Stripwalking
May 31, 2010
Two weeks ago I fractured my ankle and was advised to stay off of it. Of course, I didn’t exactly comply with this advice, but I did minimize the damage by riding around town in my Six Fo’ Impala more than usual. Today, I decided to push the issue a bit, and I spent most of the afternoon walking and playing amongst the Memorial Day Weekend crowd.
While I would absolutely describe this weekend as “very crowded” … it’s not quite as busy as I was expecting it to be.
Memorial Day Weekend Crowd on The Strip
Memorial Day Weekend Crowd on The Strip
Memorial Day Weekend Strip Traffic
Memorial Day Weekend Strip Traffic
Now, usually when I say this, somebody comes online screaming “What are you talking about?! I was there this weekend and it was soooooo crooowwwwwwdeeeeed!!!” Everyone wants to think that they were here during the most epic weekend ever, and the prevailing wisdom seems to be that if I don’t declare it to be packed, I am dissing the numbers.
This is not the case.
Everything is relative, and I’ve seen this movie before. Counting the years that I have visited and lived here, I would estimate that this is my eighth or ninth Memorial Day here in Las Vegas. Of those, this weekend appears to fall somewhere in the middle. I think the city met its visitation expectations and will profit handily, but for some reason I was expecting an absolute blowout due to the cheap rooms. I figured that traffic would be wall-to-wall and that the sidewalks would be a stampede. Instead, it’s just kind of a typical three day weekend. This is neither good nor bad, it’s just an observation.
Of course, this weekend also saw the opening of the new Encore Beach Club, and while I didn’t walk by the Encore today, I did drop by the new pool on both Friday and Saturday. While I think the hype surrounding the pool has been more than a little silly (let’s face it, it’s a slow news year), I will say this about the place — it’s really very nice. I’m not convinced that it’s vastly superior to existing places like the Moorea Beach Club, but I am nowhere near a pool connoisseur.
Encore Beach Club
Even though it’s not my thing, I do respect what Steve Wynn has done. Last year, the man looked across the street from Encore, saw two vacant lots, and said “this will not do”. Instead of making his guests stare out their windows at the mistakes of others, Wynn spent a large amount of money to create an alternate scenescape out front. He had the choice of doing nothing and complaining, or doing something. He did something. Whether or not you give a damn about yet another swimming pool, you simply have to respect his effort. Not only that, but the place looks really nice from just about any angle and it improves the aesthetics of the entire block.
Anyway, as I walked around the Boulevard today, I found myself getting more annoyed than in years past. From the perspective of a pedestrian, The Strip has just become a major pain in the ass for a few reasons.
First of all, just about every escalator in town is broken. Escalator problems have plagued our city for several years, and this year is worse than ever. While I generally subscribe to the “hey fatass, just climb the stairs” philosophy, my cracked ankle hurt like hell climbing up and down the metal staircases. Also, since it was 90 degrees today, the constant climbing led to an intense aroma of human sweat near the entrance to every casino. Americans are fat, walking a mile in intense heat while climbing up and down staircases is a workout, and most casinos are not equipped with showers. This being the case, broken escalators affect all of us adversely. Think about it.
The other irritant was … once I ascended the pedestrian bridge stairs, I was immediately greeted with a handful of people trying to sell me stuff. This happens year-round, but the trend really picks up in the summer. Whether the people are peddling bottled water, sunglasses, or a rapper trying to sell you his latest CD … it’s kind of annoying. Especially the rappers.
Las Vegas Pedestrian Bridge
Look, I used to like rap. I grew up with it back on the east coast when the genre was still in its infancy, and I knew many of the old schoolers that later made a name for themselves. I had a couple of turntables and a Radio Shack mixer, and I could do a thing or two on the wheels of steel … even without assistance from a MacBook. Because of this, I feel that I am qualified to make the following statement:
Rap is dead.
It died over 10 years ago.
Almost everything recorded since is pure shit. Today’s rappers all sound like robots having a seizure. There are no more Chuck Ds, Rakims, or KRS-Ones. Hell, Ludicrous recently laid down a verse on a Justin Bieber song. The entire generation is completely lost, and I would rather stay home and listen to my dog fart than endure whatever might be lurking on one of those CD’s.
I digress.
The weekend crowd seems to be in good spirits, but as I was pounding the Boulevard today, I became a little bit depressed. I could suddenly see why people might want to pick a hotel and just stay in that property for their entire vacation. Everything out on the street is broken, and it’s a nonstop hustle from one place to the next. I used to have a good time on my frequent walks, but now … I just don’t seem to feel it like I used to. Maybe things are deteriorating, or maybe they are the same and I’ve just been here one day too many. It’s impossible to be completely objective when it comes to one’s own perceptions.
I still really enjoy walking up and down Fremont Street, so I don’t think I am 100% jaded, but I do feel like The Strip has lost its soul. I am not happy about this. Hopefully, at some point in the future, I will rediscover the magic.
In any event, Memorial Day has arrived and Camp Vegas is officially in session, so come on down and discover why ‘What Happens Here Stays Here’ and be sure to get wet in one of our many world-class pools while dancing the night away to the musical stylings of some of the nation’s hottest DJ’s.
Now that summer is upon us, it’s hot in Vegas, and I don’t mean the temperature.
Yay.
