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Well, they build Las Vegas out of an Oasis.


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Create Las Vegas.

That could definitely make sense. Vegas might even put up some capital to make it easier for people to visit and put their hard earned dollars to good use.

I can also imagine that from an infrastructure standpoint building across desert you'd run into fewer obstacles, although that might be wishful / oversimplified thinking.


LV is mostly gravel in its “natural state”. They even export the stuff. It’s really a lot like a naturally cleared plot of land with no uses outside of modern tech. (Modern tech includes a lot of water recycling and choosing plants suitable to the desert.)

Edit-I lived and worked there for 10 years. Ultimately it’s just too hot and dry for me. I like being outside too much and miss actual wild/green areas closer by. I saw it actively push out any business not gambling too. So pointing at the golf courses and casino tourist attractions as waste of water is probably a waste of time.

TLDR Las Vegas is Americas “Arrakis.” Complete with Fremen locals and probably a few Muad'Dibs it’s welcomed and ultimately rolled.


Las Vegas will last forever. Arid climate, Lots of concrete.

On the other hand: Dubai. One desert dystopia deserves another.

The US made Vegas. And stopped.


Las Vegas is very efficient with water though, for the city proper.

Cities aren't farmland, building one in a desert is basically an excellent use of land.


Why is there a large city (las Vegas) in the middle of a desert?

Vegas.

There is no reason to build buildings that tall when land is so cheap around it. And not just closer to the desert but also to the north and south. Just looking at the place you can see poor economic choices being made.

For comparison the strip in las vegas is basicly a tourist trap in the middle of the desert http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=las+vegas&ie=UTF... but it still has plenty of support around it. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=las+vegas&um=1&#...


Las Vegas exists due to the Hoover Dam.

They can build a Las Vegas in the time San Francisco can build a train station.

Now imagine if they turned this focus to something else.


Just like Las Vegas.

IIRC Las Vegas was originally the company town for the workers building the Hoover Dam.

Las Vegas.

Isn't that why Las Vegas exists?

You could pull something like this off in Vegas and live a lot more luxuriously. Yeah, you're stuck in the middle of the desert, but some folks in the startup community really seem to dig it out there.

Last time I was there I thought LV is like growing up in Germany I always thought the US was: pragmatic, over the top and innovative. Most of the US feels very stale and over the hill to me but it seems in Las Vegas people are still moving.

On the other hand: it’s pretty nuts to build such a city in the middle of the desert.


Counterpoint: Las Vegas is in the middle of a desert - yet immensely popular.

What's the reason for Las Vegas?
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