LAS VEGAS IS BECOMING A GREAT CITY

We just left Hawaii, which has been getting the worst floods in two decades.  We came to Las Vegas, where Google AI reports:

As of March 23, 2026, Las Vegas is experiencing a historic heatwave, with temperatures reaching up to 97°F (36°C) at Harry Reid Airport. This marks the highest temperature ever recorded in March, breaking the previous record of 94°F set just days earlier in the same week, and far exceeding the previous all-time March high of 93°F from 2022. 

Interestingly enough, it all depends on exactly where you live and go.  No problem about the rain in Nuuanu.  During the two-week period, we never lost electricity at all.  Went out to dinner in Las Vegas yesterday, and while the peak high in this city is at 4PM, around 5PM there was a slight breeze and I actually felt quite comfortable walking around.  Of course, it's still March, and the temperature goes up in the Summer.

Okay, first, Las Vegas does not rank up there with the world's best cities.  However, I remember coming here in the 1950's, and comparing to Honolulu, Vegas has improved so much more than my home town.  

• Google AI estimates that 50,000 people with Hawaii ties now live in the Las Vegas aea.
• Why?
• Cost of living in Las Vegas is much lower.  Home prices, for example, is about half that of Hawaii.
• The California Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas has served as a cultural hub for Hawaii residents, and influenced this transition.
• Read this report from Hawaii News Now.

Quoting Google AI:

In 2026, Las Vegas is a premier city, driven by its evolution into a global sports and entertainment capital, a booming, diversified economy, and enhanced, immersive tourism experiences. The city, having successfully transitioned beyond relying solely on gambling, now features top-tier sports teams, premier conventions, and a thriving cultural scene, making it a vibrant destination for both residents and visitors. 

Key Reasons for Its Growth in 2026:

• Major Sporting & Entertainment Hub: Known as a "major league sports city", Las Vegas hosts the Raiders, Golden Knights, and Aces, alongside Formula 1, WrestleMania, and the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). The Sphere continues to draw massive, international crowds, anchoring the entertainment industry.  Also, the NBA could be coming 2028-29.
• Economic Diversification: The economy hasmatured beyond hospitality, with significant growth in tech, healthcare, logistics, and renewable energy, attracting new residents and jobs.
• 
  Cultural & Culinary Explosion: The city has become a culinary destination, with restaurants in the Arts District and Chinatown earning national recognition, moving beyond just celebrity-chef spots on the Strip.
• Improved Livability: Investment in residential areas like Summerlin and Henderson offers high quality-of-life, with the city offering a better balance of work, lifestyle, and entertainment.
• 

  Tourism Rebound: A packed 2026 convention schedule and high hotel occupancy signify a robust return of tourism, with new, immersive attractions such as the Museum of Ice Cream at AREA15. 

The city's ability to reinvent itself has solidified its status as a top global destination for 2026. 

What makes Las Vegas a nearly great city?

• Three clear reasons why:
• Lower cost of living with high quality of life.
• Economic opportunity and no state income tax.
• Elite global sports and entertainment hub. 

• 
  A new global study spotlights the best cities in the world where people over 50 still confident, social and connected.  Las Vegas is right up there with Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles.

• 
  Houzeo, America's best home buying and selling website lists Las Vegas as the Best Place to Live in 2026.
• Ranks #1 as the top city for U.S. real estate investment.

• Nevada has no state income tax, significantly improving net investor returns
• Las Vegas metro population has grown more than 15% since 2015
• 
  Lake Las Vegas offers rare waterfront living in a tax-advantaged market
• Condotel properties maintain strong liquidity and global appeal
• Over $15 billion invested in sports, infrastructure, and entertainment

• Incidentally, #2 is Scottsdale, Arizona is #2
• Dallas, Texas is #3.

Las Vegas;

• The city of 135.8 square miles is at an elevation of 2030 feet, with surrounding peaks of over 10,000 feet.
• Nevada is the third most seismically active state and the U.S. says there is a 10-20% chance over the next 50 years of an M6.0 or greater earthquake within 31 miles of Las Vegas.  But while 6.0 is not a particularly huge earthquake, the biggest quake ever felt on Oahu was 5.3, 41 years ago.
• Only rains 4.2 inches/year.  Honolulu averages 20-30 inches/year.
• 
  The average daily high in July is 104.5 F.  
• Has gone as high as 120 F, on 7July2024.
• Interestingly enough, the temperature today in Las Vegas, 23March2026, is the hottest on record....97 F.
• The metropolitan area has 2.4 million residents.
• The city of Las Vegas only had a population 64,405 in 1960.
• 66 years later, today, just under 700,000 people.
• 
  In 1829, Mexican trader/explorer Antonio Armijo led goup of 60 men and 100 mules along the Old Spanish Trail from New Mexico to Los Angeles, California, and stopped in what would become Las Vegas for water at the Las Vegas Springs.  This was the winter residence for the Southern Paiute people.

