There is not enough water to support this level of development. Everyone knows it. It is the elephant in the room that we ignore at our peril. Jack Healy: please do us a service and follow this piece with a discussion of water.
It looks like Nevada is attempting to compete with Florida as the state most corrupted by unrestricted development.
This picture painted of thousands of people moving to a place where taxes are cheaper and jobs are plentiful ... but folks can't afford to live.... is exactly what Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have been saying is the problem.
Doesn't this sound a little like the "gold rush" of the 19th Century? Most people didn't find gold. Most people just found incredible hardship.
64
I just returned from visiting a relative in Henderson. Nice place.
What the city planners need to get on top of iso like Calgary during their oil boom, infrastructure upgrades will be necessary but often come too late. Water, sewer, roads and essential services will be playing catch up.
11
“Democrats are not pro-business,” she said.”.
Further reading of the piece states wage stagnation is rampant and is a reason that many cannot afford to rent, or buy, on their incomes.
Democrats are not pro-business. Who then is responsible for wage stagnation? Failure to provide a living wage?
I have seen, with interest, the recruiting of businesses by using incentives-tax breaks and eeking out wage and salary concessions that are gamed by the businesses.
Yes, the Republicans are pro-business. And it is on much of their watch that a false economy is created in which the tax burden is shifted to the employees but never totally can make up the loss of taxes due to incentives.
The Democrats are not pro-business. I suppose the counter to that is the Republicans are not pro-employee given their reluctance to raise the minimum wage.
37
Sounds like a bubble ready to burst to me. Vegas rides and falls like the tide.
26
We have water, seasons and green grass in Michigan. I visited Las Vegas once. You could not pay me to live there. Californians don't know better so they go there.
21
What will the conservative, low-tax values due when the water runs out?
27
Nevada is a place you go to live when you don't have many other choices. Californians, usually the more the conservative ones, move there to avoid taxes with the trade off of life style. Many Hispanic residents find work in the huge gaming industry (and construction and service) but it is hard for them, or anyone, to feel at "home" in Las Vegas- it is a compromise made out of need. No one moves to Las Vegas (or Reno) because they think it's "nice" (the photo at the top gives some indication of that). The old Clark Gable/Marilyn Monroe movie "The Misfits" best captures the desperation of Nevada and it seems true even today.
It all means that economic anxiety coupled with the kind of just below the surface friction among ethnic groups motivates the voting population and trump and Sanders, in reflecting the divisions in the state, are the perfect Nevada candidates.
25
I was traveling with my parents in 1952 on a cross country journey from Long Beach, California to Albion Michigan. We drove through a small Nevada town called Las Vegas on our way back to Michigan and I remember my mother having a go on a $0.25 slot machine after breakfast on our last day. She won the jackpot on that machine! I was only four but I do remeber the bells ringing and my mother's delight. Las Vegas as I recall was a fairly small desert town.
13
This article illustrates the issues many working Americans have.
Healthcare costs are high; wages are too low. Trump has attacked healthcare and his Republican allies have done nothing to improve healthcare.
Nevada voters, VOTE for the DEMOCRAT. Trump is not your friend. Republicans are not your friends!
71
The greatest number of transplants seem to be fleeing the ills of California, but from what I can see the same troubles are following them.
First is the “we need more workers” cry from business, yet this article chronicles families unable to find work, or find full time work, and salaries are still below pre-recession levels. Next is the looming housing crisis for Henderson. Plenty of new construction now, but soon to be maxed out according to this article. Housing there might still be cheap by California standards, but as this article points out, renters can’t afford to rent on their low salaries. Homelessness will not be far behind. Not mentioned is the water crisis facing all of the western states, but Nevada is particularly hard-hit due to a reliance on tapped-out wells and the Colorado River.
Politicians sure don’t have the answers. I know for sure there are no quick fixes.
