CITY OF LAS VEGAS

2050 Master Plan

A COMPREHENSIVE THIRTY-YEAR PLAN PREPARED FOR THE RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES OF LAS VEGAS TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR HEALTH, SAFETY, PROSPERITY, SECURITY, COMFORT, AND GENERAL WELFARE

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2050 MASTER PLAN

A COMPREHENSIVE THIRTY-YEAR PLAN PREPARED FOR THE RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES OF LAS VEGAS TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR HEALTH, SAFETY, PROSPERITY, SECURITY, COMFORT, AND GENERAL WELFARE

THIS PLAN

WAS ADOPTED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION

PURSUANT TO NRS 278.170 AND 278.210

ON ____________________________, 20____

AND ADOPTED BY THE LAS VEGAS CITY COUNCIL

AND PUT INTO EFFECT

PURSUANT TO NRS 278.220 AND NRS 278.230

ON ____________________________, 20____

Carolyn G. Goodman, Mayor: ______________________________________________________________________

Louis De Salvio – Planning Commission Chairman: _____________________________________________

ATTEST: LuAnn D. Holmes, City Clerk: ___________________________________________________________

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CITY COUNCIL

Carolyn G. Goodman, Mayor Stavros S. Anthony, Mayor Pro Tempore - Ward 4 Michele Fiore, Councilwoman, Ward 6 Cedric Crear, Councilman, Ward 5 Brian Knudsen, Councilman, Ward 1 Victoria Seaman, Councilwoman, Ward 2 Olivia Diaz, Councilwoman, Ward 3

PLANNING COMMISSION

Commissioner Louis De Salvio – Chairman Commissioner Trinity Haven Schlottman – Vice Chairman Commissioner Sam Cherry Commissioner Donna Toussaint Commissioner Anthony Williams Commissioner Jeffrey Rogan Commissioner Sigal Chattah

CITY STAFF

Jorge Cervantes, City Manager Gary Ameling, Chief Financial Officer Tim Hacker, Chief Public Safety Services Officer Dr. Lisa Morris Hibbler, Chief Community Services Officer Mike Janssen, PE, Exec. Director of Infrastructure Tom Perrigo, AICP, Chief Operations Officer David Riggleman, Director of Communications Bryan Scott, City Attorney Michael Sherwood, Chief Innovation Officer Radford Snelding, City Auditor Seth T. Floyd, Esq., Planning Director Peter Lowenstein, AICP, Deputy Director Michael Howe, AICP, Long Range Planning Manager

Venetta Appleyard, Director of Finance Bill Arent, Director of Economic and Urban Development Jeff Buchanan, Fire Chief, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Jack Eslinger, Municipal Court Administrator Steve Ford, City Engineer, Deputy Director of Public Works Ally Haynes-Hamblen, Director of Cultural Affairs LuAnn D. Holmes, City Clerk Carolyn Levering, Emergency Management Administrator Tammy Malich, Director of Youth Dev. & Social Innovation Kevin McOsker, Director of Building and Safety Louis Molina, Chief of Public Safety Joey Paskey, Deputy Director of Public Works Kathi Thomas-Gibson, Director of Community Services Jerry Walker, Director of Operations and Maintenance Greg Weitzel, Director of Parks and Recreation Vince Zamora, Director of Human Resources

CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE & PUBLIC

Thank you to the residents who participated in the public meetings, online engagement, and provided input during the public review process.

This plan was written in partnership between the Planning Department's Long Range Division and a consultant team led by SmithGroup.

LONG RANGE PLANNING STAFF

Marco N. Velotta, AICP, Project Manager

SMITHGROUP

Kathleen Duffy, AICP, Project Manager Michael Johnson, Principal-in-Charge

AMENDMENTS & SUPPLEMENTS

AMENDED: 22-0294-GPA1 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 7.12.22; CITY COUNCIL - 8.17.22 23-0572-GPA1 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 12.12.23; CITY COUNCIL - 1.17.24 24-0222-GPA1 / GPA2 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 8.13.24; CITY COUNCIL - 9.18.24 25-0594-GPA1 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 2.10.26; CITY COUNCIL - 4.1.26 26--0172-GPA1 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 6.16.26; CITY COUNCIL - 7.15.26 26--0176-GPA1 BY PLANNING COMMISSION - 6.16.26; CITY COUNCIL - 7.15.26

ADOPTED 2050 SPECIAL AREA PLANS

Vision 2045 Downtown Las Vegas Masterplan DIR-64287 - R-25-2016 5.10.16 PC / 6.15.16 CC

Nuestro Futuro Este Las Vegas Special Area Plan 23-0094-DIR1 - R-30-2023 5.9.23 PC / 6.21.23 CC

Kyle Canyon Special Area Plan 24-0615-DIR1 - R-27-2025 3.11.25 PC / 4.16.25 CC

La Madre Foothills Special Area Plan 25-0002-DIR1 - R-63-2025 7.8.25 PC / 8.20.25 CC

Charleston 2050 Special Area Plan 25-0179-DIR1 - R-68-2025 8.12.25 PC / 11.5.25 CC

ANNUAL REPORTS

Archived at www.masterplan.vegas 2022: 22-0413-DIR1 - 9.13.22 PC / 10.19.22 CC 2023: 23-0358-DIR1 - 9.12.23 PC / 11.1.23 CC 2024: 24-0405-DIR1 - 9.10.24 PC / 10.16.24 CC 2025: 23-0321-DIR1 - 9.9.25 PC / 10.15.25 CC 2026: 23-0289-DIR1 - 9.8.26 PC / 10.21.26 CC

SUPPLEMENTAL PLANS

Imagine LV Parks - System Plan 23-0092-GPA1 - 5.9.23 PC / 6.21.23 CC

Urban Forestry Management Plan 25-0461-GPA1 - 11.18.25 PC / 12.17.25 CC

Sustaining Las Vegas 2050 Action Plan R-15-2026 - 4.1.26 CC

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FOREWORD

From the beginning, Las Vegas has been a city where enterprising and visionary individuals have made the impossible real in both good and challenging times. Today, the city remains an international destination with a world-class economy whose population and industry will continue to grow and excel over the long term. The global coronavirus pandemic has emphasized inequities in communities across the country and world. While the majority of this plan process and document were developed before the pandemic, a final review while the City grapples with these historic crises has reinforced many of the core principles of the plan, even though success may be realized in new ways.

Paired with its past success, Las Vegas is experiencing changes of many kinds, and will continue to do so in years to come. A changing climate is bringing drier and hotter weather to the American West. Changing demographics are creating new health, civic, social and cultural conditions that will shape Las Vegas communities and the services they will need. The amount of land available for new development is changing, too: the water, energy and transportation costs associated with continuing to build and develop using today’s standards and practices are becoming more challenging.

Building on the work of dozens of city staff and outside professionals together with thousands of residents, a new vision for the City of Las Vegas has taken shape. This vision brings together continued success with long-term sustainability. It is designed to ensure that Las Vegas not only remains a sustainable, livable and desirable city for decades to come but also enjoys even greater potential for health, education, investment, talent, leisure, and the other hallmarks of a desirable quality of life for all of its residents, business owners, and visitors.

This vision is both thoughtful and bold, practical and ambitious. It is the vision of a city that is responsible and responsive, and that will inspire others by the leadership it shows.

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REFLECTIONS ON LAS VEGAS FROM MAYOR CAROLYN G. GOODMAN

What was it like moving to Las Vegas for the first time?

Our route to Las Vegas ended up as our only move! My husband, Oscar, had been working part-time in the District Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia to earn a little extra money during his law school years at Penn while we scraped along on the pittance of my salary as a secretary at Sun Oil Company. His boss, then District Attorney Arlen Specter (who would become a U. S. Senator), had some detectives in town from Las Vegas on a homicide case, and Oscar was assigned to take the detectives to dinner. As it can be in November in Philly, it was a cold, rainy, dreary night, and while he’d ask me to join him, work early the next morning precluded me from doing so. At 1 a.m. in great excitement he woke me up and asked, “how’d you like to move to the land of milk and honey?” Of course I thought he was asking me to move to Israel which I thought was nuts! What I learned, naturally, was the detectives had told Oscar about the glorious weather in Las Vegas, and what a great place it was to live. So later after graduation and in August 1964 with 37 boxes of books and a bedroom set in a moving van, we set off for the southern Nevada desert in a brand new Chrysler convertible. Arriving with what was left of all of our funds ($87 between us) and a week after the inaugural, blockbuster Beatles’ performance at the Convention Center, Las Vegas was in hyper and explosive excitement!

