downtown Vegas mall to be left half-built, due to credit crunch

[villager]

Las Vegas' Project CityCenter, the largest private development in the Unites States, was to be 8 acres of shops, casinos, hotels, condos, and theaters. But now it looks like big portions of the project may remain in a state of half-built rubble piles for years to come, due to the current credit crisis in the United States. So what did this shining dream of real estate moguls look like before it turned all Resident Evil: Extinction?


http://io9.com/371219/welcome-to-the-crumbling-future-of-the-vegas-strip

[liberal N proud]

1. The bu$h economy crumbles Vegas dreams.

WOW!

[villager]

2. I wonder if *that* will bring it home to America, at last?

n/t

[mainegreen]

3. *cough* *cough*

:P

[acmavm]

11. What a cute little guy. I wish mine were still little.

[hatrack]

13. Holy crap? Is that a building or a monumental middle finger?

Sheesh.

[wuushew]

4. Why does a massive city exist in the middle of a desert?

It is not even located on a major trade route or has any significant manufacturing base.

People come, shuffle money around and leave. The whole concept seems utterly idiotic.

[villager]

5. indeed -- the entire "model" was always predicated on cheap gas and extra "cash"

neither of which exist anymore...

[lutefisk]

10. Only the lack of water will kill Vegas.

The water situation is crazy, but apart from that I think there will always be a market for the things Vegas offers. It's a bargain for the Euro-rich, among others.

And as times get tougher, it offers an escape like the depression era movies did in the 1930's. It's not like a once in a lifetime kind of place, by any means.

[kiva]

15. Agreed, Herbster.

I concur that water is the current major issue faced not only by Vegas but by all cities in the southwest--Phoenix, Denver, Los Angeles, among others. As long as Las Vegas provides a venue for activities that aren't readily available in many places, people will continue to come. The federal government claims somewhere between 87% and 91% (depending on the source) of Nevada's land, and will certainly continue to utilize that land in ways that bring in more population. Despite the summer heat, the allure of no-freeze winters will attract thousands of new residents. Finally, all of this activity produces jobs that, in the current economy, makes southern Nevada a reasonable choice for many people.

Though to many it seems out of place to put a sizable community in the desert, I'd argue that the location of many cities is not practical based on weather, climate, and other natural conditions. Are we saying that New Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt because its location has been the target of a major hurricane? What about Galveston and sections of Florida and Alabama? How about people living on the banks of the Mississippi River who have been flooded out?

[villager]

16. Good points, to be sure, but you have to be able to *get* to Vegas...

...which may run concurrently with the water issue, as a Vegas-killer. In other words, during the last Depression, you only had to walk to the corner theater to be entertained.

You're not going to fly/drive to Vegas if you can't afford gas (though, yes, foreigners with viable currencies might do that for awhile).

The question might be whether even more "local Vegases" start to open up, on more Indian reservations, etc., etc...

[usaftmo]

6. If left half-built for awhile

then it will become a haven for teenagers/young adults to get into trouble. Vandalism, using drugs, etc.

[lutefisk]

7. ...that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[Brigid]

12. Ah, yes -- Shelley.

Perfect. :yourock:

[knitter4democracy]

14. I thought of that one, too.

I love that poem. :)

[SpiralHawk]

8. Perfect for the Commander AWOL Library

[Brigid]

9. Perfect monument . . .

to the * regime.

[LeftinOH]

17. Some foreign (Middle Eastern or Asian) firm will step in and finish the job...n/t