[w1ntermute]

Can someone explain why it makes sense to build a new community/ecosystem in Las Vegas? Not only is the climate terrible, there are problems with even having enough water: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/05/lake_mead...

There must be plenty of cities across the Midwest without such problems that would be a better choice for such an initiative.

[falsestprophet]

Because the guy who wrote the check wants it for his hometown.

Why do I want Chicago to be successful? On one hand, it get's super cold so it isn't the most practical location and it's kind of a racial powder keg. On the other hand, it is my home.

[latj]

Las Vegas is not his hometown. He moved Zappos to Las Vegas from SF for a more favorable tax environment, cheaper cost of living, etc.

And, about the comment about water shortage-- doesnt a significant portion of California's water flow through Nevada from the Colorado river? If so, Nevada is not lacking in water as much as in political power.

[ktsmith]

California gets ~10% of their water from the Colorado River System. They'll be getting less as more states use their full allocation and the surplus that California has been getting dries up. There is ongoing battling about distributing the water more fairly but that only delays the issues that Las Vegas faces with current population growth. The city has done quite a bit to provide incentive to residents to conserve water with things like tax credits for xeriscaping their properties instead of having lawns. They'll have to do quite a bit more to either curb the growth or find other sources of water.

As far as the distribution of the Colorado River Systems water goes, that's a mess that dates back to 1922.

[gonzo]

Las Vegas is not his hometown, but it is mine (and my father's, and his father moved to Boulder City at 19 to work on Boulder/Hoover Dam).

Family business growing up (started by grandfather/father above): drilling water wells. So, ya know, I've got a layman's understanding.

In the West, water rights are property rights. There are nearly 100 year old agreements on the split of water taken from the Colorado river.

Look up Arizona v. California.

In summary, as long as at least 7,500,000 acre feet of water is available from the Colorado River, California is allocated 4,400,000 acre·ft; Nevada, 300,000 acre·ft; and Arizona, the remainder. If more water is available, California is entitled to 50% of the water from the Colorado River, Arizona to 46%, and Nevada to 4%. If less water is available, the Secretary of the Interior must allocate the water according to various formulas (which were the subjects of the court cases) to ensure that each state receives a specified amount, with California receiving an absolute fixed maximum of 4,400,000 acre feet per year (547 U.S. 157).

[nugget]

Bad climate and lack of water are two common misconceptions applied to both Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Both are hot and dry, which many people love. Hot and dry > hot and humid, which is Texas, Florida, and most of the area in between. Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and Florida are the top retirement destinations for folks from the Midwest and Northeast, sick of cold and snow. Personally I prefer Las Vegas to the others because it's dry and doesn't have bugs (unlike Texas and Florida) but it's not quite as hot as Phoenix (which runs about 10'F hotter).

Water wise, Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States, less than an hour's drive away from downtown Las Vegas. Lake Mead's water is used by several states under a complicated water sharing agreement, but push come to shove, you can't physically move it out of Nevada. No significant water use restrictions have been placed on Las Vegas. By contrast, look at the situation in California, where some towns have had to resort to trucking in water because even their groundwater resources are entirely depleted.

[dragonwriter]

> Water wise, Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States, less than an hour's drive away from downtown Las Vegas. Lake Mead's water is used by several states under a complicated water sharing agreement, but push come to shove, you can't physically move it out of Nevada.

Actually, it really wants to move out of Nevada on its own, which is why it takes the Hoover Dam to keep it there -- and, even so, its not all in Nevada to start with.

And, push come to shove, the Colorado River is dammed further upriver than Lake Mead, so, in a sense, the reservoir could be moved out of Nevada. (As the reduction in releases from Lake Powell to Lake Mead recently demonstrates.)

Or, more importantly, it could cease to exist as useful reservoir with only a few more of the poor water years without a significant break that have been the norm since 2000.

[toomuchtodo]

> Or, more importantly, it could cease to exist as useful reservoir with only a few more of the poor water years without a significant break that have been the norm since 2000.

I've seen Hoover Dam from the inside. I'd pay to see it again at the bottom from the former lake bed.

[gonzo]

> Bad climate and lack of water are two common misconceptions applied to both Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Have you lived in either during the Summer?

The Las Vegas Valley gets about 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River.

[rycfan]

I have lived in Las Vegas for 6 1/2 years, including 7 summers. I'd rather live here than in Florida, where it gets nearly as hot, but which is way more humid and uncomfortable in my opinion. I'm not sure where this idea that Vegas is unlivable in the summer comes from -- it's no worse here in terms of extremes than the winters of some cities. No one would realistically think they could stay outside all the time during the 5-6 month winters of, say, Wisconsin or Vermont. It's already in the high 30's for lows in Wisconsin, for example. But for some reason people accept that without question but think it's crazy living in a place where's it hot (but no shoveling snow!) for 3 months and amazing for 9 months.

As far as Las Vegas getting 90% of its water from the Colorado river, that is true. Which is a whopping 4% of the amount available each year. As bad as things are getting in California, we're not too far from needing desalination there which frees up more than enough water for Las Vegas.

More water evaporates from Lake Mead each year (800,000 acre feet) than is used by Las Vegas (300,000 acre feet) -- http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/lakefaqs.html.

[gonzo]

I was born-n-raised, moved to Texas when I was 24 or 25. I've been back a couple times. Dad and sister both live there. Mom and brother are both buried there.

It's pretty damned hot if you're working outside. I don't remember it being that hot when I was younger (we would run across the street in bare feet).

[spilk]

Having lived in both Florida and Las Vegas, Las Vegas is so much nicer. This might be cliche, but the humidity really does make all the difference. High temps are 20 degrees lower in Florida, but I'd rather stand outside in 110F heat in the desert than 90F in a Florida summer.

[spilk]

Low taxes, cheap property. The climate is not bad depending on what you are looking for.

[AJ007]

Low taxes.

Not just cheap property but quality property. Want to live in a new high rise condo? Plenty of options remain from the building bust.

Very fast flight from LA, fast flight from SF. Massive amount of business travelers for conferences. Largely because of the proximity to California Vegas has a fairly good pool of employees. There are a lot of promising alternatives that just fall flat on their face in this regards (whether you have a tech startup or a factory, good luck in Miami.)

There is plenty to not like about Las Vegas but it is one of those places things make more sense when closely examined.

Water is a long term concern but depending on climate change, 200 years out a lot of major world cities will be gone, Las Vegas may very well still be around.

[spilk]

It's also fairly natural-disaster resistant. We get floods now and again, but that is managed fairly well. Otherwise, we aren't very susceptible to tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.

[prawn]

I'd say it makes sense to Hsieh because Zappos is based there. Natural to want to improve your surroundings over a random area.