I remember it was like an oven with 120 degrees at Lake Mead as we stopped briefly to take a real look at the dam. Fortunately, the air conditioning in the car held as we drove on to Railroad Pass and peering out the window into what was to be our new home... as far as the eye could see, I saw nothing but raw desert and tumbleweeds everywhere. My immediate thought was, “oh, I should have listened to my parents and never married this man,” for far off in the distance to the west were a few scattered three/four story buildings, and far, far ahead, just a trickling of some low buildings. That was Fremont Street, and the population of Las Vegas was less than 100,000! Has there been any change since then? Huge!

What do you love most about your neighborhood?

We have been in our home in the Scotch 80’s for 44 years, raising a family and loving life. Our home was and remains central and close to downtown and nearby all major thoroughfares and where they connect. Over the years we have had lovely, normal and occasionally famous (even infamous) neighbors and have enjoyed the enriching blend of them all. My fondest memories, of course, are of our four wonderful children growing up in this home. They had such great times playing, exploring and learning in the neighborhood.

How did you decide to be involved in founding The Meadows School? Why has education been such an important issue for you?

Oscar and I always planned to provide our children with at least that with which we had growing up and hoped we could do even better for them. Both of us had been blessed with the greatest parents and great educations, and thus we knew those were the ingredients and true guides for us to follow in raising our children. Doing research the hard way and before we chose to move to Las Vegas (and before Google), I had learned that the Clark County School District was ranked #2 nationally behind the top ranked New Trier Township School District in Illinois. That satisfied me for the future of the family we envisioned. In 1969 our first child was born, the next three in 1970, 1971, and 1973. By 1976, the explosive growth of the city was already challenging and changing the dynamics of education in area. As I began an elementary school search, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to discern that Spanish was already becoming a second language, and the wisdom of being bi-lingual was more than evident. While the three R’s remained the centerpiece of learning, computer-learning was also invading life, and knowing the sooner one introduces any element of education to a child, the better, I looked at all alternative choices. There were public schools, religious schools and only one private school that operated as a for-profit program. There were no schools offering Pre-K through high school continuum and none operated as not-for-profit. The formula I sought did not exist, and thus I went to the Superintendent of CCSD with my suggestions. He naturally informed me, “Mrs. Goodman, I have neither the curriculum nor the funding to implement any of your requests, so you’ll have to go to the Legislature to get any of this on.” My response: “My daughter is 3-years-old, and by the time I might get this on, my daughter will be 40.”

I’ve always believed if one door closes, find another that is open, or make it happen yourself if you are sure of what you are doing. The key to quality education is having a purposeful mission/program and having top quality educators/professionals deliver that program. This happens because one can attract, and retain the best among them.

That became the foundation of The Meadows School: a school dedicated to teaching a diverse and socio-economically student body, and for my mission: one serving academically ambitious children. Financial assistance to those families who could not afford tuition was basic, and filling every classroom with the finest educator, teaching to the top (inspiring and having each student reach to a higher level) in a Pre-K – 12th graduation was the focus. It was the first of its kind.

At one point, Southern Nevada was one of the fastest growing cities in the country, what do you remember most about the city during that period of fast growth?

I remember such excitement and incredible entertainment and that the governments and agencies were just trying to keep pace with the growth. Roadways and freeways were under construction 24/7; housing and neighborhoods were developing; hospitals, schools, banks, businesses, commercial centers were developing out from the historic core, and of course, hotel-casinos were rising out of the desert or expanding on the ever-enticing Strip. That type of explosive growth demanded matching services as well, and the trick was and remains managing all of these challenges with plans, control and quality. One very clear example was/is how necessities and demand created our flood control infrastructure. This was not something that existed valley-wide in the mid-late 1970’s. As businesses, hotels, residences experienced the devastating impact of flash flooding through the 1980’s, 90’s and 2000’s, funding lagged to address an immediacy of need and residential growth spreading to the edges of the valley. When it would rain, the streets would flood and the Charleston underpass would become impassable. Now an intricate flood control system is in place and is continually monitored for repair, growth and/or expansion.

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What was the moment that you realized downtown Las Vegas was changing?

I really have to go back to 1999 when my husband was elected mayor. He had a vision and a passion for Las Vegas to become a world-class city. Together, he and I visited with experts, listened, learned and then set about making his vision become reality. So here we are in 2020 when you can see that vision being built upon and bringing downtown to an amazing, vivid threshold. The arts are thriving, the healthcare/medical world is developing and expanding, and the beneficiaries are all of us as residents, business people, tourists and convention goers. Strong and new infrastructure, new museums and parks, a new canopy at the Fremont Street Experience, a convention center, and so much more are just pieces of the basic fabric of the whole. Talk about an amazing story of the heights, a deep recession, and the turnaround of an urban area, this has been it. I will let you in on a secret, we haven’t begun to scratch the surface of what’s to come. The best is yet ahead for downtown Las Vegas.

What do you hope stays the same or remains the way it is today in Las Vegas?

I really love the diversity and inclusive nature of our city. Anyone from anywhere can come to Las Vegas and find a wonderful and a good life. Las Vegas has always been a youngster and a chameleon changing and growing, reaching ever-higher and seeking the cutting edge of the next excitement on the horizon. Our entire community is unique and seeks to remain so. Ultimately, we are family, a strong and loyal group of individuals that seeks each other out and works together to solve issues and help our most vulnerable. We aspire to stay strong and always united in community living.

What did you find most inspiring about Las Vegas?

The entrepreneurial spirit in our city forever inspires me. From major new projects like Derek Stevens’ Circa hotel-casino to new, homegrown restaurants like Esther’s Kitchen, Hatsumi, and La Monja to mention just a mere few, people are encouraged to take risks in Las Vegas, risks you can win and which incentivize other investments. What is remarkable has been to see all the wins in our downtown and the entrepreneurial, free spirit of our people.

Is there a place in the city that you have shown your grandkids because it was important to you?

Walking through the historic downtown core with the varied and charming old homes built during the days of the construction of Hoover Dam; horseback riding out in the desert in Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs or visiting the beautiful Red Rock National Conservation Area, these sites are special. When the children were very young, sledding at Mount Charleston and boating/fishing Lake Mead were favorite jaunts. Even in those earlier days, the variety of nature’s offerings were compelling and drawing us into the peaceful and quiet surroundings where time stood still for us all and still does.

What is a special place or spot in the city for you and Oscar?

Of course, our home, but beyond that island of true serenity, there are so many special places, but I think one place that is the biggest draw is Symphony Park. No one thought we could redevelop downtown, and no one thought anything would ever be built on an old, soil-polluted railroad brownfield. Now Symphony Park is home to the world acclaimed, David Schwarz-designed Smith Center for Performing Arts, boasts the Frank Gehry designed Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, and is also booming with new amenities such as a much-needed convention center, residential and retail complexes, and additional hotels, and more retail spaces being planned. These all complement the adjacent core of the city as a center of federal, state, and local government buildings, court houses, the Fremont Street Experience, Fremont East Entertainment District, and the nexus of the burgeoning and very popular Arts District.

What has been the biggest change in Las Vegas since you arrived in the 1960s?

Since the mid-1960’s, Las Vegas continues on its path to becoming a world-class city. Our name, “Las Vegas,” is on lips and in minds of individuals around the world, evoking intrigue, excitement, and encouraging a visit, or for doing business, investing and/ or moving to as a residency. We have truly become a destination for the world by adding the elements that make a world-class city vibrant, meaningful, sustainable, and successful.

Certainly, Las Vegas offers the best in resorts, spas, five-star dining, boutique shopping, and is an outstanding entertainment and recreational capital. Nowhere else in such a confined area can one find more than 150,000 hotel rooms or find the high hospitality that the city offers. However, always attuned to adding new elements of appeal to the world and our growing resident population, Las Vegas is now boasting additional specialties in health care and medicine, a varied tableau in cultural offerings, and a newly expanding professional sports menu. The city has added top tier medical research in the Las Vegas Medical District boasting entities like the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, cancer research, and a new medical school. The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the Arts District (18b) are standouts for cultural visitation and enjoyment, and finally, Las Vegas has become a major league sports venue with the NHL Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas WNBA Aces and soon-to-call-home, the NFL Las Vegas Raiders.

What type of city do you hope your grandchildren get to live in?

