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As someone who has lived in Las Vegas, this person seems to not give credit where credit is due. First, I don't know how they weren't able to find the cycling p

As someone who has lived in Las Vegas, this person seems to not give credit where credit is due. First, I don't know how they weren't able to find the cycling path from the store. You can actually see the store and its solar panels from the entrance [1]. Second, the exact thing they are a proponent for is actually the root cause of the water crisis in the southwest. Growing things in a desert. It takes water, a lot of water. The reason why you don't see much green in Las Vegas is because it is a huge water use. So, while the slightly cooler ground directly beneath the tree is nice, it really is the exact opposite of sustainable. Through initiatives like paying to rip up grass lawns, Las Vegas has actually been able to reduce water use by 30% while growing probably something close to 10% in the last 3 years. Point to anywhere else in the US that has actually reduced usage of anything in the last 3 years. This is all with the huge waste of water that is Lake Las Vegas and the golf courses. Which goes back to the main point, the water crisis in the southwest is purely a function of agricultural use in California and to a smaller extent Arizona. Of course Las Vegas relies on outside agriculture but there is going to have to be a shift in the coming decade for more sustainable farming practices in the southwest. [1] - https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1210033,-115.3267191,3a,75y,199.22h,74.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s91Nsh6naa5UspsJBkFkWfQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D91Nsh6naa5UspsJBkFkWfQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D68.011284%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1210033,-115.3267191,3a,75y,...

wazoox 4y ago
There's a huge difference between maintaining absurd grass lawns (about everywhere but in rainy England) and maintaining reasonable vegetation.
- nine_k 4y ago
  There is some well-known reasonable vegetation in arid climate: things that naturally grow in such conditions. A cactus here, a baobab there, things like that. That would give a city an even more unique look.
- oneplane 4y ago
  There's also the difference between building stuff in a desert and building it in a more moderate location... I figure the only reason this stuff is being done at all is because somewhere there is some margin to be made. Sadly, that doesn't magically create more water, but money doesn't care about that.
- irrational 4y ago
  We can maintain a grass lawn in the PNW without watering it, but I still replaced mine with artificial turf since I hated mowing it. I definitely wouldn’t want to maintain reasonable vegetation.
coredog64 4y ago
Arizona (or at least the greater Phoenix metropolitan area) has been replacing agricultural land use with residential for 20+ years.
Eji1700 4y ago
I'm glad to see this. It is constantly annoying to see there's amateur hot takes on Las Vegas that really ignore the larger water issues of the southwest as a whole. I know only enough about the subject to realize i'm an idiot when it comes to all this, but there's so much going on, and it all hinges on the Colorado River and proper water usage. Also for reference because it really bothers me when people leave out comparisons, the Vegas Valley rainfall is cited as 4inches in the article and then compared to the national average of 38. This is borderline intellectually dishonest in my opinion, since I'm not sure many people would realize that LA only has 16 inches of rain on average. Is it better than vegas? Absolutely, is it anywhere near the 38 being used for this comparison? Absolutely not. The entire southwest has a lot of issues they're going to eventually need to address, and I'm frankly much more worried about the 40 million in LA than the 2.2 in vegas.
- NonNefarious 4y ago
  Which is why nobody should be making sacrifices for Vegas. Yet here we are with another epic drought in SoCal, being asked to make all kinds of water cuts... again... while Vegas exists. At least California grows a huge percentage of the nation's food. Vegas grows what? Fat asses and gambling debt?
  - Eji1700 4y ago
    You understand that if you delete vegas tomorrow you're still going to be making sacrifices. The demands california has are FAR beyond the amount allocated for vegas, and a lot of what's grown in california is a massive waste of water that really should be grown somewhere else.
    - NonNefarious 4y ago
      I agree on the last point, but Vegas is a worthless cesspool that doesn't grow anything but silicone tits.
mikelor 4y ago
I ride my bike down Town Center and up the pedestrian Bridge every morning. It's super easy to get on from the road, not sure what this person's problem was in finding it. Also, on May 5th, 2022 the recorded high was a nice 91 degrees. This is not hot given the low humidity. I've been here five years and that 8 degree low has got to be an all time record low. Rarely will it get below freezing. These are just a few examples of how the author bends the truth to there narrative, makes me wonder about the rest of the posts.
- CHB0403085482 4y ago
  His bias is from a tourist's pov and the fact it's not easily accessible to an outsider.

wazoox 4y ago

There's a huge difference between maintaining absurd grass lawns (about everywhere but in rainy England) and maintaining reasonable vegetation.

nine_k 4y ago
There is some well-known reasonable vegetation in arid climate: things that naturally grow in such conditions. A cactus here, a baobab there, things like that. That would give a city an even more unique look.
oneplane 4y ago
There's also the difference between building stuff in a desert and building it in a more moderate location... I figure the only reason this stuff is being done at all is because somewhere there is some margin to be made. Sadly, that doesn't magically create more water, but money doesn't care about that.
irrational 4y ago
We can maintain a grass lawn in the PNW without watering it, but I still replaced mine with artificial turf since I hated mowing it. I definitely wouldn’t want to maintain reasonable vegetation.

coredog64 4y ago

Arizona (or at least the greater Phoenix metropolitan area) has been replacing agricultural land use with residential for 20+ years.

Eji1700 4y ago

I'm glad to see this. It is constantly annoying to see there's amateur hot takes on Las Vegas that really ignore the larger water issues of the southwest as a whole. I know only enough about the subject to realize i'm an idiot when it comes to all this, but there's so much going on, and it all hinges on the Colorado River and proper water usage. Also for reference because it really bothers me when people leave out comparisons, the Vegas Valley rainfall is cited as 4inches in the article and then compared to the national average of 38. This is borderline intellectually dishonest in my opinion, since I'm not sure many people would realize that LA only has 16 inches of rain on average. Is it better than vegas? Absolutely, is it anywhere near the 38 being used for this comparison? Absolutely not. The entire southwest has a lot of issues they're going to eventually need to address, and I'm frankly much more worried about the 40 million in LA than the 2.2 in vegas.

NonNefarious 4y ago
Which is why nobody should be making sacrifices for Vegas. Yet here we are with another epic drought in SoCal, being asked to make all kinds of water cuts... again... while Vegas exists. At least California grows a huge percentage of the nation's food. Vegas grows what? Fat asses and gambling debt?
- Eji1700 4y ago
  You understand that if you delete vegas tomorrow you're still going to be making sacrifices. The demands california has are FAR beyond the amount allocated for vegas, and a lot of what's grown in california is a massive waste of water that really should be grown somewhere else.
  - NonNefarious 4y ago
    I agree on the last point, but Vegas is a worthless cesspool that doesn't grow anything but silicone tits.

mikelor 4y ago

I ride my bike down Town Center and up the pedestrian Bridge every morning. It's super easy to get on from the road, not sure what this person's problem was in finding it. Also, on May 5th, 2022 the recorded high was a nice 91 degrees. This is not hot given the low humidity. I've been here five years and that 8 degree low has got to be an all time record low. Rarely will it get below freezing. These are just a few examples of how the author bends the truth to there narrative, makes me wonder about the rest of the posts.

CHB0403085482 4y ago
His bias is from a tourist's pov and the fact it's not easily accessible to an outsider.