Population Statistics

• World Population Review estimates Las Vegas’ population in 2020 as 644,644 people, and notes that this is Nevada’s most-populous city. Notably, this counts only those living in the city limits, and does not account for the total metropolitan area, which is more than 2 M people (2.23 M in 2018).
• The total number of residents falling into the 18 – 34-year-old age range is estimated to be around 295,246 for Las Vegas city-proper and 1,053,400 for the greater metropolitan area of the city, or 45.8% of the city’s population. These were estimated because no site collects this information (by the specific range of 18 – 35 particularly); calculations are shown below.
• The general demographics of this city are: White (62.17%), Other Race (12.47%), Black/African-American (12.17%), Asian (6.62%), Two+ Races (4.86%), Native American (0.92%), and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (0.80%). The male-to-female ratio is nearly equal at 50.04% to 49.96% respectively. The median age is 37.7; for women it’s 38.2 and for men, it’s 37.1.
• Average family size is 3.45 and average household size is 2.73 persons, and the city has a 52.5% home ownership rate. The average earnings is $35,928, with males averaging $40,144 and females averaging $32,228 annually.

2020 City Elections

•  Clark County, Nevada (where Las Vegas is seated) will have municipal elections in 2020 for the following: “district court judgeships, justice of the peace judgeships, water district representatives, Moapa Valley Television Maintenance District representatives, and Overton Power District representatives,” according to Ballotpedia. The primary is scheduled for June 9, 2020 with the general election following on November 3, 2020.
• Las Vegas held city elections in 2019 for “mayor and the Ward 1, 3, and 5 seats on the city council,” as well as a special election for the Ward 2 seat (after the sitting representative resigned).

Top Neighborhoods for Creatives

• Las Vegas’ Arts District is likely the best place in the city for creatives with spending power. It’s an 18-block area filled with art museums and galleries, as well as artists’ collectives. The area hosts a First Friday event each month, and “encompasses a funky stretch of Main Street that mixes antique shops with bars … plus up-and-coming culinary destinations.”
• The Downtown area of Las Vegas is host to both classic hotel-casinos and corporations, but also home to trendy bars, like the Fremont Street Experience, hip restaurants, like La Comida, and cultural outposts, like 11st Street Records where creatives of all types are sure to flock. Notably, most of the residences in this area are high (or higher-) end.
• Young (and often affluent) families like the Summerlin neighborhood, a “master-planned community” founded and built originally by Howard Hughes. This neighborhood is close to attractions like the Red Rock Resort, which is just off the gorgeous Red Rock Canyon (for the adventurous-hiking types), and the downtown area hosts “a massive shopping and dining complex,” plus the city’s ballpark.
•  Henderson is another suburb area that’s likely to be home to affluent creatives and families; the area is a mix of residences and commercial sectors and has been slowly being revitalized for years. It’s home to the “booze district,” or the collection of “local breweries and distilleries,” as well as a gourmet restaurant scene.

Programs for Residents

• The city hosts a variety of programs for residents in the following categories: Neighborhood Services (like for neighborhoods, homeless folks, veterans, etc); Education Services (like before and after-school programs); Events (various); Parks & Facilities (various); Programs & Classes (like sports, educational offerings, dance, art, etc); and Arts & Culture (like visual arts museums, performing arts centers, etc).
• The city also offers helpful resources for new residents, neighborhood improvement grants, rentals (like picnic spaces or special event centers), and parking and city-based transportation options/information.

City ID Cards

• Las Vegas does not appear to have a city ID card program, though the state of Nevada offers an ID (like all states).

Questions for City Officials

• Question 1: Nearly half of the population in the city proper and metropolitan areas is under age 35. What are the biggest draws in the city for this age group and what does the city do to continue to draw them in?
• Question 2: The city has already spent over $2 M on the Badlands legal dispute and the city government just authorized additional expenditures on legal fees. How does the city justify spending what could cover “one-fifth of the operating budget for the city’s Courtyard Homeless Resource Center” on legal expenses over failed negotiations?

