Everyday Las Vegas: Local Life in a Tourist Town

Watch ’Em Come, See ’Em Go

55 I n 1872 a huge gold vein was discovered in the Snake Range of central Nevada near the Utah border. The resulting mining town of Osceola reflected the experience of many of its Nevada siblings: it boomed, attracted thousands of treasure seekers, produced millions in wealth, and then busted. All that remains in Osceola is a memory preserved in ruins, the occasional rancher keeping watch on sheep or cattle that roam the surrounding slopes, and a state-sponsored historical sign along lonely Highway 50. The sign reminds the curious passerby that Osceola, like many other Nevada places, faded out of existence once the gold did. Major mining operations ceased there around 1940. A four-and-a-half-hour drive south of Osceola, another sign tells a story of a different kind of boomtown. Designed by Betty Willis and installed in 1959 by Western Neon, the welcome to fabulous las vegas sign marks the former entry point to the city for visitors traveling north from California along Highway 91, then known as the Los Angeles Highway. Today, it is a photo opportunity for hordes of tourists, who now come by way of Interstate 15 or McCarran Airport and want to commemorate their trip to the city. The sign symbolizes a “fabulous” weekend for such visitors, a short escape from the monotony of a commute, office work, and community rules that are (legally) breakable in Las Vegas. Most of all, the images of silver dollars beneath the letters W-E-L-C-O-M-E sing a new version of the old siren song of Nevada’s mines: a chance to hit it big. Willis intentionally never copyrighted her design, later explaining “It’s my gift to the city,” so it has been copied in pins, paperweights, T-shirts, and a thousand other items of Vegas kitsch. Indeed, this sign has become the epitome of the Vegas image perceived by the world.1 The sign also speaks volumes about the local’s experience in the city. To be certain, residents typically do not park in front of the now-closed Klondike Casino, daringly jaywalk across multiple lanes of traffic to the median of Las Vegas Boulevard, and snap pictures of the famed neon sculpture. Instead, the C H A P T E R THREE Watch ’Em Come, See ’Em Go 56 e v e r y d a y l a s v e g a s sign represents a welcoming opportunity for success, a new beginning, and a chance to live the American dream. Some will strike it rich, become successful , and make a life for themselves in the city. Others will come up emptyhanded and leave town for the next opportunity. Las Vegas actually has a lot in common with mining towns like Osceola, even though this city was not founded on the discovery of some mineral or metal. For many decades following Nevada’s mining boom, Las Vegas has remained one of America’s most attractive boomtowns. This trait is recognizable not only in the modern-day gold fields of the casinos, but also in the city’s seemingly limitless opportunities, welcoming attitude, and pervasive entrepreneurial spirit. Yet, Las Vegas warps the boomtown model in that its “mines” show no signs of depletion. Even with a fracturing national economy that reduced visitation and spending in the city and burst the housing bubble, stunning the local real estate market, new megahotel openings during this time, such as MGM Resorts’ CityCenter and its neighbor the Cosmopolitan, provide hope that the market will spring back and that the city’s suburbs will continue to creep toward the mountains’ edge. And, unlike the sign at Osceola bolted The world-famous welcome sign. This oft-photographed feature symbolizes the open arms of Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Photo by author, July 2005. Watch ’Em Come, See ’Em Go 57 to a lifeless metal grate in the shape of Nevada, Las Vegas’s sign still glitters every evening at dusk. Before turning to several aspects characterizing the city’s growth, I want to profile Las Vegas transience. Many people come to the city seeking some version of a rich vein of gold and find it. Others have high hopes but end up without the success they expected. In many ways, the stories of locals coming and going are similar to those of other migrants who choose to move to Anywhere...