Everyone should want to leave his/her home better than he/she found it, and that is what we are working toward in the city of Las Vegas with energized concentration on sustainability in a healthy environment and one in which the highest, comprehensive quality of life are assured. Safety always is the priority in all that the city undertakes. Yet as it invests in new avenues for moving people, safely, expeditiously, comfortably, and continuously around the community and to varied destinations, these are also foremost initiatives. Sensitivity to the expanding and purposeful use and integration of technology must be fundamental to assuring all aspects of the good life going forward can be achieved. This focus, too, is paramount.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................................I

01. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1-1

A Case for Change.................................................................................................................................................................................. 1-2 Bringing the Plan to the People........................................................................................................................................................... 1-4 Plan Organization................................................................................................................................................................................... 1-6 Vision .......................................................................................................................................................................................................1-10 Guiding Principles .................................................................................................................................................................................1-11 Quantifying Change.............................................................................................................................................................................. 1-22 Shaping Las Vegas................................................................................................................................................................................1-24 Confronting Active Challenges .......................................................................................................................................................... 1-28 References and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................................... 1-34

02. LAND USE & ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................... 2-1

LAND USE .................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-4 I.A Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-6 I.B Land Use Place Types.................................................................................................................................................................. 2-12 I.C Land Use Tools.............................................................................................................................................................................. 2-40 I.D Historic Preservation.....................................................................................................................................................................2-56

AREAS OF THE CITY................................................................................................................................................................ 2-62 II.A Downtown Las Vegas.................................................................................................................................................................. 2-74 II.B East Las Vegas.............................................................................................................................................................................. 2-80 II.C West Las Vegas............................................................................................................................................................................ 2-86 II.D Downtown South......................................................................................................................................................................... 2-92 II.E Charleston...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-98 II.F Twin Lakes.................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-104 II.G Angel Park ................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-110 II.H Summerlin North ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2-116 II.I Summerlin West ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2-122 II.J Lone Mountain............................................................................................................................................................................. 2-128 II.K Rancho .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-134 II.L Centennial Hills............................................................................................................................................................................ 2-140 II.M La Madre Foothills...................................................................................................................................................................... 2-146 II.N Kyle Canyon................................................................................................................................................................................. 2-152 II.O Tule Springs.................................................................................................................................................................................. 2-158 II.P Snow Mountain - Nu Wav Kaiv................................................................................................................................................. 2-164

ENVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2-168 III.A Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................. 2-170 III.B Natural Features.......................................................................................................................................................................... 2-172 III.C Urban Forestry ............................................................................................................................................................................ 2-186 III.D Parks.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2-196 III.E Park Connectivity......................................................................................................................................................................... 2-204 III.F Food + Urban Agriculture ......................................................................................................................................................... 2-208 III.G Environmental Justice ................................................................................................................................................................ 2-214

03. ECONOMY & WORKFORCE ........................................................................... 3-1

EDUCATION ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3-4 I.A Equitable Education .......................................................................................................................................................................3-6 I.B Link School Facilities to Land Use..............................................................................................................................................3-18

ECONOMY ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3-26 II.A Economic + Workforce Development ...................................................................................................................................... 3-28 II.B Redevelopment............................................................................................................................................................................. 3-40 II.C Public Finance .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3-44

HOUSING ................................................................................................................................................................................. 3-50 III.A Housing Choices .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3-52 III.B Homelessness .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3-67

04. SYSTEMS & SERVICES..................................................................................... 4-1

TRANSPORTATION .................................................................................................................................................................... 4-4 I.A Complete Streets ...........................................................................................................................................................................4-6 I.B Transit............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4-36 I.C Smart Systems............................................................................................................................................................................... 4-48

RESOURCE CONSERVATION................................................................................................................................................... 4-56 II.A Water ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4-60 II.B Energy........................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-66 II.C Waste............................................................................................................................................................................................ 4-72 II.D Greenhouse Gas Emissions......................................................................................................................................................... 4-76

PUBLIC FACILITIES + SERVICES ........................................................................................................................................... 4-80 III.A Public Facilities............................................................................................................................................................................ 4-82 III.B Public Health + Social Services.................................................................................................................................................4-94

SAFETY .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-104 IV.A Public Safety ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4-106 IV.B Hazards ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-118 IV.C Flooding...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4-138 IV.D Heat Mitigation........................................................................................................................................................................... 4-146

05. IMPLEMENTATION .......................................................................................... 5-1

I Tools .............................................................................................................................................................................................5-4 II Partners.........................................................................................................................................................................................5-8 III Outcomes..................................................................................................................................................................................5-10 IV Strategic Action Plans ............................................................................................................................................................ 5-18 V Strategic Governance ............................................................................................................................................................ 5-20 VI Action Plan............................................................................................................................................................................... 5-24

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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This 2050 Master Plan develops a comprehensive, clear vision and framework for the future of Las Vegas. It provides strong direction and practical guidelines for development, as well as recommendations that are implementation-focused, relevant, clear, and adaptable to change. As required by NRS 278, this plan addresses numerous and diverse inter-related and complex opportunities and challenges. The plan includes a wide range of public involvement that is inclusive and transparent and is broadly-supported by community consensus. It is developed using guiding principles that measure success, weigh recommendations, foster community-driven implementation, and improve quality of life for all residents:

• Equitable: Las Vegas is welcoming and accessible to all people.
• Resilient: the city is prepared and adaptable to shocks and stresses.
• Healthy: residents can improve personal health outcomes.
• Livable: quality of life is distinct and uniquely “Vegas.”
• Innovative: the region educates and attracts the boldest and brightest.

Using these principles as a foundation for the goals of this plan, by 2050, it is envisioned that:

THE CITY OF LAS VEGAS WILL BE A LEADER IN RESILIENT, HEALTHY CITIES - LEVERAGING THE PIONEERING INNOVATIVE SPIRIT OF ITS RESIDENTS TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND JOBS IN THE NEW ECONOMY.

To meet this vision and future growth, measurable change will occur:

• More than 300,000 new residents will live within the City, increasing the City’s population to more than 900,000 and the regional population to more than 3 million
• 9,500 acres of new parks and open space will be accessible and available
• 100,000 housing units will be developed
• 72 million square feet of new commercial space
• At least 600 new police officers will be needed, as well as 30 new schools, 2,500 new teachers, and more than 1,500 City employees

WHAT WE'VE HEARD

PUBLIC OUTREACH

To develop the 2050 Master Plan's Vision, Goals, and Guiding Principles the City and SmithGroup consultant team heard from more than 6,000 residents, local stakeholders, regional agencies, and a number of the City's youth. In total, the Master Plan's development team has:

• Received input from more than 3,400 individuals
• Attended 70 community events
• Held more than 30 stakeholder meetings

In addition, the City conducted a number of informational surveys and reports for this effort, as well as an online mapping exercise to determine places to preserve, enhance, or transform. Two statistically significant surveys were conducted by Applied Analysis and received more than 1,700 completed responses - one of which was citywide, and the other which was ward-specific in an effort to hear responses from individuals from a variety of backgrounds.

TOP CHALLENGES

Throughout public outreach and surveys and across all wards of the City, residents consistently responded with common answers. The top challenges that were reported included:

• Education
• Crime and Public Safety
• Homelessness
• Health Care
• Drought and Water Availability
• Parks and Open Space

When prompted with the top things that they could change about the City, most responded that they wanted a better educational system, less crime, less homelessness, and increased affordability. City residents believe the future is:

• Less about progress and more about preservation
• Both opportunistic and strategic
• Tomorrow, not 30 years from now

The City and its residents are not one thing; they are continuing to seek a sense of community and pride. This is the community they have chosen, and the City needs to justify the benefits of growth and progress. Ultimately, residents expect the City to:

• Preserve quality of life
• Create opportunities for all residents to thrive
• Make Las Vegas among the safest cities in America
• Increase accessibility to quality health care
• Expect equality, inclusion and acceptance
• Work harder on issues related to poverty
• Maintain financial responsibility while ensuring asset maximization
• Create partnerships as a "can-do, will-do city"

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LAND USE & ENVIRONMENT

LAND USE

The plan for existing and future land use recognizes that land supply will greatly reduce over the next thirty years. As existing development agreements and new subdivisions are completed in the western and northwestern part of the City, this plan recognizes the need to shift to a strategy of infill and redevelopment.

2050 GENERAL PLAN

To accomplish an infill strategy that ties with many additional goals throughout the plan, the plan links identified regional centers with mixed-use transit-oriented development (TOD) corridors, accented at key nodes. These corridors must be prioritized for higher density development that integrates a diverse range of affordable housing types. A number of new placetypes are recommended, as well as a corresponding land use tool-box, zoning typology, and modest amendments to Title 19, including:

• Regional Centers: major hubs of activity and density.
• Mixed-Use Centers: TOD nodes.
• Corridor Mixed Use: major streets linking regional centers and TOD.
• Neighborhood Centers: smaller-scale neighborhood serving mixed-use hubs.
• Existing development: mixed residential, traditional neighborhoods, and subdivisions may have opportunities to be preserved or enhanced.
• New subdivisions: newly developed areas of the City.
• Rural preservation: existing low-density estate areas.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

The Land Use strategy strives to ensure established traditional neighborhoods, key buildings, and landmarks are preserved and well maintained, while also providing flexibility for property owners to make adaptive reuse of buildings.

AREAS OF THE CITY

The plan creates 16 unique areas of the City comprised of numerous neighborhoods that build identity and a sense of place. Each area includes a thorough analysis of existing conditions and proposed future improvements including:

• Area demographics and socio-economics
• Proposed land use plan
• Water consumption
• Proximity of housing to services
• Park access and availability
• Job and employment supply, as well as proximity
• Transportation access and equity

Future area plans will provide specific recommendations from members of the community on projects, improvements, and changes.

