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL)
Las Vegas hosts these motor sports at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
* NASCAR Nextel Cup Series: UAW-DaimlerChrysler
400
* NASCAR Busch Series: Sam's Town 300
* NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series:
Las Vegas 350
* NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
Las Vegas hosts these pro tour events:
* PGA Michelin Championship at Las Vegas Oct 7-10, 2004
* LPGA -- (to be named event)
* PRCA National Finals Rodeo
* PBA Las Vegas
Open
Las Vegas hosts the Las Vegas Bowl, a college bowl game, around Christmas day.
Previous Las Vegas Minor League teams
* The Las Vegas Posse
was a former Canadian Football League team that played at Sam Boyd Stadium
* The Las Vegas Outlaws during their one XFL football season at Sam Boyd Stadium.
* The Las Vegas Thunder played in the now-defunct International Hockey League
for six seasons, from 1993 to 1999.
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
* Summerlin Performing Arts Center
Education
Primary & Secondary
The Clark County School District 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
* Public
Schools
o University of Nevada, Las Vegas is the major higher education institution
in Las Vegas;
o University of Nevada, Reno also has a campus for the School
of Medicine in Las Vegas;
o Nevada State College located in Henderson, Nevada;
o Community College of Southern Nevada
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.
Golf is a game believed to have been first played in Scotland, where each player has to hit his own small ball into a hole using various types of clubs. The club is swung at the motionless ball on the ground from a side-stance. Score is kept (a count of the number of strokes required) with the smallest score being the best.
A round of golf typically consists of 18 holes. Par is the number of strokes that an expert golfer would need to put the ball in on any given hole, and is usually around 72 for the 18 holes. A hole has a teeing area, a fairway, and a green (a closely mown area around the hole). There are hazards to play over or around (sand, water, etc.) Distances from the teeing ground to the hole vary, but typical values for a par three range from 130 to 230 yards, a par four from 300 to 475 yards, and a par five from 450 to 600 yards. The expert golfer will reach the green in two strokes less than par and would then use those two strokes on the green to get the ball into the hole.
Double Eagle
Three stokes less than par.
Eagle
Two strokes less than par.
Birdie
One stroke less than par.
Bogey
One stroke more than par.
Double Bogey
Two strokes more than par.
Equipment
There are three major types of clubs, known as woods, irons, and putters. A golfer would usually carry a couple of woods, perhaps 10 irons, and a putter. The parts of a club are the shaft and the head. The shaft is a tapered tube made of metal or fiberglass or graphite. The shaft is roughly 1/2 inch in diameter and they range from about 35 to 45 inches in length depending on the club. The head is the part that hits the ball. Each head has a face which contacts the ball during the stroke. Various clubs are designed with the face having differing "loft", the angle the face makes with the ground when the club is at rest. Typically, the greater the loft, the higher and shorter the resulting shot. The end of the shaft opposite the head is covered with a rubber or leather grip for the player to hold. A complete club weighs about 14 ounces. The clubs are numbered for identification with the smallest numbered clubs used to hit the ball the longest distances.
Woods are long clubs (about 40 to 45 inches) with large heads that are somewhat spherical in shape with a flattened face that contacts the ball and a flattened bottom that slides over the ground without digging in during the stroke. Originally the "wood" heads were made of wood but modern club heads are made of hollow metal, sometimes filled with foam. The shaft enters the wood offcenter, in such a way that the face of the wood is roughly at a right angle to one side of the shaft. Woods are used for the longest shots, ranging from 200 to 300 yards. The typical loft for wood faces ranges from 6 to 26 degrees.
Irons are used for shorter shots than woods, especially including shots approaching the greens. Irons typically range from 36 to 40 inches in length. The iron heads are shaped like the face of a wood but without the rounded backs. They look more like a flat piece of metal sticking out sideways from the shaft. The typical lofts for irons range from 16 to 60 degrees.
Putters resemble irons except that they are even shorter and have very low loft. They are used to roll the ball on the green when attempting to get the ball into the hole.
History
Golf has been played for hundreds
of years, but what we think of as the modern game really came into being in the
second half of the 19th century in Scotland. The basic rules of the game and the
design of equipment and courses strongly resembles what we do today. The major
changes in equipment since then were better mowers, especially for the greens,
better golf ball designs using rubber and man-made materials beginning around
1900 and the introduction of the metal shaft beginning in the 1930s. In the 1970s
the use of metal to replace wood heads began, and shafts made of graphite composite
materials were introduced in the 1980s. The major results of the equipment changes
is that today's players can hit the ball much further and more accurately.
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