Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated as DTLV) is the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

and historic center of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It is the original townsite, and the Downtown gaming area was the primary gambling district of Las Vegas prior to

the Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

. As the urban core of the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

, it features a variety of hotel and business

highrise A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

s, cultural centers, historical buildings and government institutions, as well as residential and retail developments. Downtown is located in the center of the Las Vegas Valley and just north of the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...

, centered on

Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas Valley – and Nevada – besides the Las Vegas Strip. Named in honor of explorer and politician John C. Frémont and located in the h ...

, the

Fremont Street Experience The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost five blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch", and portions of some ot ...

and

Fremont East Fremont Street is a street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas Valley – and Nevada – besides the Las Vegas Strip. Named in honor of explorer and politician John C. Frémont and located in the h ...

. The city defines the area as bounded by I-15 on the west, Washington Avenue on the north, Maryland Parkway on the east and Sahara Avenue on the south.

History

Before incorporation

Perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled to the area 10,000 years ago, leaving behind

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

Anasazi The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...

and

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...

tribes came here at least 2,000 years ago. The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for ''the meadows'', in the 1800s because it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Street is named after him. Eleven years later, members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder of this fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue at the

Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park is a state park of Nevada, containing the Old Mormon Fort, the first structure built by people of European heritage in what would become Las Vegas fifty years later. In present-day Las Vegas, the site ...

Incorporation and growth

Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of land adjacent to the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. The first hotel in the area, the Hotel Nevada, was built in 1906; it is still operating as the

Golden Gate Hotel and Casino The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino is located at One Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. A part of the Fremont Street Experience, it is the oldest and smallest hotel (122 rooms) on the Fremont Street Experience. John F. Miller initial ...

. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city. The year 1931 was a pivotal one for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks. This year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

. The influx of construction workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. It was completed in 1935. File:El Cortez (Las Vegas) 333.jpg, El Cortez (photographed in 2021) File:Fremont Street 1952.JPG,

(1952), night view directed west; prominent neon signs include the Golden Nugget and Vegas Vic File:Vegas, 1964.jpg, Fremont Street (1964), night view directed west; Golden Nugget decoration is much brighter File:NNSA-NSO-787.jpg, Mushroom cloud over the

Nevada Test Site The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...

, viewed from downtown Las Vegas File:Fremont street 1983.jpg, Fremont Street (1983), day view directed west File:Fremont Street 1986.jpg, Fremont Street (1986), night view directed east File:Downtown Las Vegas from Stratosphere 3.jpg, Downtown Las Vegas (2008), viewed north from the Stratosphere (Las Vegas) Key hotel developments serving tourists in Las Vegas included the El Cortez (1941) on Fremont and Last Frontier (1942) on

U.S. Route 91 U.S. Route 91 or U.S. Highway 91 (US-91) is a north–south United States highway running from Brigham City, Utah, to Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Despite the "1" as the last digit in the number, US-91 is no lon ...

, further south, later to be known as Las Vegas Boulevard/

Strip Strip or Stripping may refer to: Places * Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya * Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, lavishly decorated hotels, gambling casinos and big-name entertainment became synonymous with Las Vegas. The first large casino in Las Vegas was built downtown, the Golden Nugget, completed in 1946. In 1951, the first

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

detonation at the

, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, occurred. City residents and visitors were able to witness the

mushroom cloud A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently ener ...

s until 1963, when the

Limited Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted ...

required that nuclear tests be moved underground. Meanwhile, Downtown and the Strip began competing for tourists, with the famous Vegas Vic waving cowboy sign downtown (1951) being answered by the opening of the tallest building in Las Vegas, the nine-storey

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

on the Strip; the Riviera was trumped by the twelve-storey

Fremont Hotel and Casino The Fremont Hotel & Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, on the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is operated by the Boyd Gaming Corporation. History The Fremont Hotel is located on 200 Fremont Street. It was designed by archit ...

(1956) downtown. By the late 1950s, most new casino-resorts were opening on the Strip, including the

Dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

(1955),

Tropicana Tropicana may refer to: Companies *Tropicana Entertainment, a former casino company that owned several Tropicana-branded casinos *Tropicana Products, a Chicago-based food company known for orange juice Hotels and nightclubs *Tropicana Casino & Re ...

