1. The smog will choke you. The air, as seen from my 16th floor room ranged daily from light brown to rusty brown.
2. Car culture scales everything. Walk past city-block-sized parking lots and high-rise garages before getting to that restaurant or bar. I didn't see one bicycle the entire time.
3. Nowhere to sit and relax. Park benches do not generate $$$, so the only seats for butts exist at restaurants, bars, or in front of gambling machines.
4. In Las Vegas, you are not human; you are a cash machine. Menus omit prices because the charge is twice what it should be, including for water. In the desert.
5. Mental health is not Las Vegas' strong suit. I used the city bus system for long trips to a laundromat, grocery store, and the county museum. On one ride, I witnessed a serious assault in which one rider grabbed another by the throat and smashed his head against a window, causing the driver to evacuate the bus.
6. Smoking is king. Vegas still caters to cigarette AND cigar smokers at casinos and in designated areas of the airport.
7. Vegas is a city of regret. From the gambling losers to the hotel gift shop employee who told me she moved there 30 years ago and it was, "the worst decision I ever made."
Bright lights are cool and all, and I absolutely love the style of the vintage neon signs, but man, Las Vegas will crush your soul and show you the worst side of modern American society. Go there once, to witness capitalism's end game, spend only a few days, and then escape that hellhole for good. No need to go back.
#LasVegas #AirPollution #Smog #USA #SinCity #Nevada
