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What about Las Vegas?

What about Las Vegas?. Las Vegas in the Media. Economy Housing. Sociologists on Las Vegas, 2011. "I Hate Las Vegas“ Las Vegas Suicide, Depression, and the Recession Sex Tourism . Place Identity. What does it mean to live in Las Vegas? How do residents form their sense of attachment?

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What about Las Vegas?

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  1. What about Las Vegas?

  2. Las Vegas in the Media • Economy • Housing

  3. Sociologists on Las Vegas, 2011 • "I Hate Las Vegas“ • Las Vegas Suicide, Depression, and the Recession • Sex Tourism

  4. Place Identity • What does it mean to live in Las Vegas? • How do residents form their sense of attachment? • Where is attachment formed? • How do residents locate themselves in the broader environmental context of Las Vegas? • How do the symbolic images of Las Vegas affect individuals’ place identity?

  5. Why does it matter? • Critical in creating sustainable communities • Enhances general well-being and quality of life • Influences social and physical investments in place • Protective environmental behaviors • Residential stability • Feelings of safety • Changing urban contexts • Urban society characterized by rapid social change • People move frequently • Recent economic collapse

  6. Organizing Framework Place Attachment Affect Cultural/group Process Cognition Person Behavior Place Individual Social Physical/Natural Symbolic Scannell and Gifford (2010)

  7. Who did we ask? Five focus groups/ 31 total participants from 5 neighborhoods • 2 low income (urban core) • 1 low income (suburban) • 2 middle-high income (suburban) Characteristics of participants • Mean age: 51 years • 16 Home Owners/15 Renters • Avg. time in Las Vegas:16.7 years • Avg. time in current neighborhood:10.6 years • 20 Women/11 Men • 21 White/10 Latino • 11 unemployed

  8. What does it mean to live in Las Vegas? • Distinctiveness of Las Vegas • Similarities with other place “Well I know that when I tell people that I am from Las Vegas, it kind of lights up their eyes. Everybody has this perception about this town. I mean, that it is all glitter and the entertainment capital and all that. But there is actually people that live here and there are communities. And there is everything that everybody else has, but it’s like tucked away. You know what I mean?”

  9. How and where do residents form their attachments? • Neighborhood as source of community • Barbecues and parties • Routine neighboring • Involvement with children’s activities • Neighborhood problems/structural neglect • Lack of public space • Crime and disorder • Problems with development strategies

  10. How do individual’s find themselves in the Las Vegas environmental context? • Las Vegas identity • Interactive between personal experiences, interactions with others, and the built environment • Defensive to outsiders—explaining myths • Nostalgia • Connecting self with the history of Las Vegas • Mitigates rapid change by providing continuity

  11. Conclusions Loving Las Vegas Pride Social Cohesion Process Nostalgia/ Collective memory Resident Desire to stay? Place Personal Experiences Desert Environment Sin City Casinos/ attractions Public Space

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