(1957), Stardust (1958), Tallyho (1962), and

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars P ...

(1966), in comparison, competing contemporary developments downtown included The Mint (1957), Lady Luck (1964), and

Four Queens The Four Queens Hotel and Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas on the Fremont Street Experience. The 690-room hotel and casino is owned and operated by TLC Casino Enterprises, which acquired the property from the Elsinore Corporation in 200 ...

(1966). 1955 also saw the opening of the

Moulin Rouge Hotel The Moulin Rouge Hotel was a hotel and casino located in West Las Vegas that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Although its peak operation lasted only six months in the second half of 1955, it was the first dese ...

just west of downtown, the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas. Full desegregation of other Las Vegas properties followed in 1960, and during the 1960s, corporations and business powerhouses such as

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

were building and buying hotel-casino properties. Gambling was referred to as "gaming", which transitioned into legitimate business. In 1989, entrepreneur

Steve Wynn Stephen Alan Wynn (''né'' Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He is known for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Early in his career he oversaw the construction ...

changed the face of the Las Vegas gaming industry by opening up

The Mirage The Mirage is a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Hard Rock International. The 65-acre property includes a casino and 3,044 rooms. Golden Nugget, Inc., le ...

, the

's first mega-casino resort. This strengthened the pull of visitors away from the downtown area.

Fremont Street Experience

Las Vegas Strip en2016 Fremont Street (11)

In 1995, the

in Las Vegas's downtown area was opened. This canopied, five-block area features 24 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound from dusk until midnight during shows held on the top of each hour. Due to years of revitalization efforts, 2012 was dubbed "The Year of Downtown". Projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars made their debut at this time. They included

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is located in Downtown Las Vegas's 61-acre Symphony Park and is a five-acre performing arts center consisting of three theaters in two buildings; groundbreaking for the $470 million project was May 26, 200 ...

and

Discovery Children's Museum DISCOVERY Children's Museum is a nonprofit Children's museum, children’s museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, dedicated to providing children of all abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs, access to fun and exciting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, ...

, the

Mob Museum The Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a history museum located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Opened on February 14, 2012, the Mob Museum is dedicated to featuring the artifacts ...

, the

Neon Museum The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors on 2.62 acres. The museum features a restored lobby shell from the defunct La Concha Motel as its visitors' center, whic ...

, and a new

Las Vegas City Hall Las Vegas City Hall is the center of municipal government for the City of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is located downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultura ...

complex. In 2018, plans for a new downtown expo center were announced, replacing and expanding on space previously provided by the Cashman Center.

Neighborhoods and attractions

Fremont Street Casino District

Las Vegas 2016 Fremont Street Experience (19)

is home to most of downtown's hotels and casinos. These are the original casinos of Las Vegas, which existed before the more famous

. The

is a canopied street of the downtown area where casinos have been connected to the street and to each other in a unique visual manner. An audio-visual system consisting of more than 2 million lights and a sound system allows for nightly shows. A variety of events also occur at the Experience, including several live concerts. Various entertainment and dining options are also located in the area.

Fremont East Entertainment District

Property and business owners have been working to redevelop Fremont Street just east of the Fremont Street Experience. In 2002, the city of

Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency is a redevelopment agency whose goal is to work in concert with the community and private sector to revitalize the City of Las Vegas. History The city of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency (RDA) was created in 1986 by th ...

joined with Fremont East property and business owners to create a business improvement district, as well as pay for a $5.5 million streetscape improvement. This area is called the Fremont East Entertainment District. It features an eclectic mix of bars, clubs and restaurants. Centered on Las Vegas Boulevard on Fremont Street, this three-block renovation includes pedestrian-friendly street redesign, landscaping and retro-looking neon signage. File:Fremont Street Experience (28953785993).jpg, Fremont East (2016), looking towards FSE File:Don't Tell Mama II - Photo by June Johns.JPG, Fremont East bar File:Exuberant guitar player (Unsplash).jpg, Beauty Bar on Fremont East

The Arts District

Officially called 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District – named after the 18 blocks the district originally encompassed – this area is home to the city's arts scene with its mix of art galleries, studios and stores. Many arts district stores offer antiques, vintage clothing, high fashion, and mid-20th century furniture/furnishings and other collectible items. Centered on Main Street and Charleston Boulevard, the area hosts the popular First Friday festival every month featuring art, music and other performances.

