Reno, Las Vegas, and the Strip: A Tale of Three Cities

Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History

by Eugene P. Moehring

Eugene P. Moehring analyzes the development of Reno and Las Vegas since 1945 with special emphasis on the years after 1970. Major factors that shaped the development of both cities were the growth of corporate gaming and megaresorts and increased personal leisure and affluence. Moehring provides an engaging, informative, and readable history of the divergent paths that Reno and Las Vegas took over the past forty years. Reno, the nation’s gambling mecca in the 1950s, led the way, developing the successful tourist economy that Las Vegas later embraced. Through the 1970s the two cities resembled each other greatly, but Las Vegas grew to achieve global significance, while Reno slowly declined, searching for new industries to power its future. Moehring shows that the development of the Las Vegas Strip was crucial to southern Nevada’s success. The casinos, hotels, and entertainments of the Strip, and the workers they supported, formed a new urban center ringed by offices, residences, shopping, and a major university. In effect, it became a third metropolis, governed by county commissioners, larger than Reno and Las Vegas combined.

Moehring brings the story of the three cities to the present day, examining lessons learned from the Great Recession and the efforts under way in all three metropolises to diversify their economies. Moehring makes an important contribution with the only current study of Nevada’s cities, focusing on urban development issues rather than social history or the gaming industry. As the service economy continues to grow, not only in Nevada but throughout the United States, Moehring’s work has many implications for urban studies and particularly the study of urban development in other metropolitan areas.

296 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2014

Reviews

[Graham Bates]

This tale is well-researched and written from a scholarly perspective. Moehring does an excellent job of providing a balanced view on the three cities and how decisions made decades ago greatly influenced their growth and development up to the date of publication. He keys into the cultural, geographic, and climate differences in Las Vegas and Reno to show how each community helped or hurt their futures, often at the same time. I'm not that interested in the detailed records of each decision, so I read the opening, scanned through the middle, and read the conclusion. Moehring's style is such that you feel you got the gist of the thesis of the book by only reason those two chapters, then can return to the meat to fill in questions, find supporting details, or glean other relevant sources for further study. It's not a layman's book, but would work well in an academic setting.

[Kate]

Excellent mid-depth introduction to the area over the course of the past century.