"He expects to find that much of the nay-saying is more about the critic than the subject..."
I suspect he is correct. I've lived here nearly 30 years, don't gamble, don't party in any sense of the word, and can't recall the last time I went to the strip. Yet when I tried moving away, found that I missed the energy that permeates the area, and I missed the desert and mountains. I quickly returned to the valley.
I suspect most critics never leave the tourist corridor, and that their criticisms are usually specious.
I frequently hear "Vegas ain't got no culture." Really? That statement strikes me as chauvinistic. All human societies have cultures. Vegas just doesn't have the critic's kind of culture.
Another favorite is that Vegas is "shallow" (whatever that means). Sorry, I've been to quite a few cities in a number of countries, and lived in some of the largest in this country. Vegas is no more, and no less, "shallow" (whatever that means) than any other city.
Many of the criticisms I've read, particularly from those who write for audiences on the coast, categorize those visiting Vegas as the great unwashed. Let's ignore the snobbery inherent in that characterization, as well as the fact it is inaccurate. We get well over 35 million visitors a year, many thousands of which live in the same cities as the critics. They live there, but find that it's worth a sizeable chunk of change to leave there and come here to enjoy themselves. What does that say about those cities?
Perhaps, the best revenge is success. In spite of decades of criticisms from self-appointed arbiters of cultural taste, Vegas has exploded in population and in visitor volume. There's a reason we have the ten largest hotels in the country, and eight of the ten largest in the world. The critics may not like or understand Vegas, but nearly 40 million people a year do.
"He expects to find that much of the nay-saying is more about the critic than the subject..."
I suspect he is correct. I've lived here nearly 30 years, don't gamble, don't party in any sense of the word, and can't recall the last time I went to the strip. Yet when I tried moving away, found that I missed the energy that permeates the area, and I missed the desert and mountains. I quickly returned to the valley.
I suspect most critics never leave the tourist corridor, and that their criticisms are usually specious.
I frequently hear "Vegas ain't got no culture." Really? That statement strikes me as chauvinistic. All human societies have cultures. Vegas just doesn't have the critic's kind of culture.
Another favorite is that Vegas is "shallow" (whatever that means). Sorry, I've been to quite a few cities in a number of countries, and lived in some of the largest in this country. Vegas is no more, and no less, "shallow" (whatever that means) than any other city.
Many of the criticisms I've read, particularly from those who write for audiences on the coast, categorize those visiting Vegas as the great unwashed. Let's ignore the snobbery inherent in that characterization, as well as the fact it is inaccurate. We get well over 35 million visitors a year, many thousands of which live in the same cities as the critics. They live there, but find that it's worth a sizeable chunk of change to leave there and come here to enjoy themselves. What does that say about those cities?
Perhaps, the best revenge is success. In spite of decades of criticisms from self-appointed arbiters of cultural taste, Vegas has exploded in population and in visitor volume. There's a reason we have the ten largest hotels in the country, and eight of the ten largest in the world. The critics may not like or understand Vegas, but nearly 40 million people a year do.