For all those who support "sin", let's see where it has benefited you. Here in Dallas, home prices have fallen 7.3% since the peak in August 2006. In Vegas, they have fallen 53.4% during the same time frame. Yes, let's have more scammers, whores, murders, foreclosures and bankruptcies in "sin" city. I can't wait for more of the same, especially in the neighborhoods where most Vegas people live. The apologists here just don't get what is going on in America right now. Based upon the caliber of the responders here and those who commented on that defensiveless victim who was shot in the back two nights ago in the park, I cancelled my reservations for my fall outing in Vegas. Yes, you need more prostitutes working the casinos to enhance the visitor count. Yeah, right Babe.

Final comment: Okay, you guys can continue to assert that Vegas is an adult playground. It may be for you, but for most of us, it is not. Home prices there have fallen well over 53% since the peak, but those of us who live elsewhere have finally seen them increase marginally. They never did fall in the recession here and they at least retained their value. It seems Vegas attracts losers and those who feed off them. Vegas is one reality show after another. If Flava Flay, or whatever is his name, chooses Vegas as his hometown and those other sewer dwellers on MTV do the same, you can have it. Down here in Texas, we would take most of your celebrities out behind the barn and beat some sense into them. We produce cotton, corn, cattle, oil, seafood products, gas, and so many other agricultural products to serve the nation. And yes, you produce somethng else. What a testament to pass on to your children...whores.

Anyone who believes that sexual excess attracts the center of America is grossly out of step. Many of us, who previously visited Vegas, have absolutely no use for this kind of behaviour. I'm so glad the Rio closed its topless/prostitution pool. Once the pendulum swings a little further back, we will resume our visits to your city. If you want the gangbangers, ho's, and the criminal element instead, keep on the same path.

henderson,
The S&P Case-Shiller Index is easily accessed on line. In June 2001, the Vegas index stood at 109.76. It peaked at 234.78 in August 2006. As of May 2009, the Vegas index has dropped back to 109.49. I'll let you work out the percentage gain and loss through this part of the cycle.

"Union Gaming does and seeks to do business with companies and governments covered in its research reports. While Union Gaming makes every effort to provide objective reports and analysis, investors should be aware that the relationships maintained by the firm may have an inadvertent affect on the objectivity of any report," the company disclosed.

Doesn't a pimp in Vegas have a vested interest in the ho's he puts out on the street. I can't believe the LV Sun even published this article. Are they the pimp of the pimps? On Wall Street, publishers who engage in this kind of "pump and dump" are regulated and prosecuted.

Hey Linda, Thanks for remembering the Castaways. I doubt if 90% of the readers here remember it. One last thought...I got married in Vegas in 1980 and honeymooned at the Tropicana. That night, we went over to the Desert Inn for the lounge show, which used to feature great singers, who sang all the classic greats like, "Satin Doll" in one of the best lounge hangout in all of Vegas. All you had to do then was buy a drink to see such great singers, like the Imperials at the Dunes on Sunday, which was a free show. I heard that "Well, well" refrain dozens of time. At the Trop, and for years thereafter, I wasn't a big gambler, though I was told to call a certain guy on the floor to get the casino rate. And I did that at least 5 times per year and never paid more than 25 bucks for a great room in the tower. Once I was the victim of a clerk stealing 12 dollars from my credit card. I got a personal letter from the owner of the Trop, who was in Atlantic City at the time, and he invited me back to the Trop, threw in a Folies Bergere show (spelling ???) and a gourmet dinner at one of their best restaurants. I know Vegas will never be the same with all the accountants running the place now, but those were great times that I will never forget. Too bad we can't go back. I have many stories of the old times...playing BJ with Tony Danza, talking to Red Foxx in the Imperial Palace, Jack Nicolson at Caesars, etc., but now it is all about 500 dollar bottles of Grey Goose for Paris Hilton and her friends in clubs we could never afford to go into. Well, it was great while it lasted.

Yes, I'm a hick from Mayberry and at one time, I was a regular visitor to Vegas. I remember the Castaways with Sonny in that hole of a sports book and how they would comp you for just playing a few green chips at the BJ table or the craps table. Even if they didn't comp you, they at least let you into the restaurants in the VIP line. The casinos were full then and everybody I know loved going there. Even I invested in some townhomes there, but finally sold out in the late 90's when the town seemed to start catering to those who flew in from the urban wealth centers of America. Yeah, rooms were no longer cheap, meals became a budget breaker, and you couldn't play table games anymore, unless you were into high stakes. When there was a prize fight in town, forget it. 80% of the regular visitors were shut out. Homes became more expensive and greed ruled the day. Now, with the proliferation of gaming in almost every jurisdiction, there is less incentive to go to Vegas. Especially when they hit you with incredibly high taxes from rental cars to hotel rooms, and not let us forget the often hidden "resort fees" at check out. Yeah, like I know lots of locals to call with the so-called free local calls used to justify fees up to $25 per day. Vegas will come back one day, but it will never be the same. The operators became so used to greed, it won't be long before they waive the recessionary discounts and go back to nickle and diming everyone they can. I will never forget the new owner of the Treasure Island when he said, "We don't want the $50 a night customer". If you check some of the values now, you will find you can stay there for close to that amount. But those of us from Mayberry say, "No way, nip it, nip it, nip it int he bud".

That second hand smoke will get you everytime.