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By doing this, they make the casinos seem closer, easier to walk to, and more inviting.

nemo44x 4y ago
The first time I went to Vegas I decided a casino I wanted to go to wasn’t that far away from where I was. You could see it, it looked “just over there”. Turns out I walked over a mile in the desert sun. Taxis and that rail after that.
- allenu 4y ago
  I had the same experience when I went to Vegas for the first time. I wanted to walk from building to building but they all felt so much further away than they appeared. It never occurred to me it was because of this bit of visual trickery.
- fosk 4y ago
  Tricks me every time. Also the hotel name signage is disproportionately huge, which from a distance make it seems like the hotel is close enough for a walk, but turns out it is not.
- lucideer 4y ago
  Given how pedestrian unfriendly the Strip is, it surprises me that you even managed this at all. On the other hand, I was also surprised how much better public transit seemed in vegas than in most us cities.
  - aflag 4y ago
    That makes sense. Lots of tourists there who travelled by plane and may not know how to drive or be unwilling to rent a car. The casinos would still like these people to drop by though
    - nasmorn 4y ago
      Also people get drunk a lot in Vegas and casinos encourage it.
  - LorenPechtel 4y ago
    Are you calling it unfriendly because it's set up to make jaywalking hard? We got tired of drunk tourists getting creamed because they wandered into traffic. And the crowds are heavy enough that turning across a pedestrian flow is problematic in peak hours. Thus it has been engineered to as much as possible separate pedestrians from cars.
    - lucideer 4y ago
      I'm calling it unfriendly because it's a highway cutting through an area fully suited to being entirely pedestrianised. You can't even drive to the front of casinos (they have car park entrances at the back), yet the vast majority of real estate outside them is given up to traffic lanes, with precious little left to the people wandering around them spending. There isn't even that much traffic on the strip, the road-to-footpath ratio of land allpocation is absurd. It's unfriendly because you have to walk so damn far to get around lanes that have little business existing in the first place.
      - LorenPechtel 4y ago
        I have walked between various casinos at times--and never have I felt I was being made to walk unduly out of my way to do so. The games they play with scale make you think things are closer than they are. And, yes, parking is generally in back--that's actually being pedestrian friendly! If parking was in front a pedestrian would have to cross a lot more parking lot to reach the casino. And if you think there isn't much traffic on the strip you've just been there at the wrong time.
    - saagarjha 4y ago
      Maybe it should be set up for pedestrians first and cars second…
      - weberer 4y ago
        There are whole networks of pedestrian paths connecting buildings. You can walk from A to B just fine without having to step outside and leave the air conditioned zone. The outside temperature in Las Vegas in the summer isn't very suitable for pedestrian use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate
  - GuB-42 4y ago
    For the US, I find it quite pedestrian friendly. I walked from Luxor to Fremont (essentially spanning everywhere you'll go as a tourist) with no issue. It took a while, but it was a nice and safe walk, with protected sidewalks, overpasses and galeries.
    - saagarjha 4y ago
      It’s hot. Have you visited in the summer?
      - GuB-42 4y ago
        Mid June, not exactly summer but still hot. But that's not something you can really do much about, same thing for cities build on hills, or where it rains/snows a lot. For example, cities in Portugal are both hot and hilly, and like many European cities, are nice to walk in. Yet, in the case of Vegas, you can walk indoors in nice air-conditioned galleries and casinos for good sections of the strip. There are bodies of water and some vegetation, more than there should be considering the climate. Maybe could be better in terms of shade but not terrible either. It is also easy to find refreshment and drinks. Of course the intention of all that is for you to spend and gamble as much as possible, but if that's a problem for you, why are you visiting Vegas in the first place? That's what defines Vegas.
- Arrath 4y ago
  Eh the hardest part is dodging folks handing out flyers or trying to hustle you off-strip to a timeshare hard sell. I kind of like getting some air and sun outside the casinos and stretching my legs.

The first time I went to Vegas I decided a casino I wanted to go to wasn’t that far away from where I was. You could see it, it looked “just over there”. Turns out I walked over a mile in the desert sun. Taxis and that rail after that.

allenu 4y ago
I had the same experience when I went to Vegas for the first time. I wanted to walk from building to building but they all felt so much further away than they appeared. It never occurred to me it was because of this bit of visual trickery.
fosk 4y ago
Tricks me every time. Also the hotel name signage is disproportionately huge, which from a distance make it seems like the hotel is close enough for a walk, but turns out it is not.
lucideer 4y ago
Given how pedestrian unfriendly the Strip is, it surprises me that you even managed this at all. On the other hand, I was also surprised how much better public transit seemed in vegas than in most us cities.
- aflag 4y ago
  That makes sense. Lots of tourists there who travelled by plane and may not know how to drive or be unwilling to rent a car. The casinos would still like these people to drop by though
  - nasmorn 4y ago
    Also people get drunk a lot in Vegas and casinos encourage it.
- LorenPechtel 4y ago
  Are you calling it unfriendly because it's set up to make jaywalking hard? We got tired of drunk tourists getting creamed because they wandered into traffic. And the crowds are heavy enough that turning across a pedestrian flow is problematic in peak hours. Thus it has been engineered to as much as possible separate pedestrians from cars.
  - lucideer 4y ago
    I'm calling it unfriendly because it's a highway cutting through an area fully suited to being entirely pedestrianised. You can't even drive to the front of casinos (they have car park entrances at the back), yet the vast majority of real estate outside them is given up to traffic lanes, with precious little left to the people wandering around them spending. There isn't even that much traffic on the strip, the road-to-footpath ratio of land allpocation is absurd. It's unfriendly because you have to walk so damn far to get around lanes that have little business existing in the first place.
    - LorenPechtel 4y ago
      I have walked between various casinos at times--and never have I felt I was being made to walk unduly out of my way to do so. The games they play with scale make you think things are closer than they are. And, yes, parking is generally in back--that's actually being pedestrian friendly! If parking was in front a pedestrian would have to cross a lot more parking lot to reach the casino. And if you think there isn't much traffic on the strip you've just been there at the wrong time.
  - saagarjha 4y ago
    Maybe it should be set up for pedestrians first and cars second…
    - weberer 4y ago
      There are whole networks of pedestrian paths connecting buildings. You can walk from A to B just fine without having to step outside and leave the air conditioned zone. The outside temperature in Las Vegas in the summer isn't very suitable for pedestrian use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate
- GuB-42 4y ago
  For the US, I find it quite pedestrian friendly. I walked from Luxor to Fremont (essentially spanning everywhere you'll go as a tourist) with no issue. It took a while, but it was a nice and safe walk, with protected sidewalks, overpasses and galeries.
  - saagarjha 4y ago
    It’s hot. Have you visited in the summer?
    - GuB-42 4y ago
      Mid June, not exactly summer but still hot. But that's not something you can really do much about, same thing for cities build on hills, or where it rains/snows a lot. For example, cities in Portugal are both hot and hilly, and like many European cities, are nice to walk in. Yet, in the case of Vegas, you can walk indoors in nice air-conditioned galleries and casinos for good sections of the strip. There are bodies of water and some vegetation, more than there should be considering the climate. Maybe could be better in terms of shade but not terrible either. It is also easy to find refreshment and drinks. Of course the intention of all that is for you to spend and gamble as much as possible, but if that's a problem for you, why are you visiting Vegas in the first place? That's what defines Vegas.
Arrath 4y ago
Eh the hardest part is dodging folks handing out flyers or trying to hustle you off-strip to a timeshare hard sell. I kind of like getting some air and sun outside the casinos and stretching my legs.