Las Vegas Insider Vibe: Las Vegas Shows, Hotels, News, Inside Scoop from AccessVegas.com

This sounds terrible, and I'm going to take it in the shorts, but part of me doesn't mind:

When I moved here 15 years ago, people moving to Las Vegas wanted what Las Vegas offered. Do as you please, enjoy the warm weather, and a significant amount of the work force in tourism.

No one yelled about schools, parks, and similar. Gaming taxes paid 43% of the state budget. Families didn't move here. In fact, in the 90's many articles were written about how hard it was to recruit someone to a position here if they had a family.

Also, people were LAS VEGANS. We loved it here, we rooted for UNLV, had a love and commitment to the area. 15 years ago, it was rare to run into someone who didn't like it here and was looking to leave soon. Now, I'd say 20% of the people who live here don't really like it. And, they need to get the hell out.

Over the past 7-8 years, much changed. People started moving here for the cheaper (than L.A.) housing and the thought that they could make a quick buck parking cars for $100,000 a year. With them, they brought crowding and California-type laws and taxes.

People who didn't work in anything remotely connected to tourism (or support of tourism employees) brought their families and demanded more money for schools despite not working in a sector to support the big gaming cash machine. I call that free-loading.

Now they want to implement business taxes for the first time and raise the gaming tax to build more schools. I'd never raise a kid here today and I think it borders on negligence.

Back in the day, people raised their kids in the suburbs and really kept them sheltered from the Vegas lifestyle. Parents didn't live the Vegas lifestyle. They dealt cards and went home. Now, everyone moving here wants to live the Vegas lifestyle and kids can't help but being exposed to it.

Bottom Line: I'd like to see migration to Las Vegas crawl to nothing for the foreseeable future. If it takes a big-ass downturn to do it, I'm willing to deal with my short-term financial short-falls.

Ted Newkirk
CEO
Access Vegas Shows and Hotels
Las Vegas Shows Reviews

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