Symphony Park

Symphony Park Symphony Park is a 61-acre site located in downtown Las Vegas. Once housing a Union Pacific rail yard, Symphony Park is being master developed for mixed-use by the city of Las Vegas, which is also the landowner. Symphony Park is home to the Clev ...

is a mixed-use urban district being built on the land to the west of Fremont and Main streets. It will eventually feature a mix of retail, medical, hotel and residential developments. The city of Las Vegas is undertaking the development on of land purchased from the

in 1995. This is a major project for the

and the city. Projects that have been completed and are currently operating at Symphony Park are the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the Discovery Children's Museum.

Las Vegas Medical District

Business and government leaders have begun working on a plan to expand downtown’s Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD) from its current 200 acres to at least 680 acres. While currently offering the largest concentration of health-care services in the Las Vegas valley, an expanded district would allow for additional health-care services and opportunities. Areas for planned expansion include the Charleston Boulevard corridor to Valley View Boulevard, along Martin L. King Boulevard and in Symphony Park. The centerpiece of this expanded district will be the 260,000-square-foot UNLV School of Medicine, which will include an educational building and library. The school was granted preliminary accreditation in late 2016 and can begin accepting students for its 2017 charter class.

Financial District

Centered on Bonneville Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard, most of this area is filled with office and government buildings. With several court buildings located here, there are many judicial-related businesses such as law firms in the immediate area. The financial district is home to the

building, the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse and several bank buildings such as

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

. The Clark County Marriage Bureau is also located here at the Regional Justice Center.

Art and culture

Downtown is a hub for arts and culture in the metro area. The main venue for performing arts is the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

-inspired

Smith Center for the Performing Arts The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is located in Downtown Las Vegas's 61-acre Symphony Park and is a five-acre performing arts center consisting of three theaters in two buildings; groundbreaking for the $470 million project was May 26, 20 ...

. In addition to The Smith Center and 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District, there are a number of educational facilities in the Cultural Corridor, located just north of the immediate downtown area. They include the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, the Neon Museum and Boneyard and the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. Also in this area are a number of neon signs from former Las Vegas casinos and landmarks, which have been restored and installed on several streets around downtown, as well as throughout the Fremont Street Experience. A famous neon icon of downtown Las Vegas is the Vegas Vic sign, also located at the Fremont Street Experience. *

The Writer's Block The Writer's Block is an independent bookseller, publisher, and literacy educator in downtown Las Vegas. The Writer's Block was established in 2014 by 826NYC co-founder Scott Seeley and Drew Cohen. It was opened with former BSSco. store manage ...

* DISCOVERY Children's Museum *

Las Vegas Natural History Museum The Las Vegas Natural History Museum is a private, nonprofit natural history museum that is located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibits focus on various subjects, from dinosaurs, marine life, and mammals both exotic and native, as well as ...

* Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park * "Cannabition" pop-up museum of marijuana (opening July 1, 2018 and only open to those 21 and over).

Retail

* Las Vegas North Premium Outlets * Downtown Container Park * Antique & Vintage stores

Cityscape

Architecture

Several buildings of architectural significance exist downtown, although being founded in 1905, Las Vegas lacks the number of historical buildings of older cities. Exceptions include the Historic Fifth Street School, built in 1936 in the Spanish-mission style and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Also listed is the

Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse is a Neo-classical building located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. It is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. History The building was erected between 1931 and 1933, opening on ...