ENVIRONMENT

NATURAL FEATURES

A complete inventory of the City’s Mojave Desert environment was conducted, noting issues related to ecosystems, plant and animal species, climate, topography, hydrology, and geology. SNPLMA and the Clark County MSHCP are tools that protect and enhance the environment and provide funding for parks and open spaces, while resulting in no net loss of species or landforms.

URBAN FORESTRY

Due to notable increases in the urban heat island effect, steps must be taken to reduce heat hazards with appropriate green infrastructure, including:

• LVMC and zoning amendments for trees
• At least 100,000 public and private high quality, native and adaptive trees that increase the canopy are planted to increase the canopy to 20%

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PARKS AND CONNECTIVITY

Because parks and recreational facilities are an important quality of life component, park facilities, amenities, connections, and safety were frequently noted throughout public outreach. As a result, the City will

• Develop a Parks System Plan and achieve CAPRA certification
• Increase park acreage to 7 acres per 1,000 residents, specifically in noted areas of need
• Ensure 85% of dwelling units are within a short walk of a park or trail

FOOD AND URBAN ARGICULTURE

Given the lack of regional agriculture, it is necessary to ensure supply chain security and redundancy. To supplement these efforts, the City must ensure:

• No food deserts and reduce food swamps by increasing healthy food access
• Provide accessibility to community gardens and increase allowable small agricultural uses

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Reducing exposure and risk to low-income and minority communities must be prioritized, especially for new transportation and infrastructure projects. The City must:

• Ensure an air quality index of 100 or better
• Eliminate brownfields within the City by redevelopment
• Improve stormwater pollution prevention efforts
• Engage residents of all races, ethnicities, abilities and means in the planning and transportation decision-making process

LAND USE & ENVIRONMENT

2050 General Plan

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ECONOMY & EDUCATION

EDUCATION

EQUITABLE EDUCATION

The quality of the City’s educational system is among the top rated public concerns and leading priority areas for residents. Educational outcomes have varied widely between different cohorts. The City recognizes that education is an important quality of life issue and is building upon the successes fostered by the City’s Department of Youth Development and Social Innovation:

• Ensure equitable improvement of overall educational outcomes for K-12
• Enhance early education programs and support coordinated efforts with Clark County School District
• Attract or educate new teachers

LINK SCHOOL FACILITIES WITH LAND USE

Due to existing overcrowding and projected long-term student population growth, the City must improve the development process for new schools and prioritize construction of 30 new schools and classroom additions.

ECONOMY

ECONOMIC & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Alignment of Economic and Urban Development’s efforts with the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy to diversify the economy will make Las Vegas more competitive in the 21st Century by:

• Promoting and attracting occupations in target industries, including gaming and tourism, technology, health care, global finance, clean energy, logistics, and light manufacturing
• Developing new partnerships with UNLV and CSN, expand campuses, and develop workforce training in identified areas
• Requesting development of a new 2-4 year NSHE institution tailored toward workforce development in target sectors

REDEVELOPMENT

Redevelopment efforts must be closely coordinated with land use goals and the 2050 General Plan’s implementation. Refining criteria to attract appropriate development will assist in this effort.

PUBLIC FINANCE

The City must balance business friendliness with government efficiencies, property tax cap reforms, and reduced dependence on C-TAX sources with enabled revenue options. To aid in the plan’s implementation, it is recommended to align the CIP and budget making process with City Council priorities and Master Plan outcomes.

HOUSING

HOUSING

Because there is such a high proportion of single-family residential and apartment-type multi-family units, the City must improve the diversity of housing types with TOD, infill, and diverse housing options identified for each area of the city:

• Through removal of zoning barriers and incentivizing and integrating affordable housing
• By increasing affordable housing options and removing barriers to affordability
• By providing financial tools and strategies for developers, homeowners, and investors

HOMELESSNESS

The plan anticipates to continue and enhance coordinated provision of early and direct prevention and diversion measures with regional stakeholders to reduce the total unsheltered homeless population by 50%, with functional zero homelessness in 2050.

• Continue to play an intervention role with the City’s Courtyard and MORE team
• Employ a “Housing First” approach
• Reduce the number of individuals in poverty

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SYSTEMS & SERVICES

TRANSPORTATION

COMPLETE STREETS

A comprehensive transportation analysis links a wide range of improvements to move people and freight. The plan recommends a new layered Complete Street network to improve the City's overall modal split and jobs-housing balance. In addition to complete streets and bicycle and trail improvements identified in the Mobility Master Plan, this plan also recommends coordination and completion of major projects with state and regional partners, including:

• the Downtown Access Project and future I-15 improvements
• Sheep Mountain Pkwy and I-11
• Summerlin Parkway improvements
• System-to-System interchanges

TRANSIT

Tied closely to the 2050 General Plan for future land use, the City and RTC must develop and implement the recommendations from RTC's On Board Mobility Plan that will enable high capacity transit to be built on key TOD corridors, including Maryland Pkwy, Charleston Blvd, Decatur Blvd, Sahara Ave, and Las Vegas Blvd.

SMART SYSTEMS

As technology improves over time, the City must be prepared to embrace the Internet of Things, which greatly enhances and supports economic development strategies. Implementing the Smarter Vegas plan, a citywide fiber network, and transportation electrification will enable a range of new options, including connected and autonomous vehicles.

RESOURCE CONSERVATION

WATER

In the face of a changing climate, this plan is closely linked to Southern Nevada Water Authority's Water Resources Plan and aligns a target to reduce water consumption to 90 gallons per person per day. This can be done by making corresponding code changes, pricing, incentives, and education efforts to meet regional water resources and conservation goals.

ENERGY

The City has been known for its efforts in renewable energy and energy efficiency. This plan will enable both municipal operations and the community to increase its overall share of renewable energy in line with the state's renewable portfolio standard while reducing energy consumption.

WASTE

Through close work with the City's franchisee and exploring new waste management opportunities, the City can continue to improve both its municipal and community recycling rates and reduce municipal solid waste.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Because of the City’s leadership in sustainability, the City will boldly work to attain municipal and community carbon neutrality through reductions from stationary and mobile sources of emissions.

PUBLIC FACILITIES AND SERVICES

PUBLIC FACILITIES

As the City grows, so must its commitment to ensuring the provision of City services and equitable access to city facilities through:

• Coordination of above and below-ground wet and dry utilities
• Dedication of more space and future growth for cultural activities, libraries, and the arts

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PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

Due to relatively poor community health metrics and because of the public's responses with respect to improved health care, the City must work to improve community health indicators by:

• Adopting Health-in-all-policies and strengthening partnerships with Southern Nevada Health District
• Increasing hospital and ICU capacity, as well as health care access in medically underserved areas
• Completing the build-out of the UNLV School of Medicine and leverage the Las Vegas Medical District
• Developing local Health and Wellness Centers
• Hazardous Materials
• Infectious Disease

PUBLIC SAFETY

Overall, crime rates are decreasing, but are concentrated in specific areas. This plan recommends the development of a proactive, collaborative, Safe Communities strategy for each area that is community oriented and inclusive that:

• Maintains Fire and Rescue accreditations
• Maintains LVMPD sworn officer strength
• Adds a new LVMPD area command and fire stations

SAFETY

HAZARDS

As a part of this Master Plan, the City completed a vulnerability assessment factoring adaptive capacity and sensitivity for a variety of hazards, as well as recommendations and a framework for mitigation, adaptation, response, and recovery, including:

• Drought, Extreme Heat, Flooding
• Terrorism, Civil Disobedience-Riots-Social Disturbances
• Seismic Activity

FLOODING

As a specific disruptive hazard that has potential to increase in intensity and frequency over time, specific recommendations and projects from the Regional Flood Control District are included.

HEAT MITIGATION

Similarly, heat also has potential to increase in intensity and frequency over time. Specific recommendations relating to cooling centers, building practices and drinking water are considered for implementation.

IMPLEMENTATION

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This Master Plan tackles a diverse range of opportunities and challenges to help achieve the City’s vision. Successful plan implementation relies upon committed city leadership, linking policy and the budgetary process directly to the plan, use of strategic action planning efforts to accomplish both short and long-term goals, and strategic citywide utilization of use of tools, key actions, strategies, and partnerships.

