Editorial: Downtown dream could be improved

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005 | 9:24 a.m.

A year ago Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman gave his annual State of the City Address at the Premium Outlets mall on Grand Central Boulevard. The setting was symbolic. The successful new mall was representative of the development that had sprung up downtown since Goodman was elected in 1999. On Tuesday Goodman gave his 2005 speech at the Golden Nugget. This setting, too, was symbolic, as this is Las Vegas' centennial year and the Golden Nugget is one of downtown's historic hotel-casinos. While the settings brought attention to current development and the downtown's debt to the past, Goodman in both speeches talked at length of a grand future.

The mayor envisions an eclectic downtown, one that is home to medical research, a Major League Baseball team, performing arts, retail and wholesale businesses, housing, open spaces for socializing and strolling, gaming, professional office buildings, alluring nightclubs, arts and entertainment districts and even one-man entrepreneurs, such as hot dog vendors. Remarkably, because of his achievements so far, Goodman has succeeded in making this dream sound possible.

During his speech Goodman added to the optimism with the announcement of plans to break ground Aug. 4 on an Alzheimer's Disease research center. The center is planned for Union Park, a 61-acre downtown lot. Goodman led the push for the city's acquisition of this vacant lot in 2000 and says its development will be his legacy.

In our view Goodman has been more successful at downtown redevelopment than any mayor in recent memory. We urge the mayor, however, to devote more time and effort this year to an area of city life that he has neglected -- the plight of the working poor and homeless people. While some progress has been made in developing low-cost housing, the need remains great. And homeless people, thousands of them, are virtually devoid of city services. We believe, in the end, a mayor's legacy depends as much on the opportunities he provided for the least fortunate as it does on the new skyline that emerged during his watch.