Case Bets: Ferris wheel fetishists; Rail fail; “Aerotropolis” now?

Caesars Entertainment better get a move on with that Ferris wheel it wants to build out back of O’Shea’s. A rival project, slated for problematic (and fairly blighted) land opposite Mandalay Bay received approval from Clark County. Then again, getting a project past the Clark County Commission is like spotting Holly Madison at a media event: a very routine occurrence. Also, the Las Vegas Strip is not exactly the Santa Monica Pier, in terms of the quality of the view from the top. The “Harrah’s Wheel,” if it opened today — for instance — would have for its western prospect the backside of several hotels and, to the east, a mix of slums and empty lots. To the south, Bally’s and to the north … the butt end of Venelazzo. The Stratosphere observation deck it ain’t. Given the dearth of promising locations, casino owners’ unquenchable Ferris wheel fetish (Phil Satre, Phil Ruffin and several others have toyed with the idea) is truly remarkable.

Continued problems with China‘s high-speed rail lines are making the failing Las Vegas Monorail look like an engineering triumph and a sound investment by comparison. (In other words, it’s really bad.)

One man’s “noise ghetto” is another man’s — mine, specifically — neighborhood. I’ll confess to being less than thrilled with the notion being propounded by authors Greg Lindsay and John D. Kasarda; namely, that solid middle-class citizens like myself be bulldozed aside to make room for “aerotropolis” cities like … Dubai. Then again, Las Vegas has already “done” Dubai and we’ll have a hangover for the next decade or more.

Also, McCarran International Airport encroaches so closely upon the Strip that Vegas really has no choice but to grow around it. Although Silverton owner Ed Roski’s idea of building a college football stadium right underneath a McCarran glide path looks like sheer whimsy. Those incoming jet planes practically comb your hair as it is. It’d pretty hair-raising to have one buzz a Runnin’ Rebels game, to say nothing of the noisy, er, distraction it would create. Roski’s proposed rerouting of Swenson Street (a major traffic artery) appears to necessitate the demolition of the Hilton Caesars Fountain, a campus landmark of UNLV and beloved anachronism for those who appreciate local corporate history. And that’d be a damned shame.

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