47
A Relative bailed out of LasVegas 5 years ago when her kids started high school. She'd been paying for Catholic School which got expensive as they got older. Vegas is a patchwork with has gated communities adjacent to trailer parks. The gang problem is huge - but kept as hidden as possible. The end result is that high schools all have serious problems.
When she left she said that people were buying new houses with far lower mortgages than the places they were in - and then defaulting on the old house. Banks were loaning money to builders even though there were tons of empty houses owned by banks.
I find it hard to believe that this Vegas improved so much in the last 5 years. They were having issues with water coming from Lake Mead which was approaching record lows.
In the long run Vegas is based on an absurd economic model - people traveling to a place to LOSE money, a place in the middle of a desert that could not exist without air conditioning and water. They've lost mot of their whales from Asia who now go to Goa. They can't survive off slots played by retirees. Atlantic City is dying and there's gambling all over the place now.
44
I haven't read the article yet. I drove through Nevada in 1991 and it was a horror then (so dry, so brown). It must be worse now. I couldn't wait to get back to the east coast and see green. As soon as I saw Pennsylvania (green) I knew that I was almost home -- so happy to be back in Brooklyn! By the way, Nebraska was also a horror.
23
It is a myth that Republicans are better than Democrats for business.
JOBS:
2011 - 2.07 Million
2012 - 2.17 Million
2013 - 2.30 Million
2014 - 3.00 Million
2015 - 2.72 Million
2016 - 2.34 Million
2017 - 2.11 Million
2018 - 2.31 Million
2019 - 2.09 Million
It is also a myth that Republicans are fiscally responsible.
Deficits went up during Reagan. It is the reason they put the debt clock in Manhattan. We got 16 Million jobs. Deficits went down under Clinton. In fact, we got a balanced budget, zero deficit. We got 23 Million jobs, almost 50% more than Reagan.
W Bush gave us two “tax cuts for the job creators.” Deficit went from zero to a whopping $1.4 Trillion. We got 3 Million jobs. Obama cut the deficit by almost 2/3 to $550 Billion. Obama gave us the “jobs killing” Obama-care and we got 11.5 Million jobs. Almost 50% more than W Bush. And 20 Million people got healthcare.
With the 2017 tax cuts, the deficit is increasing from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion.
The projected ten year increase in the debt is $12 Trillion which is $80,000 per taxpayer.
And we get nothing for Republican tax cuts. Just tax cuts for the rich. No investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc.
Just Just tax cuts for the rich and deficits and debt to be paid for us, our children, and grandchildren.
I wouldn't mind if Trump voters got fleeced but the rest of the country is getting fleeced, too.
86
@Independent the only jobs Trump creates are low paid and less than full time.
14
@Independent
Very well said. I wish the democratic party can be crisp in their messaging similar to your assessment.
12
What annoys me is how the Nevada unions are against healthcare for all bc they already have good healthcare. Can you think of anyone but yourself?
I get free insurance and the VA and good healthcare via JP Morgan. Yet I’m still want Medicare for all.
43
@AW the union workers throughout the US have given up pension payments, pay raises etc. for healthcare. What should they give it up for a plan that has no funding mechanism. I heard Bernie claim that the decreased taxes would make up for the loss of health plans- would a hospital or doctor accept delayed payment until tax time? No they would not. Just like Steyer’s 20 million jobs, Sanders Medicare for all,is a wish not a plan.
10
@AW
The other part of the story that some union leaders aren’t telling is that in any contract negotiation an awful lot of negotiating ammunition gets expended to capture some level of health care protection. Why not save that ammo and use it to fight for higher cash wages?
9
If Trump is responsible for Las Vegas's growth, he's also responsible for the huge meth problem. But just like Vegas, Trump is held up by fools thinking they're going to be rich and powerful and special for spending the extra $ for the VIP experience...
23
sure he will get credit with what? a handful of billionaires but the working class who constitute the lions share of the electorate hate trumpski
7
Make believe is thinking the water will last. Make believe is listening to talk radio and thinking climate change has always happened. Make believe is doing nothing and thinking everything will be okay. Who stands to gain the most by encouraging you to stick your head in the sand?
