4 ms·

Las Vegas is also a prime location - legally in Nevada (gambling), yet close enough to the West Coast (lots of people). It doesn't have to be a natural advantag

Las Vegas is also a prime location - legally in Nevada (gambling), yet close enough to the West Coast (lots of people). It doesn't have to be a natural advantage - this is what the Mississippi boat casinos were doing since forever, just several orders of magnitude larger ;)

nwah1 7y ago
True, but it also shares that distinction with pretty much anywhere in Southern or Western Nevada. My understanding is that the particular site was simply where the mob chose. But, having looked it up just now, apparently all the Hoover Dam construction workers created some demand for entertainment, so that seems to be the real reason for that particular spot. Also the federal government created a city called Boulder City to get the workers away from Las Vegas. Another planned city. So clearly the location of the workers was less important than the location of the mafia.
- Piskvorrr 7y ago
  Interesting...I thought that Boulder City was supposed to be a temporary habitation for the workers neart the construction site; perhaps I was mistaken, perhaps that was only the overt intent.
- ghaff 7y ago
  In spite of being in the desert, Vegas actually has a good water supply from aquifers (though not really enough for the current city) which is why it was a railroad water stop and, in part because of this, why Las Vegas came into being in the first place. But it really took off when the Hoover Dam construction started in 1931. [1] In the twentieth century (even early 20th century), US cities just didn't get planned/organically evolved in a car-light way. Irvine, CA is a pretty classic example of a planned city and it's mostly industrial office parks and spread out suburbs. [1[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Las_Vegas#1930%E2%80%931941:_Hoover_Dam_and_the_first_casinos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Las_Vegas#1930%E2%8...

nwah1 7y ago

True, but it also shares that distinction with pretty much anywhere in Southern or Western Nevada. My understanding is that the particular site was simply where the mob chose. But, having looked it up just now, apparently all the Hoover Dam construction workers created some demand for entertainment, so that seems to be the real reason for that particular spot. Also the federal government created a city called Boulder City to get the workers away from Las Vegas. Another planned city. So clearly the location of the workers was less important than the location of the mafia.

Piskvorrr 7y ago
Interesting...I thought that Boulder City was supposed to be a temporary habitation for the workers neart the construction site; perhaps I was mistaken, perhaps that was only the overt intent.
ghaff 7y ago
In spite of being in the desert, Vegas actually has a good water supply from aquifers (though not really enough for the current city) which is why it was a railroad water stop and, in part because of this, why Las Vegas came into being in the first place. But it really took off when the Hoover Dam construction started in 1931. [1] In the twentieth century (even early 20th century), US cities just didn't get planned/organically evolved in a car-light way. Irvine, CA is a pretty classic example of a planned city and it's mostly industrial office parks and spread out suburbs. [1[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Las_Vegas#1930%E2%80%931941:_Hoover_Dam_and_the_first_casinos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Las_Vegas#1930%E2%8...