Las Vegas, Wranglers both grounded

fremont-street-experienceReports of Las Vegas‘ rebirth have been greatly exaggerated … or so the Brookings Institute‘s Mountain Monitor tells us. True, job growth was second only to Phoenix‘s, at almost 1% and double the regional average. Most of that growth, however, seems to have been in low-productivity jobs (casino industry to the white courtesy phone, please). “Putting those together, you get a view of a region focused on relatively less productive jobs. You have decent job growth, but it’s not yielding the kinds of output gains that growth is yielding in other places,” report author Mark Muro told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

He added that, while higher employment is Job One, economic diversification is ultimately necessary to improve the region’s sluggish economic recovery. We still lead major U.S. cities in unemployment, have only recovered 38% of the jobs lost in the Great Recession and half its output. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

Grounded. The Las Vegas Wranglers will be playing on a parking surface or some form of terra firma, it turns out. The issue wasn’t any structural concern with the Plaza’s fifth-floor tennis courts (which would have been replaced with a sprung structure for hockey action) but seating capacity. The Wranglers hope to fit 3,500 spectators a game into a $4 million bubble, an arrangement with Tamares Group that will run for five years, with an option for five more.

In a letter to subscribers, the Wrangles laid the issue fairly clear: “Having a final seating manifest before we begin the renewal process was important so that we don’t have to come back to you with changed seating arrangements upon a changed design.” We’ll keep you posted once the puck finally comes to rest.

Now for a word from our sponsor. The Killing of Tupac Shakur, by Cathy Scott, has gone into its third printing. This new edition contains a previously unpublished account of the fatal shooting as told to Scott by Tupac Shakur‘s bodyguard. For a limited time, it’s available for $7.99 plus shipping.

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