25
@Princess & the Pea Yes, the pro Trumpie in the article sets up natural gas accounts--part of the problem!
5
This is yet another times article where the author ignores some very relevant facts. Readers generally fill in the blanks but why do they need to? Water. Everyone knows Nevada is running out of water. Housing prices will surely plummet. It’s just a question of when not if.
41
Why would anyone relocate to where there is now, and will forever be no water???
33
Nevada is booming for now but climate change will put the brakes on that when they run out of water.
31
As Greta Thunburg says, “fairy tales of endless economic growth will destroy us.” Even more so when you build you city and economy in a literal desert. Vegas will inevitably crash and not recover.
29
The West is running out of water - developers continue to claim it’s a hoax - enjoy life while it lasts.
28
A couple hundred cases of corona virus in Las Vegas and Their whole economy is gone in a second.
12
The boom is happening because people are running from a failed state ........that has to make a Nevadan pause !!
7
"Nevada is Booming"
Thank you, Mr Trump
3
Amazing how voters memory is so short. At the end of President Bush's term, economy tanked with significant impact to Las Vegas. Obama spent a good portion of his first term to stabilize the national economy with minimal support from republicans. Trump was handed a growing economy. Trump can get some credit but not all the credit.
21
Reno resident here. Nevada is an overwhelmingly blue collar state with a white collar cost of living. Example: jobs at the Tesla Gigafactory outside Reno start at $17/hr. The median price for a home in Reno is ~$420K. The math in this situation and many others Nevada simply does not work.
45
Low taxes is somewhat fictional if one owns a recreational vehicle.
I researched the taxation of Clark County and opted to settle in a southwest Utah town. Not quite the climate and growing population of the Vegas valley.
When I did crunch the numbers concerning property taxes on real property and my RV along with sales and vehicle taxes it became awash whether to stay in Utah or try Nevada.
Perhaps for those from the eastern U.S. and California Nevada May appear to be the oasis one seeks.
3
Water starved Vegas has only been able to grow because of Democratic leadership, which vastly cut the cities water consumption.
Climate change may yet make it impossible to live in places like Las Vegas, as the rapidly drying Colorado river shows. But Republican deregulation and increased water use would just move up the sell-by date of Vegas.
18
As of late, the GOP has been reaping the rewards from preceding Dem presidencies - Bush inherited a surplus from Clinton, but left behind a deficit and a nightmare for Obama.
President Obama rescued a world economy teetering dangerously close to a complete collapse; he cleaned things up and left a rapidly improving economy and in a mood to expand. Trump is now reveling in the fruits of the hard work done by the Dems. And just like he bankrupted himself (several times) with Daddy's inherited wealth, he is now well on his way to bankrupting the country.
Guess who to the rescue in 2020 . . .
16
“As of late, the GOP has been reaping the rewards from preceding Dem presidencies”
Exactly. Republican presidents manage to get re-elected again and again. Voters forget what the last Republican president did. Democrats need to understand how Republicans make that happen. I think I know. I had the feeling that even after 8 years of expansion Obama’s message was not overly optimistic, he kept talking about how the economy is still not working for many (which by all means is true). However, after a few months in office Trump declared that America is great again and in the strongest economic position it has ever been, and people seem to like that.
Democrats should start focusing on what is positive. That lifts people’s spirits up - and they vote for you.
Even now I have the feeling that Democratic presidential candidates’ message is not very optimistic ... does not bode well for the election ... Trump must be very happy right now.
6
Last time articles like this appeared, some time around fall of 2006, it wasn't but six months later that articles describing abandoned housing developments and homeowners being massively underwater on their mortgages.
15
It seems like if you own a business Trump is definitely your guy. After all a lower tax rate and all the other business tax deductions do leave you with more money in your pocket. I guess it is business owners vs. workers. That is kind of too bad, it is a shame that Democrats seem not to be able to appeal to business owners - there is a lot of those out there, and they all vote ....
