Can Vegas diversify and rebound? (school, property taxes, train)

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Yes, but in case you haven't noticed, the military is in the middle of a big shrink. So as an engine of growth, it nay not be all that good.

So what! In the context of diversification in Las Vegas, the military has a large role and is not insignificant. Nellis or Creech AFB is not on the chopping block. They will continue to contribute to the Las Vegas economy for many years to come.

I don't forget about them, and I don't take them for granted, either. It is very good that Nellis isn't going anywhere. But Nellis doesn't count as diversification. Another big recession isn't not a question of if, but when. I don't see how anyone can say otherwise. We will get whacked with another recession sometime in the future. Hopefully in the far future.

But one thing's for sure, if we do nothing, our next recession is going to play out like our last recession.

We will just have to agree to disagree. Without Nellis AFB, North Las Vegas becomes a wasteland. They support over 10,000 jobs in the community. I consider them the backbone of this community because they do not rely on tourist dollars for income.

I completely agree that North Las Vegas is nothing without Nellis AFB. But it isn't enough to support the entire valley through the lean times of a recession.

The small businesses in NLV did a great deal of belt tightening even having Nellis business as usual. Losing all those well-paid construction workers hurt EVERYONE in the valley, even if not directly. Their loss rippled for years through the valley. And it still does.

We need Nellis. No doubt about that. We need gaming. (I don't like gaming. But I see that we obviously need it.) I'm saying we need something else. Construction was a good "something else" but it couldn't survive the recession. We need more and varied industry to carry us through the lean times when people can't afford to come here and throw all their money away. That's diversification.

You are correct in that it takes a lot of money to bring more industries and diversification here to Las Vegas. Should be very interesting when the 2015 State Legislature meets and votes on the new Medical School funding

{A statewide steering committee of higher education and community leaders is working on the creation of a UNLV medical school and expanding the existing University of Nevada School of Medicine. A joint budget for medical education will be submitted to the Legislature in 2015.}



Report: Medical school at UNLV could have $900 million economic impact - Las Vegas Sun News




UNLV taps ‘planning dean’ for proposed medical school

Actually, the libraries have gone digital. My GF borrows ebooks from the NYPL and reads them on her Kindle

So?

They're planning on spending more than $1 billion on a train to nowhere. This train won't bring in a dime to the city. A top-notch medical school would bring in billions.

But like I said, don't worry. They're not going to diversify and you're not going to be on the hook for the extra few dollars in property taxes that we'd need to do so.