The "No Fixed Address" City Profile: Las Vegas, NV

"Rich Kids and Bum Skids Rule the Roost"

by Ryan Vagabundo

Las Vegas has long been one of the world's foremost vacation destinations, but for a long time it was also a place for people to reinvent themselves when they wanted a fresh start. It offered plenty of at least passable housing at cheap rates, lots of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, and an environment in which everyone was transitory and no one really asked questions about your past. 

That remained fairly true up until the Covid-19 pandemic, but Las Vegas has undergone very rapid change. As Reno was colonized by California when Tesla moved in several years before, so too did Vegas see a west-to-east border swarm when all the tech, finance, and miscellaneous "e-mail job" workers were freed from the office and found that moving to the desert offered a relative value for the money with relatively less craziness than they'd become accustomed to in CA. 

Of course, as is inevitable, the colonizers bring their culture with them. Las Vegas saw housing prices spike tremendously from 2020-2022, and while work remains plentiful amidst the general labor market crunch, there isn't really affordable housing to count on anymore. Crime has also gone way up, though that stems from a different California gang influx that started about a decade earlier. 

For the visitor, the casinos have little interest in you if you aren't a rich party kid or gambling "whale" willing to spend whatever they ask on their inflated prices and nickel-and-dime fees. Another trend that began earlier, but has really ramped up since Covid began to go away. 

Let's look at how Vegas has developed over roughly the last decade, to understand how it got to where it is now and what to realistically expect if you're visiting (or hoping to settle down for a while).

A QUICK HISTORY OF VEGAS

Vegas has arguably the most colorful history of any recently-established city in the world, and it's been well-documented by many popular movies, so we'll stick to the broad strokes here. 

It was founded in the early 1900s by farmers, but the seeds for modern Vegas begin in 1931 with the construction of the Hoover Dam. That brought the people and resources to create a proper city (and tens of thousands of workers whose pay supported bars and casinos), and the electricity available once the dam was completed turned the lights on for large-scale urbanization. That was also what made The Strip possible. 

In terms of history of tourism, the Mob had been involved with the earliest casinos in the 1930s but was rousted out starting in the late 1960s as first Howard Hughes, then major corporations took an interest in getting into gaming and entertainment in the city (increasing popularity as a convention destination also played a role). The casinos kept expanding in size and scope and more conventions decided to make Vegas their annual home, and this fed a local population and real estate boom that lasted through the 1970s into the late 80s. 

WHY IS IT A "NO FIXED ADDRESS" DESTINATION?

To put it simply: lots of inexpensive, easy-to-access housing stock. In addition to tons of hotel rooms to feed its tourism, Vegas has also typically maintained more casual housing arrangements to suit its small army of casino and service workers. 

In much more recent history, people in the very expensive California housing market looked across the border and saw much more value for their money in buying a home in Nevada, and Vegas is the "exciting" place to be with the most "stuff to do" of choices in the state. Once the mass shift to work-from-home prompted by the pandemic unshackled them from the office, many of them made the leap. 

It's also a major transit hub, both for the southwest region and general international traffic (though surprisingly not for passenger rail, though they're slowly working on bringing that back). 

A NOT-AS-QUICK LOOK AT THE LAST 10 YEARS IN VEGAS

The popular mythology of Vegas is that crime began going up when the Mob was run out in the 70s-80s, and it's true that there was an increased period of notable seediness in the 80s, though that could be attributed just as much to the "transitional" period of old decaying motels hanging on before being demolished to make way for the megaresorts that sprung up in the early 90s. 

Truth is, if you look at crime stats since 1960, Vegas has always been a pretty consistently somewhat crimey place. It just varies between different categories and activities, with some having spikes at certain times. The past decade, roughly 2012-2013 to present, has seen a particular spike in particular areas due to a particular set of circumstances. 

Around 2015 there started to be a notable surge in crimes involving violence - robbery, murder, rape and so on. The police department, Las Vegas Metro, attributed this to an influx of gangs from both Oakland and the LA metro area pushing into the area and challenging the local gangs for the drug trade. This in turn may well have been sparked by the tech gentrification push of the time eating away at space for gangs to live and operate in the Bay Area in general, as real estate and housing prices soared to such a degree that some "historically troubled" neighborhoods became gentrification projects. 

Still, that violence largely stayed off the Strip and out of the tourist areas (occasional 3 AM shenanigans aside) until 2020. It took root in the easy-to-obtain housing, like "weeklies" throughout the east side of town, and neighborhoods around them as incoming gangbangers went to the only places that would take them. Established gangs tended to be in known areas that there wasn't much reason for anyone else to go to. Basically, this didn't really make new parts of town "bad," but it made existing bad areas (where a lot of the more short-term easy-in housing stock is) worse. 

As with many things, the pandemic and its lockdowns shook up these dynamics. From mid-March to mid-June 2020, for the first time in its history, the Strip (and most tourist destinations) entirely shut down. When it re-opened, travelers were gun-shy due to virus fears and pandemic restrictions, and potential visitors were also not necessarily flush with cash. International travelers were also reduced to a tiny trickle due to rules about entering and exiting various countries along the way.