Calculations / Estimates

• The US Census Bureau shows the following as statistics for the age breakdown: 18-20 years old (3.8% + 3.9% = 7.7%); 21-24 years old (5.3% + 5.2% = 10.5%); 25-34 (14.3% + 13.3% = 27.6%). This adds up to equal 45.8% of the population.
• Using the Las Vegas city-proper total population: 45.8% of 644,644 = 295,246 persons
• Using the Las Vegas metropolitan area total population of 2.23 M: 45.8% of 2.23 M = 1,053,400 persons

Initiatives to Promote Small Businesses

Small Business Research Portal

• The Small Business Research Portal is a data portal developed by the city of Las Vegas to assist small businesses in the optimization of their operations.
• The research services offered by the portal include business and industry analysis, advertising analysis, competitive intelligence, and demographic analysis.

Las Vegas North Premium Outlets

• The Las Vegas North Premium Outlets are among the most successful malls for retail outlets in the US.
• The city of Las Vegas provides a conducive business environment in the outlets including assisting retailers with location issues and assisting property owners and commercial brokers in the recruitment of high-quality tenants.
• The city also provides dedicated development teams that help developers with permits, plans, and designs in order to implement their development projects.

Symphony Park

• Symphony Park is reputed to be among the prime development locations in Las Vegas. It has over 600 mixed-use residential building units that have ground floor commercial spaces that are being developed.
• Other facilities that are also being developed include a new parking garage for the city that has two spaces for retail business, a major convention building beside World Market Center, and one of the biggest home furnishings expo sites in the US.

The Medical District Targeted Industry Program (MD-TIP)

• The Medical District Targeted Industry Program (MD-TIP) offers financial assistance to business and/or property owners that rehabilitates, renovates or expands industrial or commercial properties in the Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD).
• LVMD is a center of medicine with major hospitals, higher institutions, and other medical providers.
• The program provides rebates for project expenses of $50,000 and below for eligible industries in the specified locations.

Local Merchant Associations

•  Vegas Chamber 
•  Downtown Vegas Alliance 
• Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce 
• Las Vegas Executives Association 
•  American Marketing Association Las Vegas
•  Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Las Vegas

Major Partnerships

Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD)

• The Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD) is a partnership "between the city of Las Vegas and the downtown Las Vegas medical and health care community".
• The LVMD provides support for continuous and future business and property development in the district.
• The aim of the district is to boost the provision of complementary medical services while promoting a sense of community and improving quality health care.

Partnership with UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs

• The city of Las Vegas entered into a partnership with Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to "establish a community resiliency initiative".
• The goal of the partnership is to ascertain and deal with stresses and shocks that could affect the whole community.
• There would be collaboration between the partners and stakeholders in the community to influence policy decisions and provide guidance for urban management.
•  Relationships and resources from the city and UNLV would be used to develop community leadership and create a framework for sustainability and resilience in the city.

Partnership with Downtown Vegas Alliance (DVA)

• The city of Las Vegas and Downtown Vegas Alliance are partnering to promote a positive shift in jobs, economic growth, the arts district, and transportation.
• The partnership involves the Nevada Museum of Art, Zappos, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Circa Resort and Casino, and Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
• The partnership promotes projects such as "Turbulence (a new unique tavern for special event spaces), a new visitor center on Main Street, updated plans for new Circa Resort and Casino, and construction of the Nevada Art Museum in 2023".

Lowest RFP Amount

• The procurement/purchasing website of the city of Las Vegas does not provide information on the lowest RFP amounts for bids on goods/services. It only provides general information to assist businesses in placing their bids such as bid opportunities, supplier resources, supplier diversity, purchasing records, and city surplus.

Questions

• What other financial assistance programs do you have for small businesses?
• What are the lowest RFP amounts for bids on goods/services?