TOOLS

To implement the 2050 Master Plan, various tools are recommended in each of the Key Actions that can be implemented short-term, long-term, or on an ongoing basis. These tools include:

• Local policy or regulation: at the heart of plan implementation is action taken by the City Council or Planning Commission, conferring power on the City Manager or the City’s departments to do something by ordinance or resolution. Local policies and regulation are the most direct and effective means of plan implementation and should be done with plan consistency in mind.
• City Programs: many implementation strategies involve carrying out existing City programs or the developing new ones, provided authorization delegated from the Plan, a strategic action plan, through the City Manager, or Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS).
• Capital Improvements: development, provision, and maintenance of physical infrastructure, recommended through the annual Capital Improvement Planning process, consistent with this plan and associated sub-plans is a major component of the plan.
• Federal/State Legislative policy: due in part to the limitations of limited functional home-rule, supportive changes to NRS, or to the City’s Charter, that enable the City to implement the plan are tools that the City may advocate for in Carson City. Similarly, Federal tools and resources can assist the City through one-time projects or ongoing support of required programs or service provision.
• Partnerships: Working with the City’s regional partners and external agencies, the plan can be implemented through collaborative efforts in which a regional issue is addressed or managed.

FIFTY BY ’50

In order for the plan’s progress to be assessed throughout its thirty year horizon, reasonable measurable outcomes are established for each goal. With defined outcomes, the City will be able to measure and evaluate progress to ensure resources are spent accordingly and are worth the investments made. This is done to understand which strategies have made an impact, which goals were achieved, and to determine the cause of any deviations from the plan.

Contained within the plan are “Fifty by ’50” – the most important outcomes within this plan that the City looks to measure. These outcomes are largely the basis for determining achievement of the plan’s goals.

For transparent communication of the plan’s outcomes and performance, the City will publish a prepared annual report to evaluate and discuss annual progress and implementation of the plan, progress of the “Fifty by ’50” outcomes and others highlighted for each goal, and recommendations for plan improvement.

STRATEGIC ACTION PLANS

The plan recommends that the City Council and city management adopt 2-year strategic action plans to implement various strategies and to achieve outcomes. A strategic action plan is guided using the plan’s goals, outcomes, and key actions with direct input from the general public, the Mayor and City Council, City leadership, and the City’s departments. For each strategic action plan, the priorities of the City Council and department level strategic business plans are all aligned with the plan’s outcomes, as well as the budget process and CIP. During each strategic planning and budgeting process, ideas must be clearly communicated throughout the City.

PARTNERSHIPS

To implement the Master Plan, the City must rely upon a combination of government operations and an array of partnerships with the public and private sector, ranging from sharing information to funding and shared services. Cooperation through alliances and partnerships will be sustained to benefit everyone in the region. Only through public and private collaboration can the plan’s vision be realized. The City facilitates plan implementation through:

• Mayor and City Council: The City Council is empowered to develop regulations and laws by ordinance, programs and policies, capital projects, and support partners by interlocals and resolutions.
• City Manager: The City Manager oversees the administration of the City’s affairs, submits the annual budget, advises the Council on the adoption of measures, and ensures general laws and ordinances are carried out.
• City departments: Consisting of groups of departments from Community and Development Services, Operations and Development, Community Services, Public Safety Services, and Internal Services, each group of departments plays a different role in implementing whether it is a public facing service provision, infrastructure development, or internal services integral for municipal operations.
• External partnerships: An array of stakeholders play major roles for various facets of plan implementation, such as CCSD, Clark County, Chambers of Commerce, SNWA, RTC, regional recreation and tourism organizations, neighboring municipalities, and local businesses. Each partnership, which may range from sharing information to funding and shared promotions or services, will lead to successful implementation of the plan’s key actions.

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01. INTRODUCTION

The City of Las Vegas is an internationally renowned leader in the global economy with strong, livable neighborhoods. From humble beginnings to exponential growth and the reinvention of its downtown, the city has been driven by determination, ambition, and innovation. As Las Vegas is projected to continue its growth over the next 30 years, the City has prepared this Master Plan to build on its legacy and address future challenges. It serves as a comprehensive roadmap for residents and businesses to provide for their health, safety, prosperity, security, comfort, and general welfare.

The 2050 Master Plan addresses challenges head-on. The plan examines the land use and environment of the city, its economy and educational opportunities, and the systems and services that make the city run. It provides the City and its constituents with a strategic set of clear and measurable goals to guide future growth and development, align capital improvement projects, and coordinate City programming. The 2050 Master Plan is not a stand-alone document: it integrates existing and ongoing City and regional planning efforts to advance the City’s vision for a future that enhances the quality of life for every resident.

A GUIDING FRAMEWORK

The 2050 Master Plan serves as a guiding framework to achieve a cohesive set of economic, social, cultural and environmental goals for the City for the next 30 years, guided by an overarching vision for an enhanced, sustainable quality of life. The 2050 Master Plan replaces the 2020 Master Plan adopted by the Las Vegas City Council on September 6, 2000. Elements of the previous plan underwent multiple additions and updates between 2000 and 2013. Today, most of the goals, objectives, and policies identified in that plan have been achieved. Simply put, a new plan is needed.

The plan chooses to proactively address shifting opportunities and challenges the City will face over the next several decades, including but not limited to a growing population, health and education, water conservation, and economic diversification. It incorporates Nevada Revised Statue (NRS) requirements pursuant to NRS 278.160, including required recommendations for conservation, historic preservation, housing, land use, public facilities and services, recreation and open space, safety, transportation, and urban agriculture. This master plan sets direction for Las Vegas Municipal Code and complement the City's zoning standards.

Organized around guiding principles inspired by City-developed strategic planning themes and priorities, the plan is reinforced by extensive community outreach to ensure that recommendations and outcomes lead to a City that is livable, equitable, innovative, resilient and healthy.

A CASE

FOR

CHANGE

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LAS VEGAS: A HISTORY OF MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE REAL

Las Vegas is a global city that thrives in a high desert environment in Southern Nevada. The City has sustained decades of rapid growth and intensive development with an against-all-odds mentality. Over the years, the people of Las Vegas have realized ambitious dreams with a determination and ingenuousness that few can surpass. The City and region have become an international destination and world-class economy in a place few would have thought possible.

Inspired by necessity, the City has developed livable neighborhoods and has led the way in water conservation. In recent years, the City has shown how it is possible to reinvigorate its downtown in a remarkable, authentic way. The world is watching as the City develops new solutions to meet the needs of its residents amongst a new set of challenging conditions.

A CITY AT AN INFLECTION POINT

As Las Vegas continues to grow, key resources such as water, natural lands, open space, and transportation infrastructure face stresses that can affect health, quality of life, and economic vitality. These resources are reaching their capacity to support the levels of growth that the City has experienced in recent decades.

Recognizing that available land and water are finite, now is the time to make important decisions for the future. The water, energy and transportation costs associated with continuing to build outward using conventional development standards and practices are growing prohibitive. Changing demographics are creating new civic, social, and cultural conditions that will shape Las Vegas communities and the services that they will need.

This Plan provides a strategic framework for the City to proactively adapt to growth while improving equity and quality of life for all residents.

PLANNING FOR A RESILIENT COMMUNITY

At its core, the 2050 Master Plan is a resilience strategy focused on smart and proactive planning around population health and key resources, beginning with water. Water is central to any consideration of public health, economic strength and quality of life in Las Vegas. The Colorado River, which provides 90 percent of the region’s water, supports shrinking resources due to prolonged drought and climate change. Shortages are likely in the near term.

Las Vegas faces not only the prospect of increased water shortage but also urban heat island effects often in the City’s most challenged urban neighborhoods. Thanks to impactful regional collaboration over the past twenty years, Las Vegas has emerged as a recognized leader in sustainable infrastructure and best practices. The 2050 Master Plan builds upon these successes and addresses these issues head-on. It sets forth a vision of creative and forward-thinking land use planning to improve health outcomes, reduce water demand and heat island impacts, and improve quality of life for all Las Vegas residents today and in the future.

EMPLOYING METRICS, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES

With additional residents come increasing demands on public services, transportation, utility infrastructure, and commercial activity. Planning to accommodate them is a challenging prospect. However, through extensive public and stakeholder engagement, local knowledge and expertise, and metric-based decision making, the 2050 Master Plan is able to present multiple potential future directions to better understand which is best for the long term health and vitality of Las Vegas.

The central question is understanding where current and future residents might live and in what types of housing. Conventional suburban-style neighborhoods consume relatively large quantities of land and resources. In Las Vegas, the continued viability of these types of neighborhood is challenging, given growing resource and quality of life constraints. What alternative development practices can be explored? How might new typologies fit within the existing fabric of Las Vegas?

BRINGING THE PLAN TO THE PEOPLE

PUBLIC OUTREACH

In order to increase the number and diversity of responses gathered during a traditional public outreach process, the Department of Planning designed an outreach strategy for the 2050 Master Plan that engaged residents where they were. Long Range Planning staff attended over 68 community events during a 5 month period throughout the city by attending concerts, community centers, neighborhood block parties, swap meets, farmers markets, after school events, transit centers, and public events. These activities, along with electronic engagement tools available on masterplan.vegas, resulted in engaging with over 5,000 people all across the valley. To encourage participation, Planning staff raffled off prizes every month to those who completed a survey either online or in-person at a community event.

