Geography of Las Vegas

Topography

Las Vegas is located at 36°11′39″N, 115°13′19″W (36.194168, 115.222060)^GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 340.0 km² (131.3 mi²). 339.8 km² (131.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.16 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.04%) is water.

The city is located in an arid basin surrounded by mountains varying in color from pink to rust to gray. City elevation is around 2030 feet (620 meters) above sea level. The Spring Mountains lie to the west. As befits a desert, much of the landscape is rocky and dusty. Within the city, however, there are a great deal of lawns, trees, and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there is now a movement to encourage xeriscaping instead of lawns. Another part of the water conservation efforts include scheduled watering groups for watering residential landscaping.

Climate

Las Vegas' climate is an arid desert climate (Koppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Mojave Desert, in which it is located, marked with very hot summers, mild winters, abundant sunshine year-round, and very little rainfall. Temperatures in the 90s°F (mid-30s°C) are common in the months of May, June, and September and temperatures normally exceed 100 °F (38 °C) most days in the months of July and August, with very low humidity, frequently under 10%. The hottest temperature ever recorded is 117 °F (47 °C) set twice, on July 19, 2005, at McCarran International Airport (the warmest ever recorded there) and July 24, 1942, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Winters are cool and windy, with the majority of Las Vegas' annual 4.49 in (114 mm) of rainfall coming from January to March.^[5] Winter daytime highs are normally around 60 °F (16 °C) and winter nighttime lows are usually around 40 °F (4 °C). The coldest temperature ever recorded is 8 °F (-13 °C) set on January 25, 1937, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Showers occur less frequently in the Spring or Autumn. July through September, the Mexican Monsoon often brings enough moisture from the Gulf of California across Mexico and into the southwest to cause afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Although winter snow is usually visible from December to May on the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, it rarely snows in the city itself.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Rec High °F	77	87	92	99	109	115	117	116	113	103	87	77	117
Norm High °F	57.1	63	69.5	78.1	87.8	98.9	104.1	101.8	93.8	80.8	66	57.3	79.9
Rec High Low °F	58	59	71	74	89	89	95	90	84	79	62	57	95
Norm Low °F	36.8	41.4	47	53.9	62.9	72.3	78.2	76.7	68.8	56.5	44	36.6	56.3
Rec Low °F	8	16	23	31	40	48	60	56	46	26	21	11	8
Rec Low High °F	28	34	42	48	60	67	81	74	67	50	42	32	28
Precip (in)	0.59	0.69	0.59	0.15	0.24	0.08	0.44	0.45	0.31	0.24	0.31	0.4	4.49
Normal snow (in)	0.9	0.1	<0.1	none	none	none	none	none	none	none	0.0	0.0	<0.1
Record snow (in)	16.7	4.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	Trace	4.0	2.0	16.7
Source: National Weather Service [1]

Environment

Las Vegas is situated on the arid floor within Clark County. Correspondingly the environment is dominated by desert vegetation^{[citation needed]} and wildlife^{[citation needed]}; however, the setting is also subject to torrential flash floods which the infrastructure of storm sewers has not been able to contain.^{[citation needed]} The rapid pace of urban development beginning in the 1980s has produced more impervious surface and exacerbated the inherent flooding issue.^{[citation needed]} Enabling the rapid population expansion was a major addition to the city's sewage treatment capacity, an event removing a major constraint to population growth in the 1970s. The sewage treatment expansion resulted from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funded 208 program to analyse and forecast growth and environmental impacts through the year 2019.

Cityscape

Las Vegas skyline

Redevelopment

The south end of the Las Vegas Strip in 2003.

When The Mirage, the first Megaresort, opened in 1989, it started a movement of people and construction away from downtown Las Vegas to the Las Vegas Strip. This resulted in a drop in tourism from which the downtown area is still trying to recover.

A concerted effort has been made by city officials to diversify the Las Vegas economy from tourism by attracting light manufacturing, banking, and other commercial interests. The lack of any state individual or corporate income tax and very simple incorporation requirements have fostered the success of this effort.

Having been late to develop an urban core of any substantial size, Las Vegas has retained very affordable real estate prices in comparison to nearby urban centers. Consequently, the city has recently enjoyed an enormous boom both in population and in tourism. However, as a New York Times series on the city reported in 2004, the median price of housing in the Las Vegas Valley is now at or above the nationwide median. The urban area has grown outward so quickly that it is beginning to run into Bureau of Land Management holdings along its edges, increasing land values enough that medium- and high-density development is beginning to occur closer to the core.

As a reflection of the city's rapid growing population, the new Chinatown of Las Vegas was constructed in the early 1990s on Spring Mountain Road. Chinatown initially consisted of only one large shopping center complex, but the area was recently expanded for new shopping centers that contain various Asian businesses.

Downtown Las Vegas: The Fremont Street Experience outside of Binion's Horseshoe Casino.

With the Strip expansion in the 1990s, downtown Las Vegas began to suffer. The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) was built in an effort to draw tourists downtown. While greatly slowing the decline, it did not stop the decline in tourism and revenue. The multi-level Neonopolis, complete with 11 theaters (managed by Galaxy Theaters, Inc.), was built to offer more retail and services downtown. While there have been changes in ownership and management, Neonopolis has not been able to lease all the space available. As of May 2006, the property has been sold and is under new management. Renovations are under-way to revitalize Neonopolis.

In the early 2000s, some promising signs emerged for downtown Las Vegas. The city successfully lured the Internal Revenue Service to move operations from the far west of the city to a new building downtown that opened in April 2005. The IRS is expected to create a demand for additional businesses in the area, especially in the daytime hours.

The city purchased 61 acres (247,000 m²) of property from Union Pacific Railroad in 1995 with the goal of creating something that would draw tourists and locals to the downtown area. In 2004 Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman announced plans for the Union Park Development which will include residential and office high-rises, The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, an academic medical center, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and a new City Hall. After failed negotiations with The Related Co. on the development of Union Park in October of 2005, San Diego-based Newland Communities was chosen by the city as the new development firm. The Newland contract calls for Dan Van Epp, Newland's regional vice president and former president of the Howard Hughes Corp., to oversee his company's work on Union Park. The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is expected to be completed in 2007.

Newport Lofts high-rise development under construction with newly finished Soho Lofts in the background.

Along with the Union Park Development, other promising residential and office developments have begun construction around downtown Las Vegas. New condominium and hotel high rise projects have changed the entire Las Vegas skyline dramatically in recent years. Many large high-rise projects are planned for downtown Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip.

The city council of Las Vegas has agreed on zoning changes on Fremont Street, which allows bars to be closer together duplicating efforts of similar cities, like the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. It is expected that this change will bring more tourism and business to the downtown area.

In 2004, the city partnered with Cheetah Wireless Technologies and MeshNetwork to pilot a wide area mobile broadband system. The pilot system is installed downtown, around the Fremont Street Experience.

Las Vegas from space (1989 Space Shuttle Photo)

In 2005, on a lot adjacent to the city's 61 ac (247,000 m²), the World Market Center opened. It is intended to be the nation's and possibly the world's preeminent furniture wholesale showroom and marketplace, and is meant to compete with the current furniture market capital of High Point, North Carolina.

On October 23, 2006, plans were unveiled to build a World Jewelry Center in Downtown's Union Park. Similar to the World Market Center, the WJC will be a one stop shop for jewelry trade shows from around the world. The project proposes a 57-story, 815-foot office tower.^[6]