5
About 90% of Nevada's population lives in metro Vegas or metro Reno. 40% of tax revenues are funded by the casino industry. And 80% of state land is owned by the federal government. It is, of course, impossible to profile the state without this information. For some unknown reason, this article attempts the impossible.
15
Hey Trump just gave the DOD the right to abolish bargaining for civil unions. Things are only going to get worse for all of us. No more minimum wage is on the horizon,
6
I think the Trump economy is one of "grab it while you can," from the business point of view. Enforcement of regulations is lax, unions are weaker than ever, and everyone wants to save or play until the music stops. Anyone with a brain can see that the current spending-spree economy is unsustainable.
14
The housing bust in 2008 damaged so many who live in Las Vegas. The only winners here are those in the upper echelons of the entertainment business. This town is run on worker bees. Housing is becoming California expensive, the price of auto insurance and registration unaffordable. Education is not a priority and the percentage of college graduates is laughable. Bankruptcy rates are high. Crime is high. All the glitter and glitz hides a struggling worker class with few or no steps to climb to get ahead. After 20 years of living here my family is leaving. We need a city that provides opportunity, hope and support and a livable wage. Is there such a place anymore?
18
@citizennv : a few posters have mentioned that auto insurance and registrations are unaffordable in NV -- can you post back with more specifics?
In my state, I pay about $900 a year to ensure two late-model vehicles! and $50 each for yearly registration. That seems reasonable to me.
How much more is it in NV?
2
I thought that California was fairly sunny and unlike Las Vegas, had moderate temperatures all year near the coast. Taxes are not that high. Many people pay far lower real estate taxes than elsewhere because of proposition 13. So I find the claim that residents of California are fleeing that state, unbelievable. Some may move there for less congestion and because day or night, there is always something to do in Las Vegas.
5
@William McCain - Proposition 13 only helps you if you bought your house years ago; if you bought it recently, your taxes are at your home's current assessed value, which, depending on where in CA you live, may be astronomical. The temperatures near the coast *are* great, as are many other things about California, which is why those who can afford it stay. But "affording" it is becoming harder and harder.
9
Until a robust infrastructure of desalinization plants in California, pipes and pumps to bring the water to Las Vegas, and the power plants to run it all...Las Vegas is pretty much a ticking time bomb. Same for the greater Phoenix area. They keep adding population while ignoring that a prolonged drought in the greater region, which has happened many times before but there were far less people, and that place won't be able to meet its water needs. Just recently Las Vegas went 116 days without a drop of moister. They only thing which saved them was 2 years running of above average. snowfall in the Rockies. If something happened like that again and we had few years of below average snowfall in the Rockies too...well the housing crisis of 2008 will seem like the good times.
28
@Still Waiting...
Plenty of water underground in Lincoln and White Pine Counties. Just build a pipeline
@Still Waiting...
And yet how many people in these dry states refuse to acknowledge the climate change crisis.
Also expect an uptick in domestic violence
and gun violence as the heat becomes unbearable, more cars on the road, financial stress increases.
4
@Sendero Caribe
That is a stopgag measure at best. Not to mention it would decimate the fragile ecosystems of those areas. You do realize NV is the driest state in the country right? As someone who lives in the second driest state, how fragile those desert areas are seems readily apparent to me.
9
A former employer wanted to relocate me to Las Vegas in 2006 from a project that was winding down on the east coast. My colleagues who were already established there were almost giddy about how much their home values in Henderson had appreciated. Home prices were high, and (like most of the country) the sky seemingly had no limit. It was a boom town state of mind. Housing construction was everywhere and people were moving there in droves. The opportunity to relocate there was considered a highly coveted reward. They tried to entice me with tales of golf year-round while they watched their home values skyrocket.
I don't play golf, and thoughts of going to Las Vegas for more than a weekend made me queasy, so we passed.