• 
  In 1844 came John Fremont, who was responsible for drawing people to an area that became Downtown Las Vegas.  Fremont Street is named after him.
• Was first settled in 1905, adjacent to the Union Pacific Railraod station in "downtown" Vegas,  and was officially incorporated in 1911.
• 
  This Welcome to  Fabulous Sign at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip was installed in1959, the first time I went there.
• Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, the year which began construction of tunnels for Hoover Dam, which is 35.8 miles away from Las Vegas.
• Las Vegas Army Airfield was built in 1941, now called Nellis Air Force Base, home to the Thunderbirds.

• 
  In 1951, nuclear weapons testing began as the Nevada Test Site, only 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
• This could have been the killer for any future, for Vegas was also nicknamed Atomic City, and mushroom clouds could be observed from town, with nuclear fallout.
• In 1955, the Moulin Rouge Hotel opened as the first racially-integrated casin-hotel in Las Vegas.
• Thankfully, came the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and all tests moved underground.
• 
  The Mirage opened in 1989 on the Las Vegas Strip, shifting the gambling venue away from downtown.   By the way, this casino was closed in 2024, demolished, and is being replaced by another casino shaped like a guitar.  Hard Rock International will open in 2027.

• To bring back tourists, the Fremont Street Experience opened in 1995 in the downtown area.  This canopied five-block area features sounds and lights from dusk until midnight at the top of each hour.

• 
  The Gateway Arches in front of the Strat Resort and north of Sahara Avenue was built in 2020.
• Bills itself as the Entertainment Capital of the World, attracting 41 million visitors annually.  Hawaii only draws 10 million/year.
• Tolerates adult enterainment, earning the nickname Sin City.

Have I ever considered moving to Las Vegas?  Nope. 

• Safer in Honolulu.  But not by that much, actually, for the homeless problem is getting more serious.  How bad?
• As of 2024, the Hawaii homeless rate was 80.5 per 10,000 people, 20 times higher than the lowest state.
• Just walking around the touristy part of downtown Las Vegas, though, I felt uncomfortable about the quality of people milling around.  
• Clearly, there, too, is a shelterless problem in Las Vegas.
• Read this report about homelessness in the USA.
• 
  What about natural disasters?
• This study shows that Hawaii is relatively a safe to live.
• Of course it rains more in Honolulu, with 16-17 inches/year, to 4-5 for Vegas.
• Both cities have a latent earthquake problem.
• 
  Amazingly enough, Hurricane Hillary came to Las Vegas in 2023, with wind gusts said to reach 75 MPH.  
• Honolulu has never in history suffered from a hurricane.  
• Also incredibly, the Big Island of Hawaii gets threatened virtually by Category 5 hurricanes, but has not ever suffered from a hurricane in history.
• Kauai, of course, was hit by Hurricane Iniki.
• 
  Hilo is the town that has gotten devastated by tsunamis.  However, Oahu ws hit by a 55-foot wave from the Aleutian Islands earthquake of 1946, and 35-foot waves from the 1960 Chilean earthquake.  While there were areas of destruction, Honolulu city itself was generally fine.  We live in seniors' community mauka of Judd street, which is at an elevation of 200 to 300 feet above sea level.  So we'll be safe from any serious tsunami, although services like electricity will be destroyed.  But never has yet.  Of course, Las Vegas has never seen a tsunami.
• Well to that question.  Never thought about moving from Honolulu to Las Vegas.  I like to live in Purgatory, which is a lot more comfortable and secure than Sin City.

We haven't done much in Las Vegas, and we leave tomorrow for Denver.  We have:

• Slept a lot.
• Went gambling, and we are both ahead at this point.  I had a six of a kind in deuces on a deuces are wild machine, and my $20 jumped to $64, and I'm still safely in the 50s.
• My brother, who has lived here for many decades, took us out to dinner at Shabuya.  Some graphics of truly fine meal.

My ingredients.

Otherwise, we walked through the Fremont Street Experience.

What about Cherry Blossoms?  Maybe tomorrow.

-