Written by SPRUNT on May 31, 2010 at 1:53 am
(Hopefully) Coming in 2011: VegasRex stars in “How the Strip Got Its Groove Back”
Written by Bill on May 31, 2010 at 7:22 am
I can stay at home and gamble at the local casinos and sleep in my own bed.
Las Vegas NEEDS to lower their holds and take in less so people WANT to come to Vegas.
That’s what they think about ‘If I go to vegas I’ll have better odds’, but right now they don’t.
Vegas NEEDS to give the players better odds on the machines. All the players want is to have fun, but right now we lose TOO FAST. We want to play. We understand casinos are in business to make money and they will, but we want to play so were staying home and using the Room Moneys and Food Moneys and not even to mention the travel expenses getting there and back, to play longer and more LOCALY.
Come on Vegas casinos help out us out of town players.
Written by The Fonz on May 31, 2010 at 7:40 am
i was never a big rap fan, but i enjoyed my share of it back in the day. just like today’s rock, i don’t get it, for the most part, but i swear the rap industry has perpetrated the greatest hoax on the music buying teens of the 21st century. where’s susan powter? somebody stop the insanity.
Written by par88 on May 31, 2010 at 10:30 am
I tried to book a room on the strip for the weekend but the rates were not so cheap Rex. Fri night and Sun night were OK – about $120, but they wanted $300+ for Sat night! This is for a 4 star strip hotel and many of them were sold out. I decided to stay home and come up some other time.
BTW traffic in LA is noticably lighter this weekend; maybe they’re not all in Vegas but people have gone SOMEWHERE.
Written by moe on May 31, 2010 at 12:05 pm
This is why we enjoy Laughlin so much. We would rather put up with the oxygen tanks and blue hairs then some French prick hogging the sidewalk on the Vegas strip. Oh yeah how about the a-holes that stop in the middle of the sidewalk to ogle something or take a picture, screwing up the flow. I could go on and on, but why, you get the picture. Strip has lost its class(middle that is).
Written by coolpacific on May 31, 2010 at 6:16 pm
You’re not imagining things. I’ve been a Vegas regular since 1989 – the strip needs to get its act together.
Written by Joe Blow on May 31, 2010 at 10:24 pm
I used to love The Strip and I used to rationalize coming to Vegas because there were better odds and lower limits than my local Indian casino.
Now, my local Indian casino has 24 hour $5 Blackjack tables that actually pay 3:2. Lots of $5 Craps as well. And my wife’s modest slot play gets us free rooms there, but even if they didn’t give us the rooms, it’s about a 35 minute drive and we would go anyway. The Strip doesn’t offer this any more, and the Harrah’s properties have not offered this for many years now. There is no longer an incentive for the average-means gambler to go to The Strip. Why don’t the powers-that-be in Vegas recognize this?
I would love to love Vegas in general and The Strip in particular again, but unless I can get super cheap airfare from the East Coast on a nonstop flight, I won’t be coming, and if I do it will definitely be Downtown. I’m sure there are many others like me in this respect.
I
Written by Howard Park on June 1, 2010 at 12:45 am
Reading Rex’s post I’m struck by how I’ve felt from the 1970’s right up to today reading about and experiencing Times Square in NYC, the grandfather of the Vegas Strip or even Chicago’s Rush Street in the 1980’s. Time Square has always managed to attract and repel me at the same time no matter how much it changes. Most people are on foot, the traffic is so bad that nobody drives (thanks to Yogi Berra) and everybody who isn’t moving has a hustle. I’ve been to Times Square many, many times but haven’t had much of a desire to go back since the last reinvention of the place. I’m more attracted to the Vegas Strip these days but I can get weary of it very, very quickly.
Written by Andy Steiner on June 1, 2010 at 8:04 am
All last week, Alicia Jacobs of Channel 3’s news team, interviewed Steve Wynn. Each night was a different topic and I only caught two of the broadcasts. Tuesday night, Steve railed about the Strip calling it nothing but a big carnival.
I tried to search Channel 3’s website, http://www.mynews3.com/index.php, but that website is a horror show that doesn’t seem to sort anything, nor archive its broadcast segments.
Jacob’s has her own blog for the Stage 3 segment, but the bitch hasn’t updated it in a month. Too busy pimping Steve’s newest attraction and schmoozing with the Sex in the City crowd .
Written by wrxrob on June 2, 2010 at 4:42 am
I wonder if the stock market beating had anything to do with the smaller crowds.
Your mid-atlantic tourists were in Delaware this weekend, as they had their table games grand opening. And yes, Blackjack pays 3:2, while the dealer must STAND on soft 17. Minimums were almost Atlantic City high, but its probably still cheaper than a plane ticket and a hotel room.
Written by HillBilly on June 2, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I stayed at Wynn this weekend and it (along with Encore) was sold out. XS must make ridiculous amounts of money. 2,000 women wearing about a yard of fabric between them. Unreal.
The problem I see with the pedestrian traffic, along with all the things you mentioned, is that several thousand rooms have opened up in recent years but the sidewalks are the same size. It’s the same idea as what happens to surface streets when you build a 3000 home subdivision with no additional freeway access. Add to that the broken escalators, water peddlers, and the jackass hustling 3 card monty at the chock points around Caesars and walking the strip on these busy weekends has just become unappealing.
I have never seen a place that is a fucked up from a city planning view point as the Strip. This is what happens when you let each casino dictate the access plans. They build plans with only that property in mind and the idea of keeping people on site. (Bellagio, City Center…)