Then came 2008. The housing market crashed, the sky was falling, and I was grateful for having made a good decision.
Las Vegas is boom and bust kind of place where the customers are lured with bright shiny objects and lust fueled fantasy, while workers trying to make a living are a disposable commodity kept behind the scenes in a 'back of house' underworld.
Booms and busts in Las Vegas are cyclical. As the locals know, the only winners there are the ones who leave town with something left in their bank accounts.
62
@solar farmer
Smart man. That place has everything I loathe and I will never set foot there, ever.
10
Right on the money with that. It’s no place to live.
8
@solar farmer
I spent an hour or so at the airport in Las Vegas a few years back. Probably around midnight or so. I can still hear the sound of the slot machines gobbling up money. Something dreadfully sad and tacky about the place.
15
So sad to see how many Americans, wealthy and not-so-wealthy, are willing to lose our Democracy and accept a tyrant and corrupt DOJ..for a few quid. What a sad, terrible time for America. And all for a con man and the first president who has never read the US Constitution, and by all accounts, when he tried, couldn't read it.
87
How to tell which things can be credited to Trump? It's easy: if it makes him look good, he takes credit; if it makes him look bad, somebody else is to blame.
44
Housing prices in Nevada reached their all time low in 2012. Four years after the crash, and when President Obama took office. Nevada began to see prices rise in 2013 with an average sales price of $214,120. $237,430 in 2014. $255,105 in 2015. And $267,647 in 2016. It's a fact that Obama took office right after the recession, and in his 8 years brought this country back to financial health. And this with Republican opposition. If Democrats want to win in November, they must not be afraid to tout Obama's record with the economy. Obama remains a very popular President... no need to keep him in the closet. Democrats need to shatter the myth that Republican's are better for the economy, and that Trump is somehow a financial superstar.
47
The creation of urbanized, densified population areas in a barren, arid desert is an example of why our species is an anthropogenic mass extinction event.
The Hoover Dam will fail due to siltation and other problems soon, and Vegas has long drained the entire state's water supply.
As underground aquifers, rivers, and surface water dry up and temperatures soar, the feckless Nevada "boom" will wither and die, a ghost town, a sad monument to hubris and ecocide.
76
Obama carefully and skillfully got us out of the Great Recession that Bill Clinton and Bush 2 got us into with letting banks go crazy.
Trump is repeating the joy ride with an insane trade war against the whole world, friend and foe alike and massive record corporate, consumer, student and credit card debt.
The economy will implode.
The only question is when and how bad.
25
@Paul nope. Bill Clinton and Barney Frank believed that anyone making 40k was entitled to a 400k house. Not sustainable.
4
The carbon footprint of Las Vegas is likely "off the charts" and climbing higher all the time.
15
@Alan C Gregory
Not really. Most of the electricity is generated by natural gas plants. The coal plants are mostly gone.
1
Fortunately however, the US had the largest drop in carbon output of any country last year while the rest of the world that loves the Paris climate accords, dumped 400 million more tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
5
@William McCain Las Vegas is, like most cities in the West, a car-happy town. It moves via motor vehicle, not by the power of on e's feet. I wager that the carbon dioxide output of the city's trans sector is among the highest of any urban area anywhere in the U.S. of A.
6
It is important to remember that Nevada is much bigger than just Vegas. As my family considers a move to Reno, we have to take into consideration the fact that wages are not much higher than Tucson's, where we currently live, but house reflects California prices. Eight hours north of Vegas, Reno is significantly closer to San Francisco. We will pay twice what we pay now for similar housing, yet wages increase by only a percentage. The rest of Nevada isn't feeling the Vegas Boom, yet housing rates are reflecting yet another California refuge state in which prices go up, as Californians bleed in.
21
@KMcNiff Before too long, if not already, bumper stickers will start showing up on motor vehicles bearing Nevada plates. The stickers will say "Don't Californicate Nevada." The fad was born in Idaho more than a decade ago.