• 5,120 total people reached.
• 3,403 individuals provided input.
• 1,717 professional surveys completed.
• 420 Statistical surveys conducted.
• 68 community events.
• 28 stakeholder meetings.

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MARKETING EFFORTS

With the help of the City’s Office of Communications, the Planning Department deployed a marketing campaign encouraging the community to participate in the public engagement process. The City kicked-off the engagement phase with a live remote broadcast with Mercedes from 94.1 FM. Digital ads, public service announcements, social media posts, newsletter messages, and direct e-mail campaigns were all produced.

• Digital ads saw approximately 45,403 impressions and 115 clicks.
• E-mails were sent to over 2,500 recipients.
• Social media posts saw over 205 clicks.
• Public Service Announcements aired 125 times on KCLV.

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WHAT ARE THE TOP 5 ISSUES AFFECTING LAS VEGAS?

At each public outreach event, the team asked residents, “What are the top 5 issues confronting Las Vegas?” The following is a summary of the responses received, with the top issues being Education, Public Safety, Homelessness, Open Space, Water and Drought.

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SURVEY

Applied Analysis conducted a city-wide and ward-specific statistically significant survey. Respondents ranked issues the City should prioritize over the next 30 years. The following emerged as the top three issues: public safety, education, and health care. The surveys, conducted in late 2019, concluded that City residents were generally satisfied with their quality of life and would recommend others to move to Las Vegas.

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YOUTH RESPONSES

The Planning Department made a considerable effort to elicit feedback from some of the brightest and youngest residents: the City’s youth. The Departments of Youth Development and Social Innovation and Parks and Recreation were instrumental in gathering quality feedback from youth of all ages across the City. Over 100 kids provided feedback on the 2050 Master Plan by answering the prompt “What would make Las Vegas better in the future?” Their top responses were Parks, Homelessness, Education, and Water.

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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

The Planning Department wanted to ensure a varied team of stakeholders could provide valuable feedback throughout the drafting of the 2050 Master Plan. The composition of the plan’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) was purposefully designed to be representative of the issues and opportunities the plan was destined to feature. The CAC included approximately 30 residents representing non-profits, businesses, critical industry sectors, and offered key subject matter expertise to frame the objectives and recommendations in the plan. They also were encouraged to engage their respective groups to provide feedback through the “Workshop in a Box” exercise.

• 7 Citizens Advisory Committee Meetings
• 6 Issue Specific Workshops (Sustainability, Health, Equity, Economy, Infill development, land use)
• More than 25 Stakeholder Meetings

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ENGAGEMENT TIMELINE

Throughout plan development, ideas were tested, experts provided feedback, the public was polled on priorities, and the stage was set for implementation by building a coalition of implementors through the various committees and stakeholders identified below.

EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE

• Staff/department head briefings
• Confirm Plan Direction

CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

• Nominated by council members (geographic representation)
• Local leaders and experts
• Gauge plan direction

STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS AND BRIEFINGS

• Agencies (i.e. SNWA, RTC, utilities, CCSD, BLM, CCHA)
• Advocacy groups (i.e. SNHBA, LVGEA, GOED, Fremont Street Experience)
• Neighboring communities (i.e. North Las Vegas, Clark County, City of Henderson, Creech/Nellis AFB)

PUBLIC INPUT

• Public visioning sessions
• Open houses
• Online feedback
• Statistically significant surveys (citywide and ward-specific)

PLAN ORGANIZATION

In order to realize a broad and transformative vision for what the City of Las Vegas can successfully become it is necessary to translate vision into clear practical goals and measurable outcomes, such that are clear to residents, community leaders, businesses, and stakeholders how progress can be achieved.

The recommendations of the 2050 Master Plan provide tools, strategies, and actions that can be used in order to meet the desired outcomes.

The 2050 Master Plan also identifies three major themes, which organize the plan elements across individual chapters. These themes include:

• Land Use and Environment
• Economy and Education
• Systems and Services

Collectively, these terms give structure to the plan document, providing clarity and consistency throughout. The graphic to the right shows the relationship between these organizing elements.

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The next three chapters are organized by themes, each of which relates to the Southern Nevada Strong Regional Plan’s areas of focus:

Land Use and Environment (Chapter 2)

• Land use + Areas of the City
• Environment

Economy and Education (Chapter 3)

• Education
• Economy
• Housing

Systems and Services (Chapter 4)

• Transportation
• Resource Conservation
• Public Facilities and Services
• Safety

Each chapter contains a set of Goals for each Theme. These goals are used to organize the recommendations under different topics. Each topic contains an overview of existing conditions, public input, specific recommendations, and implementation strategies. Where a topic and goal directly relates to meeting Nevada Revised Statutes, a reference is provided: orange square icon with white checkmark NRS 278.160

Desired Outcomes are listed for each goal to provide a measure to indicate how well the City is progressing toward each goal. Many of these outcomes are derived from two programs the City has participated in: STAR Communities and LEED for Cities. Prior to being integrated into the LEED rating system, the City used the STAR Communities sustainability tracking and rating system to assess a diverse array of metrics. Under LEED for Cities, which the City has been certified as “Gold” in August 2020, the City closely assessed and aligned its outcomes for Natural Systems, Transportation and Land Use, Water Efficiency, Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Materials and Resources, Quality of Life, Innovation, Regional Priorities, and Integrative Processes. Depending on whether goals or credits were achieved in either rating system, both STAR and LEED offered useful tools to establish future outcomes, as well as determine appropriate implementation strategies to achieve them.

The concluding chapter on implementation (Chapter 5) ties the preceding Guiding Principles together with the action plan. Implementation strategies are categorized by priority, timeframe, and responsibility. This action plan can serve as a checklist to ensure the plan’s implementation.

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VISION

THE CITY OF LAS VEGAS WILL BE A LEADER IN RESILIENT, HEALTHY CITIES - LEVERAGING THE PIONEERING INNOVATIVE SPIRIT OF ITS RESIDENTS TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SERVICES, EDUCATION, AND JOBS IN THE NEW ECONOMY.

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LAS VEGAS IN 2050 WILL BE BOLD, INNOVATIVE, ICONIC, WORKING, SMART, ACCESSIBLE, AND COLLABORATIVE.

BOLD, VISIONARY PLANNING

The City’s future upon depends how its leaders and residents respond to opportunities and challenges today and plan for continued change tomorrow. Las Vegas residents have already witnessed the power of visionary, implementable planning in several key areas of the City. Now is the time for all areas of the City to benefit from this kind of strategic thinking.

The 2050 Master Plan announces to the region and world that Las Vegas is actively moving forward in order to address key challenges and capitalize on key opportunities and move boldly as it has in the past, leading other desert and global cities in equitable outcomes and the competition for investment, talent, health, education, leisure and other hallmarks of a uniquely Las Vegas quality of life.

The 2050 Master Plan continues the tradition of forward-thinking planning in the City and Las Vegas Valley, including regional plans like Southern Nevada Strong, and district plans like the Vision 2045 Downtown Las Vegas Masterplan. The previously adopted 2020 Master Plan reached the end of its useful life as most of the goals, objectives and policies identified in that plan were achieved. This Plan builds upon the existing strengths of the City and region to establish a vision for the future with measurable goals and actionable implementation recommendations.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Overall, this master plan differs from previous master plans in how it integrates recommendations related to the long-term sustainability of the City of Las Vegas. Although previous plans looked to address guiding principles, this plan shifts to incorporate measurable principles directly into the planning process.

This plan looks to the future of Las Vegas in 2050 with a different set of eyes than was done in previous planning processes. It recognizes that development as usual is not enough to achieve long-term sustainability. If the Las Vegas of 2050 wants to be an even better destination for living, working, and playing, it must operate in an increasingly challenging environment. Las Vegas in 2050 will be better than Las Vegas is now- it will be resilient, equitable, healthy, livable, and innovative.

Built on the vision, this Plan’s Guiding Principles shape each recommendation. Together, the Guiding Principles will be used to:

• Measure success.
• Weigh recommendations.
• Foster community-driven implementation.
• Improve quality of life for all residents.

These Guiding Principles were developed based on input from the public, officials, staff, and stakeholders that prioritized a common set of quality of life measures that this plan seeks to address.

Each Guiding Principle was the focus of a series of workshops held in May 2019 for local experts and implementors to strategize with national experts from the consulting team.

EQUITABLE

Synonyms: Inclusive, fair, welcoming def. the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people

When they imagine their city in the future, Las Vegas residents see a city of clean air and water for all. They see a city that provides access to education, healthcare, resources, and jobs no matter where in the city they happen to live—all while acknowledging that each neighborhood has its own distinctive character. Las Vegas is recognized by experts as a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion. A dynamic city that values all individuals and creates opportunities for everyone.

