THE CONSUMER: The Strip as Sea

Who needs coasts when we’ve got neon?

Anne Kellogg

There have been a lot of people comparing the Strip to the ocean lately. Station Casinos' president Lorenzo Fertita talked about the Strip being our ocean in the feel-good Time article published last July. Local real estate agent John Tippins, a young realtor who specializes in the Strip, used the same phraseology in a Las Vegas Review Journal story that came out around the same time. Last week, First American Title's PR guru Richard Lee brought this Strip-as-ocean concept to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce collective for his annual state of the city summary during this year's Preview at the Thomas & Mack Center on January 28.


Most of these gentlemen were comparing views of the Strip to those available on a coast. And they are all correct. The Strip creates beautiful, radiant vistas, unique in all the world, much like the sea. And those of us with the best views of the Strip from our homes or offices pay a premium for our Las Vegas "ocean" view.


Units at Turnberry Place on Paradise now range in the millions of dollars. Soho Lofts Downtown started in the $500,000s and went up to the $2 million mark. And rumor has it the penthouse of a high-rise condo project near the Suncoast in Summerlin "sold" for upwards of $20 million. Of course, this last one is just a reservation at this point, but you get the picture.


But let's take this whole comparison a few steps further. Does the Las Vegas Strip, like the Pacific or Atlantic, provide people in the area with resources to make a living? Yes. The Strip, like many bodies of water around the world, provides tens of thousands of jobs for the community surrounding it. Hell, we even have fish, sharks, dolphin habitats, beaches with waves, and let's not forget about those whales.


Is the Strip a place for recreation, gathering and partying for both locals and tourists? Uh, yeah. Nightclubs, ultralounges, massive concert venues, art museums, shopping destinations and fabulous restaurants are all worthy recreation spots.


If there was a massive metaphorical earthquake beneath the Strip's infrastructure, would a violent backlash unfurl itself onto the surrounding community, devastating and perhaps destroying its surroundings? Again, yes.


Maybe we could use a warning system here, too.



Anne Kellogg is a native Las Vegan with a thing for purchasing stuff. E-mail her at
[email protected]

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