5
@KMcNiff Has been happening in Colorado too, particularly the Front Range. Home prices and rent still going up and increasing water supply demands.
6
@Alan C Gregory Idaho? It was in WA 2-3 decades ago...
3
I understand that groups like the Las Vegas food workers are, at best, ambivalent about single payer health care, but I don't think the main reason has been articulated:
Suppose Obama had introduced a universal single payer system, incidentally abolishing private insurance. Does anybody doubt that Trump would have spent the last two years seeking to defund or dismantle it?
This needs to be addressed by Democrats seeking to introduce such a system. Whatever happens, there will be a successor Republican administration eventually; what will happen then?
6
That is why it should be for everybody. It is much more difficult to dismantle the system that benefits everybody. There were several administration but we still have SS and Medicare.
14
During the Obama Administration, Democrats were not willing to pass a universal healthcare law or drug price control law because their large campaign contributors did not want it. Check the comments and complaints from a decade ago.
5
@William McCain Most of us remember it being Tea Party Republicans in virulent opposition. To say Democrats were unwilling, with the exception of the few unions left existing) is laughable.
I doubt many ordinary citizens will disagree that a lack of campaign financing regulations is crippling fair elections, but the problem goes back at least to 1907*. (It is certainly not a Democratic Party issue.)
We should all be loudly and repeatedly asking our representatives if and how they will support campaign finance reform.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance_in_the_United_States
5
I don’t understand how Trump — who has been in office for about three years — can take take credit for an economy that has steadily grown for eleven years. Moreover, Obama faced the Great Recession, which he inherited from George W Bush. Furthermore, Trump has used gimmicks to prop up the economy. Gimmicks like tax cuts without spending cuts which increased America’s deficit by well over $1 Trillion. Or his efforts to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Trump’s gimmicks may give the economy a brief sugar high. But like all sugar highs they are followed by a crash.
194
@Richard
Obama's recovery was no different.
When Federal Reserve prints trillions, and asset prices float up because of trillions slooshing around, hard to call that a sustainable recovery.
I know that doesn't fit well with your world view, but that's the issue with living in an echo-bubble. Get some fresh air from time-to-time.
10
@Richard I agree. Well said.
2
@MS When Obama left office the deficit was reduced to about .5T, Trump has doubled that. Much of what you say is true however, and no matter who is elected, the US has such a huge debt that needs to be paid back, the likely outcome for the American economy is a no growth economy similar to Japan.
6
Sorry, but I don’t believe Trump should get credit for anything other than destroying the country... those who feel otherwise are just kidding themselves.
106
I don’t suppose any of these people ever want to discuss where the water they’ll need is gonna come from.
125
@Robert Las Vegas has been a water conservation success story by, among other things, prohibiting grass in new construction and paying people to pull it up.
Telling people what to do with their property is a Republican no-no, and under their policies the city would already be out of water.
11
Yes, the Obama recovery is continuing in Nevada and other states in spite of Trump's 0.1% Welfare Queen Tax-Cut program and trillion dollar annual deficits charged to the nation's credit card.
It's another house of Republican trickle-down and deregulatory cards bound to inevitably end badly...for the economy, the climate and most species.
Sad.
71
@Socrates fed money printing started under Bush.
@Bx
0.1% Trickle-Down Tax Cut Welfare Programs and their Doppelgänger Massive Structural Deficits began under Reagan and have never let up in 40 years.
6
Las Vegas Booming is always followed by a Las Vegas Bust.
35
"Climate change is threatening to dry up the Colorado River — jeopardizing a water supply that serves some 40 million people from Denver to Phoenix to Las Vegas and irrigates farmlands across the U.S. Southwest."
Climate change is slowly drying up the Colorado River
Average annual water flow dropped more than 11 percent over the last century due to warming.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-warming-slowly-drying-up-colorado-river-water
Water? Water? Who needs water?
