Las Vegas
Shimmering from the desert haze of Nevada like a latter-day El Dorado, Las Vegas is the most dynamic, spectacular city on earth. At the start of the twentieth century, it didn't even exist; at the start of the twenty-first, it's home to well over one million people, with enough newcomers arriving to need a new school every month.
Las Vegas is not like other cities. No city in history has so explicitly valued the needs of visitors above those of its own population. All its growth has been fueled by tourism, but the tourists haven't spoiled the "real" city; there is no real city. Las Vegas doesn't have fascinating little-known neighborhoods, and it's not a place where visitors can go off the beaten track to have more authentic experiences. Instead, the whole thing is completely self-referential; the reason Las Vegas boasts the vast majority of the world's largest hotels is that around thirty-seven million tourists each year come to see the hotels themselves.
THE STRIP
Las Vegas Boulevard, known as "the Strip" extends from the southern edge of the city to downtown. Just driving down the strip past all these spectacular casino resorts is a fantastic experience. At night, "the strip" comes alive with miles of colored neon and millions of dancing, pulsating lights.
Many of the grandest Las Vegas casino hotels are located along the strip. More than a dozen giant theme oriented casinos are "on the strip". Even the smallest has over 2,000 rooms. Each one contains thousands of slot machines, hundreds of gaming tables, multiple restaurants, shopping malls and theaters featuring "Las Vegas Shows".
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