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Equity is not equality. Equity is giving each individual what they need to be successful, while equality is treating everyone the same.

AN EQUITABLE LAS VEGAS:

• Acknowledges national and local trends
  • The nation, and our city, is becoming more diverse
  • There are socio-political challenges
  • There are rising costs in housing, health care and education
  • Decisions increasingly made the context of equitable indicators
• Advances socioeconomic mobility for all Las Vegas residents
  • Diversify our workforce and provide opportunity, for equitable access to high-quality education and relevant training
• Embraces our key challenges
• Creates opportunities for adequate, diverse housing that meets the needs of the community
• Emphasizes talent recruitment and retention of residents
• Builds empathy for better urban design outcomes in economically disadvantaged areas
• Anticipates and innovate for new economies
• Creates a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive culture

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STAR/LEED OBJECTIVES

• Social and Cultural Diversity: Celebrate and respect diversity in community decision-making
• Civil and Human Rights: Promote civil and human rights
• Equitable Services and Access: Ensure equitable access to foundational community assets

RESILIENT

Synonyms: sustainable, adaptable, flexible def. able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

To ensure a quality of life well into the future, experts acknowledge that Las Vegas will need to better prepare for health crises. The city will need to continue to reduce water consumption. The City will need new transportation solutions to support higher densities. It will benefit, too, from acknowledging how urbanized so much of its environment has become. Las Vegas has always needed sound planning for drought, earthquakes, and flooding. Today, planners must look to the impacts of a changing climate as well.

STAR/LEED OBJECTIVES:

• Climate Adaptation: Strengthen the resilience of communities to climate change
• Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Emergency Prevention and Response: Reduce harm to humans and property
• Natural and Human Hazards: Ensure communities are prepared to respond and recover from extreme events
• “Green” Infrastructure: Design and maintain a network of “green”infrastructure
• “Green” Building: Encourage the design, construction, and retrofit of buildings using green building practices

*Quotation marks are added to “Green” to indicate that Las Vegas, with its desert climate, does not meet the sustainable and resilience goals in a traditionally green way that other communities across the country do. This plan advocates for alternatives to relying on green vegetation to reduce the urban heat island and water challenges facing the city. Resilience and sustainability are at the heart of meeting those objectives.

TO ACHIEVE A RESILIENT LAS VEGAS, WE MUST:

• Infuse resilience in all aspects of City development and systems at a physical and operational level.
• Focus on how environmental and infrastructure issues can be addressed through plan recommendations, including water scarcity, drought, urban heat island, public health and safety, food security, and air quality
• Understand the anticipated context of a hotter, drier future in Las Vegas and how limited and shrinking water resources and climate change will affect the region
• Acknowledge both heat island effect and climate change are threats

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• Intentionally incorporate key issues of resiliency and climate action/adaptation into all land-use planning, policies, and standards.
• Lead policy and actions as a City within a framework of increased multi-jurisdictional cooperation and regional partnership building.
• Plan for uncertainty by considering multiple scenarios for future risk and vulnerability, including climate change.
• Protect the environment for future generations, using smart growth development practices to protect and maintain limited resources.
• Effectively communicate the issues and risks we are facing as a community and the steps we are taking to address them, and that ensure our communication efforts promote, incentivize and celebrate the goals that we set.
• Celebrate water as core to public health, economic strength and quality of life. While Las Vegas is conserving water better than any U.S. city, major steps are needed to protect water resources for current and future generations.
• Emphasize land use planning can reduce water demand and heat island impacts
• Mitigate urban heat island by planting and maintaining trees, encouraging the use of appropriate building and site materials.
• Consider energy and energy-water nexus related goals including site goals to reduce demand via human-scaled interventions, building scale incentive programs, deep energy retrofits, building code provisions, green city buildings and fleet, understanding intersections at the system scale, and establishing policy and partnerships at the City scale.

HEALTH

Synonyms: strong, accessible, well def. in good physical condition, in good shape, in top form

Beyond access to clean air and water, the people of Las Vegas envision a city that improves physical and mental health outcomes, improves safety, sustains their families and encourages healthy choices. They see opportunities to make more communities walkable and responsive through mixed use developments together with ample parks, open spaces and recreational opportunities.

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STAR/LEED OBJECTIVES:

• Environmental Justice: Reduce polluted and toxic environments
• Active Living: Enable adults and kids to maintain healthy, active lifestyles
• Community Health and Systems: Achieve positive health outcomes and minimize health risks
• Food Access and Nutrition: Ensure access to fresh, healthful food
• Indoor Air Quality: Ensure healthy indoor air quality

A healthy Las Vegas is rooted in a hyper-local understanding of the social determinants of health and the unique community conditions in the varied and diverse places where people live, learn, work, and play and that affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.

This planning process included a series of focused conversations in conjunction with UNLV School of Medicine students and other key stakeholders to discuss social determinants of health and develop principles rooted in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Healthy Community Checklist.

TO ACHIEVE A HEALTHY LAS VEGAS, WE MUST:

• Increase options for physical activity and opportunities to be able to go more places without a car
• Develop livable places in clean environments
• Invest in public transportation
• Improve walkability and safety
• Reduce food insecurity and hunger
• Increase affordable housing options
• Improve access to care
• Improve accessibility and availability of mental health care resources
• Reduce loneliness and isolation
• Mitigate the impact of the personal automobile
  • Prioritize placemaking on key transit corridors
  • Make transit hubs more safe and comfortable
  • Incorporate complete street guidelines
  • Reduce speed limits
  • Reduce parking requirements
• Improve air quality
  • Plant more trees for multiple environmental, health, economic benefits
  • Enforce/manage the tree canopy
  • Make data-informed and metrics-based decisions
• Improve pedestrian safety and walkability
  • Prioritize universal design
  • Improve mixed use with more eyes on the street
  • Improve lighting
  • Empower neighborhood based organizations
• Improve and increase park spaces and access
• Improve connectivity
  • Incentivize walking and biking
  • Eliminate neighborhood walls
  • Improve connectivity ratio
  • Develop additional safe and high comfort routes and walkways/bikeways
  • Build smaller community centers
  • Fill in sidewalk gaps
• Develop alternative housing strategies that respond to need and resources of today
  • Consider micro units/granny flats
  • Explore creative unit construction, ie. container units

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LIVABLE

Synonyms: Unique, complete, enjoyable def. an environment worth living in

For all the change the future will bring, the people of Las Vegas want to maintain strong ties to qualities of the city that make it distinctive and meaningful. The City wants to hold on to cherished icons of its past while acknowledging its diverse cultural traditions, and it wants to reaffirm its deep ties to the desert and the West.

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STAR/LEED OBJECTIVES:

• Arts and Culture: Provide a broad range of arts and cultural activities
• Community Cohesion: Ensure a cohesive, connected community
• Civic Engagement: Improve well-being by participating in decision-making and volunteering
• Safe Communities: Prevent and reduce violent crime

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TO ACHIEVE A LIVEABLE LAS VEGAS, WE MUST:

• Continue to be a unique entertainment and recreation destination with a vibrant character and economy:
  • Embrace our world-class tourism economy.
  • Understand what is "authentic" Las Vegas and how this can be leveraged to create more livable communities.
  • Drive additional economic development diversification and attract and retain residents and businesses.
• Improve the quality of life and sense of "place" for residents:
  • Create a more inclusive community built on grassroots involvement and pride .
  • Break down the walls of our community and bring people together.
  • Encourage neighborhood branding as part of defining planning areas to embrace unique identities and facilitate neighborhood pride.
  • Improve education, both traditional and lifelong learning opportunities.
• Create and maintain safe neighborhoods:
  • Create a more walkable community to attract and retain residents.
  • Safe streets with lighting, sidewalks and trees.
  • Improve crosswalks and bike lanes.
  • Reduce vehicle speed on residential streets.
  • Create opportunities to get more "eyes on the street" day and night.
• Design places for all people to live regardless of age, abilities or income.
• Increase opportunities where residents can make healthier and more affordable food choices:
  • Strengthen housing types to support a variety of age groups, family types, and funding strategies.
• Celebrate the history and culture of Las Vegas to build greater neighborhood pride and investment:
  • Increase family-focused entertainment.
  • Increase the percentage of accessible open space.
  • Build a philanthropic culture to invest in community priorities.
• Support strong neighborhoods with access to key services and amenities:
  • Expand upon neighborhood community center model to include cultural and recreation options in more locations throughout the city.
• Capitalize on the resurgence of downtown, the Arts District, and urban lifestyle.
• Continue collaboration with LVMPD to provide outstanding public safety.

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INNOVATIVE

Synonyms: Smart, diverse, bold def. new ideas; original and creative in thinking

An Innovative Las Vegas will meet new demands of residents while continuing to attract the boldest and brightest by pioneering smart city technologies that drive new markets and diversify the economy.