64
Desalination or piping water from elsewhere. As much as it may not be ecologically sound the West isn’t going to stop growing. People want warm weather. Government will accommodate them by altering the environment.
5
@Mary Elizabeth Lease Why do you think for 20 years LV has been buying towns and ranches all the way to Ut.
5
POTUS deserves applause for the continued successes in our country.
21
@Nature
And what are those successes you claim he has done?
36
@Nature yes. Obama does deserve it.
15
Three cheers for trillion dollar annual deficits charged to nation's credit card, Nature !
Three cheers for the collapse of American law !
Three cheers for steeping on the gas pedal of manmade global warming !
Three cheers for 'ignorance is bliss' !
Sad.
24
Why are higher home prices indicative of a good economy? It's a good indicator of short supply and increased speculation. Like the previous increase in housing prices I expect many who buy beyond their means will suffer in the next downturn.
Let's measure instead what percentage of income is used for housing - a higher percentage means increased economic duress.
94
If what you say is true, heavily Democrat California must be doing something wrong. The housing prices there are outrageously high. Meanwhile many Midwest Republican states have reasonably priced housing.
4
It might be pointed out that virtually 100% of net new job creation in the US occurs in cities that vote or the Democrats?
.
Even in states that vote Republican, the job creation overwhelmingly occurs in municipalities that vote Democrat.
.
And as for the states that vote Democrat, it is notoriously well known that the taxes of the states that vote Democrat subsidize the states the vote Republican.
.
Inescapable conclusion:
America isn't booming because of Trump.
It is booming despite him.
149
@Richard Blaine
It may also be pointed out the cities that vote Democrat have by far the largest share of homelessness, drug use, gang warfare, crime, blight and inequality.
Inescapable conclusion:
Democrats on the city council equals the likelihood of incompetent, inefficient, biased approach to social disorder.
7
@Kai
Drug use? Sorry, but I think that you need take a look at SE Ohio and other areas of Appalachia. Those bright red rural counties have a lock on drug abuse 'leadership.'
19
Seems Nevada is having a boom like entire countries would love to have. Houses being built and sold, new warehouses, new stadiums, constructions sites that cannot find enough workers. People leaving the San Fransisco area to las Vegas? running out of space to build? I mean, that’s amazing. Their own people calling it a boom town.
But then there is this: ‘middle-class voters say they are not sharing in Nevada’s jackpot’.
Gee. It sounds pretty much like the good times trickling down to people at ground level already. Entire regions of this world would love to have that problem.
What else do you want?
Oh right: ‘Democratic candidates hoping to replace [Trump] focus on slow wage growth, soaring student debt and a chasm between the rich and everybody else.’
Do Democrats think they can magic wand poverty out of existence?
Soaring student debt? How about attending a trade school that can get you a well paying job, rather than a private Liberal Arts college with no hope for a career with the degree you borrowed $80K to achieve? You borrowed that, don’t play the victim now.
As for wage growth, you got me. In small you learn fast that in order to pay staff more, you have to charge more. With things being more expensive now, any salary raise is eaten by the now higher prices anyway.
But guess that’s not enough for Democrats and Liberals.
I guess they are hoping for a socialist utopia, so, good luck to you in make believe land.
17
Historically they are a boom and bust state. Just wait, they will be down again. Buying there when prices are up is a loser, and buying there when prices are down is a winner. It's the nature of an economy that depends on people visiting so they can intentionally lose money.
Although, I am amazed by their resilience some times. But then I always assume people will learn that losing money is not really fun. And, that never seems to be the case. More than anywhere else we can see in Las Vegas that people like to be losers.
7
@Chris
I hve lived here for 14 years and survived the downturn.. Contrary to popular belief, we aren't all here to gamble.. This is a thriving community that is expanding away from gaming and now possess two professional sports teams , a burgeoning tech sector and still is affordable as a place to live compared to neighboring states.
