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Inside Gaming: It's Neon or Nothing Even if Fuel Costs Spike

Hospitality insiders in Los Angeles, where I'm still stuck for medical treatments, say the coming spike in gasoline prices here is likely to fuel demand for Las Vegas vacations, not cool it off. Why? Consumers can afford more and more expensive vacations. The added cost of fuel for a vacation is marginal. And airfare increases due to fuel costs are expected to put a damper on long distance travel and encourage land-based vacations closer to home. Altogether, insiders here agree with gaming executives who say rising gasoline prices only remind Californians of the entertainment and bargains over the hills in Sin City.

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Like an old soldier, the issue of Las Vegas being a terrorist target never dies. But Los Angeles Police Department counterterrorism chief Ron Miller has a different take on it from law enforcement folks in Las Vegas. He covered Osama bin Laden as an anchor for "20/20" on ABC, and he says the world's leading terrorist wants to strike the centers of what America loves most -- like Hollywood and, by extension, Las Vegas. The solution: anticipation, innovation, intelligence and practice. "They're looking for a major body count" and "Oh my God" sites.

*** Urban planners say Las Vegas is quickly becoming a microcosm of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, and not just as a potential terrorist target. In both cities, baby boomers are moving back to the urban core, into a mix of projects from downtown lofts to Strip towers. The affordability of condominium units compared with single-family homes is one factor. But so is the Internet, which is making mincemeat of geography. Whether in L.A. or Las Vegas, no one can really know what you call home.

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In the same vein, Realtors in Southern California are predicting not just a sharp rise in office rents as the vacancy rate heads south, but a migration of tenants to Las Vegas. Businesses here already looking for sites are mostly those that can rely on the Internet for communication and need a proximity to Los Angeles. As the migration kicks off for real this spring, Realtors here also say to watch for escalating office rates in Las Vegas, following the same increases that are driving businesses from L.A.

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Ditto for home prices -- as Los Angeles goes, so goes its sister city. Homes and offices in Los Angeles are pricey for a lot of junior executives and startup operators. L.A. is also pricing itself out of the speculative market. Realtors say that with median homes prices half as high, Las Vegas keeps rising as an alternative for home buyers and, more so, speculators. Add that to the expansion under way on the Strip, and Realtors here are predicting another housing-price surge in Las Vegas like last year, except maybe even higher.

Inside Gaming column is compiled by Gaming Wire Editor Rod Smith. You can contact him by phone at 338-9653, fax 387-5243 or e-mail at rodneysmith1@cox.net.

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