Bwahahahahahahahahaha!
Made you look!
It’s way too late for April Fool’s Day, but I thought I would try to get one over on you anyway.
These are some shots that I have taken in and around Downtown over the past couple of weeks.
Above: No, it’s not a blinking sign … the “E”, “O”,”T”,”E”, and “L” are permanently burned out … and that guy walking toward me intends to shank me with a broken beer bottle.
Look, I really, really, really want to see Downtown restored to its former glory. As Harrah’s and MGM are doing their damnest to piss off tourists on The Strip, I would like to see the favorable odds and pedestrian-friendly Downtown area get back to being a prominent player.
I simply don’t think the surrounding street crime will allow it as of right now.
Sure, I know where to go to avoid trouble (although I have had a glass bottle hurled at me while riding my bike down Ogden while someone was shouting anti-white diatribes) … but if the average tourist leaves the casino, or strays from the canopy … well, may god have mercy on their soul.
And believe me when I tell you, “Fremont East” is simply “Neonopolis Debacle Part II”.
It’s just not doing anything.
Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero. The picture leading off this post was taken at 10pm. Where is everyone?
I was on The Strip that very same night. All of the people were down there.
Now before everyone shrieks that I am a “Downtown basher” or “Strip Snob”, it’s not entirely true. I give The Strip at least as much shit as I give Downtown … if not more.
I like the Fremont Street Experience, the street musicians, better gaming odds, cheaper dining, etc.
If you look through the photos and videos elsewhere on this website, you will see that I have spent a great deal of time Downtown over the past year alone.
On The Strip, I don’t like to walk two miles from one casino to the next any more than the next person.
But outside of a 3 block concentrated area, Downtown Las Vegas is simply Detroit … without the safety of Detroit.
I know some of the “Downtown Snobs” will proclaim “Well, only certain people like us can hang in Downtown so it’s better for you pussies to stay on The Strip” … but lets face it, none of you are bulletproof, and a crack whore’s razor will slice through you as fast as it will slice through some scared suburban housewife. It’s phony bravado.
I lived much of my life in inner-city neighborhoods, but I wouldn’t want to vacation in any of them.
Wading through meth-fueled bums on vacation is not some badge-of-honor extreme sport to help you forget about your mundane gated suburban enclave existence. If you want that shit, get off the train at 138th street in the Bronx and shout “Puerto Ricans Go Home!”. You’ll get much more bang for your excitement buck. I promise.
For the price of a subway token, you’ll get robbed and knifed 85 times. I might be impressed at that point … but the Downtown Vegas thing is a tough sell.
Staying in Downtown because it’s “funky” and “gritty” isn’t interesting.
If that’s where your budget is more comfortable, then it makes sense. But staying there for bragging rights and “Vegas-cred” just makes you look like a douchebag.
Yes, the area of Downtown under the canopy is an incredibly fun place. The casinos themselves are safe, the rooms are perfectly fine, and a good time can be had by all. But it is simply nowhere near large enough to convert “Strip People” to “Downtown People”.
I would love to see it happen, but what I want doesn’t matter.
Oscar needs to put some lights all around Downtown (not just the core), expand patrols, get rid of the goddamn pay parking (or validation), curtail the crack heads hitting up tourists for spare change, and make the fringes of the place more attractive.
You can Neonopolize and Fremont East, West, North and South all you want … but until people feel safe, they aren’t going to come in numbers.
Right now they are just throwing good money after bad.
Come on, guys.
Clean this shit up and get back in the game.
We all need an alternative to 6/5 BJ and dwindling comps.