8
The people of Nevada who get their news only from mainstream media including network news will not believe Trump is responsible for the great economy and so will vote for a Dem. But if they listen to a variety of news sources, they will understand how historically great it is to have 3.5% unemployment, 3.75% mortgage rates, $2.50 Per gallon gas, low home heating fuel prices and growing 401k income. And with no wars. Then they will vote for Trump.
15
@ehillesum or they live here in Elko and they only get their news from fox or Salt Lake City. And really believe that trump is a god.
29
401K? 70 percent of Americans don’t have one and 50 percent aren’t even eligible.
73
@ehillesum The US economy has continued to improve since the Republican president Bush 43's admin drove us into Iraq, Afghan and then a major recession. The economy recovered significantly during Obama and this has continued during the Trump admin. The big problem as I see is that we have been pushing the economy up on a sugar high with artificial and unneeded stimulus by having very low interest rates and a high budget deficit (Trump tax cut). When the next recession or economic slowdown happens, we'll be starting in a terrible place - with high budget deficits and already low interest rates, making it hard for the stimulus we'll need then. It may be happening as we speak with the push of worldwide economic slowdowns from the corona virus. In any case, our current prosperity is a recovery from Bush that started under Obama and continues under Trump. I'm glad we are growing and doing well now, but the stimulus we have currently will both dissipate in impact and hurt us substantially when it ends.
34
Is anyone asking the relevant question, where will the water come from?
202
@Anthony
BINGO!!!!!! You win.
21
@Anthony the Great Basin is next on the radar for Vegas water. Using a massive pipeline both in scope and cost.
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@JD
Where in the Great Basin is this water to come from?
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One thing is for sure: Certain businesses are exploiting the "improving" economy to exploit working people. Take large apartment complexes, which are the default housing for many many people in Las Vegas Henderson Clark County. They are managed by faceless out-of-state corporations who are being ruthless, raising rents 25 - 30% while simultaneously they neglect maintenance and hire rude "take it or leave it" office staff. As usual here in "morning in America", the rich overplay their greedy little hand, which makes the rise of a Bernie Sanders completely understandable.
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@MountainMuscle And Bernie or fill-in-the-Democrat-candidate-name brings in hundreds of thousands of workers of workers, at least, to lower American wages because companies will not longer have to compete for workers. The influx of American replacement workers eager for jobs over wage will continue unabated with Democrats in control.
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@David H. *will no longer have to compete
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@David H.
No, it is the companies that hire them because they do not have pay them a living wage and do not have to give them any benefits. And most of those owners are republicans.
And let's not forget the H-1B visa that bring in foreign works in high skill jobs that work for less then American workers. Oh yes, guess who the employers are - yep republicans for the most part. They seem to like low wage employees.
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“There’s just not opportunity out here for me.”...Ivonne Hernandez
If this woman thinks Bernie Sanders is going to create better opportunities for her, she is going to be sadly mistaken.
The only person on the Democratic stage who has ever created a real job is Mike Bloomberg. His company currently has about 20,000 employees.
While Mr. Sanders likes to talk about the millions of jobs the Green New Deal is going to create, he is quite light on specifics. What kind of jobs ? What educational background do you need to do those jobs ? How much will they pay ? Where will they be located ?
The Wizard of Oz was in the same line of work.
The other way Mr. Sanders might benefit Ms. Hernandez is by giving her free stuff. But we've seen that story implode too. Eventually, rich people simply don't have enough money to pay for all the goodies that good socialists want to give out. So then taxes go up for the middle class too.
Look up the Alternative Minimum Tax for details.
The way to get better jobs is to provide incentives to people to work hard and to take chances. That's what capitalism is.
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@G I Think the people are pretty clear on what capitalism is, just ask anyone under 40!
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As with New Deal public works projects like Civilian Conservation Corp. or Eisenhower's interstate highway system, there are many ways government can create needed jobs and transform the economy to more sustainable, large scale practices. It has been done before and can be done again. As Bernie says, "Think Big."
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