Much of Vegas re-opened for business in the summer of 2020, but casinos had extreme trouble filling their rooms. Prices were slashed to the bone for about a year into mid-2021, and this attracted a new, more reckless demographic from nearby California that was not necessarily suffering quite as much economically, thanks to combinations of all sorts of illegal activities that were not regulated (including some creative new approaches born of opportunity). 

Soon filling the Strip with their colorful antics,  crime and violence in the tourist areas subsequently spiked to levels never seen prior to the pandemic. The tight labor market and hiring crunch soon contributed, with it rapidly becoming apparent to ne'er-do-wells that casinos and hotels were no longer fielding as many security guards as they had been in 2019 and earlier, same thing with police recruitment issues. Vegas also saw an uptick in the dependent homeless population during this period, in part possibly because of the remote workers spiking the housing market, in part possibly because they were fleeing from more draconian Covid restrictions and shutdowns in California to a nearby place with warm weather. Whatever the case, the swelling bum population soon noticed they could now roam, sleep, beg, steal and harass on the Strip (and even in hotels) in a way that would have got them 86ed real quick pre-pandemic. 

The Vegas housing market began to show signs of coming back down to Earth in late 2022, but it's still more expensive than it used to be, and that theme continues to the casino-hotels and tourist attractions. Tourism rebounded in a big way starting in summer 2021, with all that "revenge travel" and such, and has been doing gangbusters numbers since. Major conventions also started to file back in 2022, and at this point are almost fully back. 

THE CURRENT VEGAS SITUATION

Vegas is in an odd place right now. Real estate MIGHT be crashing, no one is quite sure yet, but it's still expensive and rents are high (and homes are overvalued if you wanna buy). The casinos have decided to go all-in on catering only to the rich, even as bums and tweakers basically colonize parts of the Strip and are a regular feature downtown. All sorts of crime (gunfights between gangbangers, brazen home break-ins, vehicle break-ins, random armed robberies, etc) are on the upswing and there's no reason to believe they're going down. The local public transit, which used to be pretty good and safe pre-pandemic, is having ridiculous flare-ups of violence, mostly from the crazy/drugged-out bums who feel more comfy with their flagrant behavior all over the city. 

All that said, Vegas overall is still probably well outside the top 25 American cities for rates of most types of crime. But the areas and features that would be attractive to nomads are now a combination of much more expensive and also much more unsafe. There are some economic trends at work (housing market correction, likely recession or even depression) that might bring the price value back sometime in the next few years, but the trash and crime seem unlikely to improve anytime soon.

HOUSING STOCK FOR VISITORS & TEMPORARY RESIDENTS

Though none are overly attractive at this point, you have a plethora of options in Vegas: casino-hotels, regular off-Strip hotel chains, "weeklies" and places that specialize in extended stays, all sorts of AirBnBs, and even hostels. 

-- Casino-Hotels

Casino-hotels are nearly always a poor value, unless you have an "in" with the casino in the form of loyalty club tier status of a sufficiently high level to waive the nightly "resort fees" (now averaging $40 to $50, and continuing to climb by the year). However, that "in" is generally had by gambling such a ridiculous amount of money (at least thousands, if not tens of thousands with each hotel stay) that the overall value is nowhere near in your favor. 

There is something of a way to circumvent this, with some of the bigger casino chains (Caesars and MGM primarily) offering advanced tier status via other means (like a credit card signup) that require much less wasted spend. However, be aware that the "eye in the sky" is always watching, and if they feel you aren't gambling enough relative to the benefits you're getting, they have plenty of legal leeway to just abruptly freeze you out of the loyalty program. There were some good hustles in this area in recent years, but they've pretty much dried up at this point. 

Even if you get a fair price, casino-hotels are not a great value. They're thin on the in-room amenities: usable mini-fridges are somewhat rare, microwaves are virtually non-existent even in expensive suites. There's a much-higher-than-usual rate of both "problem" trashy guests causing trouble/making lots of noise, and crime in the vicinity. In-house food options are usually vastly overpriced and often not even appetizing for the money, and there may not be much within quick walking distance. The "non smoking property" thing is really poorly enforced at a lot of them. 

The one thing I like about casino-hotels is that even the budget ones tend to be fairly solidly built, so you don't get much stomping from upstairs or next door noise like you do with so many of the hotel chains. But other than that, I don't feel like they're bothering with unless you luck into some way to hustle the loyalty program or you're just looking to splurge on a short vacation. 

-- Regular Hotels

Vegas has no shortage of regular hotels scattered all over the city to complement the casinos, but these tend to have the same problems the casino properties do: overpriced, poor value / bad amenities, don't have fridges/microwaves, trashy clientele. Generally the more "budget" and close to the Strip or Fremont, the worse it's gonna be. If your plan is to stay in regular non-casino hotels you can do a whole lot better than Vegas for value almost anywhere else but the most expensive cities. 

