Letter: Downtown plans destined to fail

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003 | 8:52 a.m.

It is difficult to understand Mayor Oscar Goodman's popularity. Many were hoping for an improvement after Jan Jones -- that would not take much.

Our mayor is spending millions to revitalize a downtown that has never been a traditional downtown with office buildings, department stores, cultural facilities, hotels, restaurants, government buildings, etc., surrounded by factories and warehouses. In traditional cities the latter have been renovated into housing for young (typically childless) and older employees and retirees wishing to be near their place of work and/or the cultural attractions.

Other than government buildings, there has been very little construction in downtown Las Vegas. The few private buildings have been heavily subsidized with millions of tax and bond funds.

Maybe the mayor realized he did not have a traditional downtown so he traded (maybe gave away) valuable land in a business park and a couple of million dollars for 61 acres adjacent to downtown with hope of building one. But "extending" downtown is not rebuilding downtown! Lord knows what will be built there. But one thing is certain: It will cost the taxpayers a bundle.

We also might ask what the mayor has done for the balance of the city.

R. L. HUXTABLE