Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/124284
Parting Shot free from sin? FOR LADY VEGAS, GOING ALL IN ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN CASINOS IS A HUGE GAMBLE. BY DANNY AXELROD 172 time," one that may turn Downtown into a company town, à la Pullman, Illinois. Rather than getting off the one-trick-pony economy, we'll have merely engaged in a little horse-trading, falling for what's simply a different trick. But here's the thing: This is how Lady Vegas has always operated. Trying to get her to change is like trying to teach a fish how to ride a bicycle. It just ain't in the cards that Hsieh is holding right now, and he's running the table. He's got the cash, so he gets to call the shots. I do hope he comes through for her. After all, she's trying to change her game, and letting her down would be just one more sin for Sin City. V ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY O ne thing you can say about ol' Lady Vegas, she has a thing for high rollers. She's always been more than willing to throw a little leg for the guys who come into town with a boatload of cash and plenty of ideas on how they want to spend it, from Bugsy Siegel and Howard Hughes to Steve Wynn. It's a wonder Glitter Gulch never ended up with a casino called the Gold Digger. Not that that's a bad thing in itself. Those guys and their money showed the old dame a good time, turning her into the gaming capital of the world. Benny Binion's motto, "Good food. Good whiskey. Good gamble," has been burned into the brain of her casinos-or-bust economy. Then gaming took a hit during the economic downturn, and the old broad's housing market fell like a botched face-lift. Sure, she's easy, but she needs to mix up her paramour portfolio if she wants to see action like she has in the past. Funny thing is, in good times or otherwise, she still has a way of attracting big-timers. Take Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, the newest high roller on the block. He's invested his money in the revitalization of East Fremont Street, and the buzz alone has been enough to stimulate an almost flatlined economic heartbeat. That the buzz has extended to saving First Friday, beginning the Downtown Project, and attracting other out-of-staters to start new businesses, shows that Hsieh and his money have the potential to be an honest-to-goodness game changer. That Hsieh's sport of choice is tech and e-commerce and not gaming? It's a gamble, so Lady Vegas is all in. It might even be reason enough for her to doll up her Downtown regions (although I'm not sure sticking a pair of ginormous feet up on the D is a step in the right direction. Fetish, anyone?). You can feel the vibe when you're downtown: People have high hopes, sophisticated hopes, if the Smith Center and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health are any indication. Throw into the mix other heavy hitters, like restaurateur Michael Morton, and this vibe could have the legs to go with those giant feet. Yet there's also grumbling. Some longtime Downtown folks bristle at the thought of their identity being reshaped by someone they see as an outsider. For them, the new "community" appears to consist of living at the Ogden, flextiming from The Beat, and eating at, well, Eat. Even after you show them how much local talent is involved with the Downtown Project, they say the "true" Downtowners are being left out of the mix. They worry about an economicindustrial complex they see as "all Tony all the VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 172_V_BOB_Closer_MAY/JUNE_13.indd 172 4/22/13 5:36 PM