Water Shortage Challenges

• Las Vegas is facing huge water shortages and tough challenges in procuring it for its growing population.
• In a paper published this March 2020, Cambridge's Brian Paulson reports that Nevada's population will grow to over 4.3 million in 2026 including 3.3 million from Clark County and Las Vegas.
• Nevada is known to be the most water-resource-poor state in the US with only less than 4 inches of rainfall every year.
• Las Vegas' main water source Lake Mead is predicted to have a 50% chance of drying up in the next 15 years.
•  Groundwater in southern Nevada is also in short supply, forcing Las Vegas to fight for water rights to 30 basins across the state's more rural areas.
• Las Vegas has applied to acquire rights to 100,000 acre-feet of water from six basins including Cave Valley, Dry Lake Valley and Snake Valley.
• This initiative is expected to supply water to 350,000 homes or 1 million residents.
• However, Las Vegas needs to build a 250-mile pipeline costing $3.5 billion to access water from the basins.
• The city has adopted water conservation measures and implemented strict water usage rules.
• Rules include restricting lawn irrigation to specific times and days.
• There are also limitations to vehicle and surface washing, use of fountains and mist systems, and watering golf courses.
•  Restrictions apply to residents, residents with multiple addresses, and businesses.
• The city also encourages converting grass yards to desert landscapes to conserve water.
• Other conservation measures include replacing irrigation controllers with smart controllers and using drip irrigation to minimize water wastage.

Crime

• Nevada Public Radio reported in 2019 that the Las Vegas Metro Police receives around 10,000 calls every day.
• Las Vegas' police work may even be significantly increased with the approval of an ordinance that criminalizes homeless people who refuse to go to shelter beds.
• A policy change also terminated a program that allowed Metro Police to start deportation proceedings for undocumented foreign individuals who have committed misdemeanor or crimes.
• With the program closed, the Las Vegas Metro Police could no longer work to deport suspect violent individuals.
• The city has worked to better equip its police force and recruit new officers.
• News3 Las Vegas reported in 2019 that the city approved funds for purchase of 77 new police cars.
• The increased number of police cars will act as a visible deterrent to crime in the city.
• Police chief Ojeda also said that the purchase will also speed up response times as officers are able to take their vehicle units home.
• In addition, the cars are expected to act as a recruitment tool for new police officers.
• Chief Ojeda said, "In our jurisdiction, in Las Vegas, everyone is having recruitment issues... So that's a new recruiting tool that is going to be used."

Climate Change

• Las Vegas is the fastest-warming city in the US and directly susceptible to climate change effects.
• Climate Central ranked the city number 1 in terms of temperature change ahead of El Paso in Texas, Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona, and Burlington in Vermont.
• Las Vegas registered a 5.76°F increase between 1970 to 2018.
• Its home state Nevada registered a 2.8°F increase between 1970 to 2018.
• Climate Central points out that climate change-driven warming increases evaporation which in turn spurs droughts and heavier downpours.
• Warming also raises sea levels and storm surges as well as intensifying downpours from hurricanes.
• Lastly, warming damages public health through heat waves and seasonal pests as well as worsening ground-level ozone pollution.
•  The Guardian reports that the Las Vegas Desert Research Institute found a correlation between heatwaves and deaths caused by heat in southern Nevada.
• The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reported that Las Vegas can experience 96 days of over 100°F by the end of the century if global carbon emission trends continue.
• The Guardian links climate change challenges to the city's casual attitude towards growth and development.
• During its boom years, the city paved hundreds of miles with heat-absorbing asphalt and concrete which contributed to a 'heat island' effect in the valley.
• The article points out that Las Vegas' poorest and elderly residents as well as children are at risk with climate change-driven warming.
• The city has made efforts to decrease its carbon footprint by using renewable energy to power its government buildings and streetlights since 2016.
• Major businesses including hotels and casinos have also prioritized sustainability in their operations.
•  MGM Resorts alone has installed 20 acres of solar panels to power its facilities.
• Voters in Nevada also passed a ballot demanding state utilities to obtain 50% of electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

Question to City Leaders

• In light of the dual challenges of water shortage and climate change-driven warming, what are your short-term priorities and long-term sustainability plans to improve environmental and public health in Las Vegas?