The limits of Las Vegas
Jacob Walters
LAS VEGAS (CN) — Since its founding in 1905, Las Vegas has been in a nearly continuous growth spurt.
Within the span of single decades, the city’s population has frequently doubled. To give just one example: Between 1940 and 1950, the city’s population grew from around 8,000 to more than 24,000, a nearly 200% increase. By 2020, it had more than 640,000 residents, according to the Census Bureau — an 80-fold increase in the same number of years.
There are many factors drawing new residents to Vegas. Recreation sites like Red Rock Canyon? Check. Luxurious casinos and world-class nightlife? Check and check.
There are also cultural and economic reasons. Nevada is one of just nine U.S. states without state income tax. On everything from sex work and gambling to Covid restrictions and schooling, the Silver State has a fierce libertarian streak.
All that can be appealing to people like former Californian Stephanie Justice, who felt the Golden State was becoming overregulated and too expensive.
"The Bay Area overdid it with the Covid regulations," said Justice, who moved to Las Vegas from Dublin, California, in 2021. "People move out here, see their paycheck and have their minds blown." With the state line just an hour away, she joked it was “far enough to be outside of California but close enough to occasionally visit family.”
Still, there are downsides to having all this population growth in the bone-dry Mojave Desert.
The most obvious is water. Lake Mead, the city’s main water source, has sunk by 150 feet since 2000, according to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
To its credit, Vegas is a surprisingly water-conscious city. Even the extravagant Bellagio Fountain recycles its water. None of that changes the fact that Las Vegas overwhelmingly relies on water from the Colorado River, which scientists warn is in prolonged drought. A drying Colorado is putting increased stress not only on Vegas but on other Southwest metropolises like Phoenix, which also relies on its water.
Talk to Las Vegans about their complaints, though, and you’re apt to hear the same concerns that are common in any rapidly growing city.
For Carolyn Moore, who moved here from Illinois in 1977, it’s the traffic.
"All I've seen every day is construction on the roads,” she said in an interview. “It would be nice to drive around town and not run into road work anymore." Even so, she was glad to live here. “Vegas is a 24-hour city, full of life and amazing food.”
Living here comfortably is getting harder to do. Home prices here are rising faster than the U.S. average, according to real-estate site Zillow, and now sit at around $437,000. Public schools are also increasingly overcrowded, making quality affordable schooling a challenge for arriving families. Nevada ranks near the bottom of states in education.
Like anyplace facing gentrification and booming growth, there’s also the fear that wealthier newcomers (read: Californians) will drive up prices on pretty much everything.
"More people from California will move out here and they will basically spike up the housing, gas prices, etc.," said Justice, herself a Golden State transplant. "Sane people will leave to get away from them."
Anna Wheeler, a lifelong Sin City resident, agrees things are changing.
“This new version of Vegas is awful,” she said. Even still, Wheeler conceded there was lots to like about living in Vegas. “I like that we’re a 24-hour town.”
The decadeslong population boom in Vegas may be finally starting to slow down. Between 2010 and 2020, the city grew more slowly than it had during any other 10-year period, according to the U.S. Census. The growth rate for that time period — around 10% — was outpaced by other boomtowns like Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Even so, Sin City remains a popular choice for relocation, particularly for those in the Western United States.
Taxes and fees are no small part of that. Nasdaq rates it as the third-friendliest city for retirees, with no retirement taxes. It’s also a top choice for California companies looking to move: Between 1990 and 2019, almost 3,000 Golden State businesses moved to Vegas, eclipsing even New York City, the second choice with around 1,500 relocations during that period.
It remains to see how rising costs and drying climate will affect Vegas’ future. For now at least, people keep arriving. The city has always had a gold-rush feel, a waypoint for people chasing their versions of the American Dream. To quote Justice: "Don't move out here if you have a gambling problem.”