, which currently serves as home to The Mob Museum and is one of the few historical neoclassical buildings in the city. Built in 1930, the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies and Performing Arts is the city's best example of Art Deco architecture. The Morelli House, built in 1959, is a notable mid-century modern design. The building that formerly housed the Las Vegas City Hall, and now is home to the corporate headquarters for the online retailer Zappos.com, is a notable example of 1970s modern architecture. As Las Vegas boomed, more recent buildings tended to take inspiration from a variety of styles. The Clark County Government Center has a red sandstone exterior invoking a desert motif. The

, opened in 2012, is a more modern example of Art Deco design. Architect

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

designed the building for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health building in deconstructionist style. It was completed in 2010.

Parks

* Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park * Lewis Avenue Pedestrian Corridor * Heritage Park * Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park * Clark County Government Center Amphitheater * Cashman Field Center

Government

Downtown serves as a main center for government services in the

. Government offices for the city of Las Vegas and Clark County are located here, as well as the

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as the LVMPD or Metro) is a combined city and county law enforcement agency for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is headed by the Sheriff of Clark County, ...

and several courts. Some former government buildings have been turned into attractions, such as the old

becoming the

Transportation

Two major freeways—Interstate 15 and Interstate 515/U.S. Route 95—cross in downtown Las Vegas.

RTC Transit RTC Transit is the name of the bus system in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Clark County, Nevada, Clark County, Nevada. It is a subsidiary of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. While it services most of Clark County ...

is a public transportation system providing bus service throughout Las Vegas, including the downtown area. A

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

link in Las Vegas called the Strip & Downtown Express (previously ACE Gold Line) with limited stops and frequent service was launched in March 2010. It connects downtown Las Vegas, the Strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center. It stops at the Bonneville Transit Center. Completed in 2012, the transit terminal serves as a central transfer point for downtown and features 16 vehicle bays for buses and 100 bike racks. The Downtown Loop is a free shuttle servicing many attractions in downtown Las Vegas. The Loop runs continuously during operating hours and arrives at each stop every 20 minutes. The hours of operation are Monday through Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday through Saturday: 3 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The AAA Free Self-Driving Shuttle is a pilot program that provides rides in the Fremont East Entertainment District Nov 2017 – Nov 2018. The pilot program is a partnership wit
Keolis
the city of Las Vegas, and the

Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) is a government agency and the transit authority and the transportation-planning agency for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1965. RTC Transit The Region ...

. The shuttle runs Tuesday – Sunday 4:30pm – 8:30pm, with the main station stop at the Downtown Container Park. Shuttle service is suspended during the month of August.

Economy

The economy of downtown Las Vegas has been primarily based on gambling and entertainment, as is the case in the greater

. However, the smaller downtown casinos earn revenues that pale in comparison to the mega resorts on the Las Vegas Strip further south. As of 2014, there have been major renovations of several downtown resorts such as The Plaza, Golden Gate Hotel, Golden Nugget, El Cortez Hotel & Casino, the D and the Downtown Grand. Downtown Las Vegas also houses some corporate offices, as well as the World Market Center Las Vegas, a frequent host of trade shows and conventions. Recently, the opening of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the arrival of the new Zappos headquarters downtown has started to attract new medical and technology-oriented businesses to the area.

Revitalization

The downtown area in recent decades has played second fiddle to the larger and more famous

, which is located a few miles to the south. The city has been working on revitalization efforts to entice more visitors and residents to the downtown area. World Market Center Las Vegas consists of three giant buildings, with a total of 5.1 million square feet, in a facility designed by

Jon Jerde Jonathan Adams Jerde, (January 22, 1940 – February 9, 2015) was an American architect based in Venice, Los Angeles, California, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, a design architecture and urban planning firm specializing in the des ...

. It is home to semiannual trade shows for the furniture and furnishing industries. This is one of several entities that are helping to diversity downtown Las Vegas's economy and job base. The square footage of World Market Center Las Vegas is greater than both the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The city is also working to attract events to the downtown area. Recently held events include ''Helldorado'' and the ''Life is Beautiful'' festival. In 2012 several new downtown projects were completed. The

, the new

and a new City Hall building opened. The Discovery Children's Museum opened next door to The Smith Center in 2013. The Las Vegas City Hall now operates out of a new building, which, along with the Bonneville Transit center, can serve as an anchor tenant for new development along Main Street. In addition, Main and Commerce streets in downtown Las Vegas are undergoing major beautification efforts, which started in mid-2014. Online retailer