-- "Weeklies"

Vegas is choc-a-bloc with "weeklies" and "monthlies" with easy terms, but most are bad places to live and most aren't even a good value anymore even if you are willing to put up with rough housing. Like any other place, you can pick around and maybe find a few diamonds in the rough that are unusually well-managed and maintained, but you can't just walk into any one at random and expect it to be decent. 

At one time you could find decent weeklies in Vegas for well under $1,000 a month. Those days are long gone. Expect Vegas weeklies these days to be more like starting at $1,300 for the bad ones and closer to $2,000 for the better-maintained ones. A lot have also stopped being true "weeklies", insisting on at least two weeks commitment if not only renting by the month now (which you'd think might improve the conditions, but apparently not from skimming Google reviews). 

-- AirBNBs

I haven't looked at them in years now, but pre-pandemic AirBNB room rentals were easily the best value and most inexpensive way to stay in Vegas; tons of decent hosts with rates around $35ish per night even for short stays, even cheaper for long commitments. 

You have to be cautious with these properties though. In parts of the area, depending on what city you're technically in, AirBNB is either illegal outright or requires annual fees and certain zoning restrictions that hosts sometimes don't bother with. The area has long kinda turned a blind eye to smaller-scale hosts that don't rent houses out in residential areas for obnoxious parties, though. The zoning thing doesn't mean the host is necessarily a bad one if they aren't strictly legal, but it does mean the city could disrupt your booking unexpectedly. 

-- Hostels

Vegas once had a low-key strong hostel scene, but it seemed to get clobbered by the combination of AirBNB and eventually the pandemic forcing them to close for over a year. A handful remain but their prices don't seem to be competitive with the cheaper hotels and motels, and they have the temerity to charge "resort fees" on top to boot. Years ago there were a couple I could name that were passable and cheap, but personally I wouldn't even consider this option at this point unless you really dig the whole international hostel social vibe (to the point you're willing to pay extra for it). 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

One of Vegas's big selling points is as a public transit hub, at least for planes and buses. Cheap flights still abound to and from a number of major cities in the West and Midwest states, some of the lowest fares in the country. Numerous bus companies run schedules throughout the day going between LA and Vegas, there are at least two options direct to Bakersfield last time I checked, several to Phoenix, one to Reno through rural Nevada, and several up to Salt Lake City through Utah. The one thing it's lacked since the '90s is train service, though Amtrak has connector buses that will take you either to Kingman AZ for the Southwest Chief or Bakersfield for the San Joaquin. 

The Vegas RTC is also at least a decent transit option in the city, covering everywhere you'd want to go on at least reasonable schedules. The only issue with it is since the pandemic, there's been a combination of sporadic driver shortages and more violent bums acting up on it. 

HOT SEASONS, COLD SEASONS

Vegas hotel pricing is extremely seasonal and pretty predictable. It'll be very expensive on long holiday weekends (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas), during major conventions and concerts (usually on the same or similar dates each year), and during March Madness. If the conventions are midweek, the hotels right near it may be bombed out and expensive while other areas are normal. Same thing with big games where popular "away" team fans come in droves now that they have sports, these will probably spike Strip prices but not so much elsewhere. 

Sunday-Thursday when nothing special is going on is always pretty affordable, prices always spike at least somewhat on Friday-Saturday but to what degree depends on the weather and what's going on in town. 

The cheapest time to visit is between Thanksgiving and Christmas, nice not-too-cold-yet weather and tourism is low due to the holiday season too. New Years Eve is extremely expensive, however, and then prices spike again in January for the annual CES convention (which lasts a few days), followed by World of Concrete (a surprisingly big deal). March is probably the most consistently expensive month between March Madness, spring break, the CONEXPO convention, and just general nice weather. Also expect a stretch of late May to be ridiculous due to EDC. 

If you just want the cheapest, dumpiest places possible, check out this thread where Vegas locals opine on the city's worst motels.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Vegas is currently inspiring a lot of frustration in both visitors and locals alike. The ruthless nickel-and-diming and singleminded "whale" focus of the casinos, the spikes in crime and vagrancy and the sudden encroachment of it into formerly safe tourist areas, the housing market going ballistic during Covid, the insistence on ramming in failing California sports teams despite little real local interest in them, the random violence on public transit ... it's just not a good overall vibe, and though in-migration (especially from CA) continues to set it off there has been a decent out-migration lately of locals. 

Unless you stumble into some great low-cost situation with casino-hotel deals, I don't feel it's worth bothering with right now if you don't specifically want to go there for some aspect of the "Vegas experience." Even for gambling, you're better-served in a number of other cities. But Vegas has been cyclical its whole life. From the Mob and Rat Pack years into the 60s, to the bluehair scene in the 70s, the sleaze and crime of the 80s, the reinvigoration with corporate themed casinos and family focus in the 90s, the boom-then-sudden-bust of the 00s, and the shift away from gaming to focus on entertainment and EDM kid pool parties in the 10s. The only thing that's certain is that Vegas never stays the same for too long, and you never know when the wheel will spin again.