Las Vegas- Gambling on Adequate Planning

The city known for gambling, also gambled on its urban planning.

The Western American city has a lot going for it: the metro area recently reached a population of two million, now has an NHL team, and sees over 40 million tourists visit annually.

Having visited the city early in my undergrad with my father, it was one of the first cities I was able to analyse with an urban planning lens. From the moment I got off the airplane and saw slot machines in the terminal, I was in constant shock at the chaos or the city and the influences of private interests.

The right-of-way of the streets seem like a retro fantasy of what the future of cities could have looked like. ‘The strip’ or Las Vegas Boulevard runs four lanes in each direction, and in some sections, sidewalks can be found, often with a fence separating pedestrians from cars. My assumption is that it discourages pedestrians from J-walking and reduces pick-up and drop-off opportunities for taxis.

Taking a taxi from the airport to "the strip" just a few km away seemed odd to me. Later on in the trip I realized the city did not have any type of public rail service, and generally had very limited public transportation service for a city of that calibre. Observing the traffic along the strip it was clear that were many taxis moving tourists from the airport or throughout the strip. I have never seen so many lines of tourists waiting for a taxi, especially in peak evening periods. I recall waiting in a large line which took forty minutes for a taxi to take us. A new dedicated public transportation line from the airport to the end of the strip could reduce emissions and increase overall commute time. This could be a challenge for the city to implement as the strip goes through different municipal jurisdictions although and would likely face opposition from the taxi industry.

The city thinks about cars and taxis first over people. It is rare to see pedestrian crossings at intersections along the Las Vegas strip. Instead the strip has elevated crosswalks that have 24- hour escalators running for pedestrians to get across the street. The priorities and choices made for moving people are clear when there is money to pay for escalators, but no funds for adequate public transportation.

The strip in Las Vegas has an expansive indoor network connecting hotels, casinos and entertainment together, holding a similar function to Toronto's PATH network. The indoor section might be one of the few interesting aspects of the city as far as urban planning goes. The indoor realm seems to connect many important sites of the strip together in a comfortable, and appealing environment that does have evidence of good urban design with how different shops and services interact with the actual indoor connection. Ideally it would be great to see some of that appealing urban design instead on the at grade sidewalk, in a true public setting for everyone in the city to interact and enjoy.

Overall, the public realm of Las Vegas is poor. There is a lot of spaces for leisure, however it is in private properties including casinos and hotels. With poor urban design and walking next to a freeway, the overall street vibrancy has a lot of room for improvement. Thinking about how both tourists, workers and citizens move around and interact with the city can be enhanced by offering additional and reliable transportation services. Such an action would also allow for some sections of tightly congested sidewalk spaces in Las Vegas to widen, or to accommodate a better public realm such as the addition of more trees, cycling lanes, pick-up and drop off areas, and public spaces.