Zappos Zappos.com is an American online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The company was founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn and launched under the domain name Shoesite.com. In July 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos in an ...

made major renovations to the old Las Vegas City Hall, and moved into the building in late 2013, which now houses its corporate headquarters. Zappos CEO

Tony Hsieh Anthony Hsieh ( ; December 12, 1973November 27, 2020) was an American internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He retired as the CEO of the online shoe and clothing company Zappos in August 2020 after 21 years. Prior to joining Zappos, Hs ...

had taken a personal, as well as a professional, interest in the urban area and contributed $350 million of his personal wealth toward a multifaceted revitalization effort called the Downtown Project, with businesses like

included among its investments.

Film and media history

* The 1971 James Bond film '' Diamonds Are Forever'' featured a

chase scene A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle in pursuit, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automotive i ...

in which

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, running from Las Vegas police, side-rolls a car through an

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...

exiting onto Fremont Street. * The 1987 music video for the song "

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album '' The Joshua Tree'' and was released as the album's second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the band's ...

" by U2 was filmed on Fremont Street and featured the band members wandering around, while

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

played an acoustic guitar. * ''

Very Bad Things ''Very Bad Things'' is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by Peter Berg in his feature film directorial debut and starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven, Christian Slater, Leland Orser, Kobe Tai and J ...

'' (1998) featured Fremont Street in the movie. * ''

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid ''Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'' is a 1992 American science fiction comedy family film, and the second installment of the ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' film series. Directed by Randal Kleiser and released by Walt Disney Pictures, it stars Rick Moran ...

'' (1992) prominently featured Fremont Street in the movie. * ''

Cool World ''Cool World'' is a 1992 American live-action/animated black comedy fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt, it tells the story of a cartoonist w ...

'' (1992) showed all the animation coming out of the Plaza hotel and going down Fremont Street. * In 1994, ''Glitter Gulch'' was featured prominently in the TV Miniseries ''

The Stand ''The Stand'' is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few survivin ...

''. * The 1997 comedy ''

Vegas Vacation ''Vegas Vacation'' is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Stephen Kessler in his feature directorial debut. It is the fourth installment in '' National Lampoon''’s ''Vacation'' film series, and was written by Elisa Bell, based on a story b ...

'' includes a few scenes on Fremont Street. * In the 2004 movie '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'', Steve the Pirate is seen along the Plaza near the

. * In a 2005 release,

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco is the solo project of American musician Brendon Urie. It was originally a pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Urie, Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson. They recorded their firs ...

released a song about cheap motels on Fremont Street called " Build God, Then We'll Talk". * The 2007 film ''

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

'', has Nicolas Cage's character entering the Golden Nugget from the

. *

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

's music video for "Chrome and Paint" took place on Fremont Street, with Ice Cube in a lowrider. * In the video game, '' Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas'', Logan Keller, and his teammates Jung and Michael, infiltrate Fremont Street to find a news van, which they find by going through the maintenance tunnels under the "Stocco Casino". * Heavily referenced in the

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

song "Mr. Siegal". * Featured at the beginning of the TV Series '' CSI'' season 7 finale episode 24. * Featured in the opening credits of the TV series ''

Vega$ ''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spelling and created by Mic ...

''. * Magician and illusionist

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos ( el, Χριστόφορος Νικόλαος Σαραντάκος; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. Angel began his career in New ...

has done many demonstrations and TV specials there. * The reality television series ''

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

'' is filmed at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop located on

Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 (US 91), which had been the main highway between Los Angel ...

, which features other prominent members of the downtown community, most notably Jesse Amoroso from

Cowtown Guitars Cowtown Guitars was a vintage guitar shop located in Las Vegas, Nevada, owned by husband and wife, Jesse and Roxie Amoroso. The shop was well known having one of the largest collection of vintage guitars in North America and boasted a client list ...

who appears as a reoccurring guitar expert on the show.

References

External links

The Fremont Street ExperienceSymphony Park Las VegasFirst Friday Las VegasZappos Downtown Revitalization Project
{{Las Vegas Valley Arts districts