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STAR/LEED OBJECTIVES

• Business Retention and Development: Foster economic prosperity and stability
• Targeted Industry Development: Increase local competitiveness
• Green Market Development: Increase overall green market demand
• Energy: Transition the local energy supply toward the use of renewables

TO ACHIEVE AN INNOVATIVE LAS VEGAS, WE MUST:

• Embrace that a smart city is where there is effective integration of physical, digital and human systems in the built environment to deliver a sustainable, prosperous and inclusive future for its citizens.
• Understand the biggest barrier to innovation is lack of connectivity.
• Embrace the six pillars of Smart Vegas, including:
  • Iconic Las Vegas
  • Workforce development
  • Smart Vegas
  • At-risk populations
  • Neighborhood preservation and quality of life
  • Public safety
• Embrace the economic impact promise of Smart City improvements for the city of Las Vegas, including:
  • Cost savings
  • Efficient city operations
  • Risk mitigation
  • Quality of life improvements
  • Improved connectivity
  • Talent attraction
  • Sustainability
  • Better mobility and greener buildings
  • Monetization of big data
• Understand potential limitations to Smart City improvements in the City of Las Vegas, including:
  • Difficult to demonstrate return on investment
  • One-sided P3s, because the general public doesn't know what they need
  • Industry fatigue on “freebies” (it can’t all be free)
  • State and federal preemption
  • Pilots challenging to scale (financing and governance are important)
  • Public awareness, because a lot of data is being captured in rights-of-way with no conversation about privacy in the 21st century
• Address key elements the City desires to move forward regarding Smart Vegas, including:
  • 5G infrastructure, leveraging disruption, leading deployment, scaling beyond the district and considering urban design implications
  • Utilities and changing demand, including fleet electrification, microgrids and local generation
  • land use, including hyper local planning and resource management
  • workforce development, including skills training, supporting management and transforming the workforce
  • focusing on outcomes, including public health, sustainability, and mobility, amongst others
  • business models including P3s for public benefit, flexible innovation, and data and security
• Become a less one-dimensional economy and thus less susceptible to sharp market shifts.
• Diversify our knowledge-based economy that leverages our innovative enterprises including resilience and sustainability research, advanced mobility platforms, and improved data collection, analysis and evaluation.
• Improve the disconnect between land use policy and economic development goals.
• Continue to be the top city for open data, balance between open public data, secure data and data that can be monetized.
• Improve institutional partnerships.
• Address the “digital divide.”

QUANTIFYING CHANGE

To fully realize the City’s vision, it will need to quantify measurable change. Here are some facts and figures, for a baseline understanding of what is facing the city, particularly related to growth and development.

IN 2050, LAS VEGAS WILL LIKELY HAVE:

300,000+

NEW RESIDENTS

• A total city population of approximately 900,000+
• A total regional population of 3 million (in line with UNLV estimates)

9,500+

ACRES OF NEW PARKS NEEDED

• Tule Springs National Monument included

100,000+

NEW HOUSING UNITS IN THE CITY

• 550,000+ more total housing units in the region

72 MILLION

SQUARE FEET OF NEW COMMERCIAL SPACE

and at least:

600

NEW LVMPD OFFICERS

2,500

NEW TEACHERS

30

NEW CCSD SCHOOLS

450

NEW PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES

1,100

NEW CITY EMPLOYEES

HOW DO WE PLAN FOR THIS?

POPULATION HISTORY AND FORECAST

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Source: UNLV

The population in Southern Nevada is projected to reach 3 million by 2050, with 300,000 future City of Las Vegas residents.

WATER CONSUMPTION

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Despite the population increase, drought, and urban development, SNWA has produced significant decreases in per person water use with the same water supply from the Colorado River.

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Source: SNWA

Even with increased conservation, Lake Mead’s levels are expected to decrease in the face of drought and climate change. Water conservation is a key element of SNWA’s success in managing water resources to meet the region’s expected water demand, and the City can contribute to this effort in a collaborative role.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE

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The average annual temperature is rising, meaning the city must plan for ways to alleviate the increasing adverse effects of the urban heat island.

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SHAPING LAS VEGAS

FROM GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO MEASURABLE RECOMMENDATIONS

The Las Vegas 2050 Master Plan identifies the vision and goals of the community and provides a “road map” identifying where land use changes may be anticipated or desired. The Plan provides guidance and recommendations on the forms and functions of these future land uses.

Understanding how future demographic changes, such as increasing population or socio-economic shifts, affect land uses is essential for effective master planning. In Las Vegas, demographic projections anticipate upwards of 300,000 new residents within the city limits by 2050.

We know that past development practices relied on a suburban expansion model, where undeveloped lands at edge of city are incorporated into the City proper and developed - primarily as single-family housing developments.

This pattern of development may ultimately prove unsustainable should it continue, exacerbating a range of issues and associated mitigation costs. Single-family housing consumes the greatest amounts of water - are preciously and tightly managed resources, especially if needing to accommodate 300,000 new residents. Further suburban expansion requires significant infrastructure investment to expand sewer and water service, while often leaving aging infrastructure in older parts of the city in poorer condition.

Suburban expansion means ever increasing commute times for workers, while making it increasingly expensive to provide mass transit service to outlying areas. Collectively this places an even greater burden on an already stressed roadway network. At the same time, Las Vegas struggles with the same issues of equality that are common across urban environments in the US: gentrification, affordable housing, and fair access to schools, hospitals, and critical services.

The city has evaluated its actions and recognizes that state-level efforts are helping to reduce some of these burdens. Energy, for instance, is being shifted towards renewable generation in the electrical grid, reducing the amount of green house gas emissions from building use. But other critical resources, such as water, remains front and center in future planning needs.

GUIDING RESILIENT GROWTH

Thankfully, a number of alternative strategies and development practices are at the city’s disposal, which have the ability to accommodate future population growth in a more resilient manner, leading to better outcomes for all of Las Vegas. Key land use planning strategies include the following:

• Increase the density of key parts of the city, driven by water-centric and transportation-oriented planning.
• Prioritize and incentivize construction of “Missing Middle” housing: low-rise (3-5 story) multi-family units in key areas that have the smallest water footprint per dwelling unit. This typology creates a unit per acre density that aligns with transit-oriented development density (30-40 units per acre).
• Optimize the efficient use of limited resources such as land and water. Adaptively reuse and renovate the city’s existing infrastructure and buildings to be higher performing and more responsive to future stresses.
• Use resilient, climate adaptive and water efficient tree and plant species that reduce the urban heat island and improve air quality in all neighborhoods, prioritizing those that are the most in need.

For Las Vegas, increasing density and population in select areas is vital to help maximize the efficiency of existing city services and to accommodate an increasing population. It will also provide the population concentration needed to support more accessible and equitable mobility and transportation systems and nearby, walkable neighborhood stores and businesses.

Density is frequently perceived as a “bad” word because it connotes a wide array of ill-conceived or poorly-designed buildings and developments. These include past attempts at public housing, overcrowded and out-of-scale apartment complexes, and the conversion of single-family homes into multi-unit boarding houses.

Well-planned and designed medium- to higher-density housing strategies could help transform and re-energize certain areas. Depending on the neighborhood, the least intrusive of these may be to infill vacant lots with compatible single-family homes. More substantial options include redeveloping an area to accommodate mixed land uses that offer a variety of residential options.

EXPLORING FUTURE ALTERNATIVES

To help answer the question of where and how residents will be housed in the future, the planning team developed a sophisticated modeling tool to predict potential land use changes and assess their associated impacts. Different sets of assumptions were used to explore different future land use alternatives. This tool allowed the planning team to leverage public and stakeholder engagement and then:

• Assess the potential for different land uses to change in the future, based on the existing development patterns and uses of individual areas along with feedback from public engagement through the Preserve-Enhance-Transform (PET) analysis;

• Characterize how a given area could change and what mix of Place Types (i.e. future land use patterns) might be desired in that area in order to achieve desired outcomes and goals;

• Understand the capacity for changing land areas to absorb new population growth and what the impacts and benefits of those changes might be - most importantly in terms of impacts to water use.

Being able to anticipate land use changes and future population densities across Las Vegas can shed insight on critical elements that shape the quality of life for residents and the resilience of the City and broader region. For instance, differences in the amount of water different types of housing (e.g. single-family vs. apartment buildings) utilizes is important for achieving a smart use of finite water resources. Similarly, understanding how and where greater densities of population can be located to support an accessible and robust transportation system impacts how people live and move about the city.

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"WHAT IF" ALTERNATIVES

The land use tool allowed the planning team to explore three different alternatives (or "what-ifs") for how future population growth of approximately 300,000 people could be accommodated.

The first alternative looked citywide and loosely followed a "Business-as-usual" approach. Under Business-as-usual, future population growth would largely be accommodated through creation of new single-family neighborhoods that expand the developed footprint of the City of Las Vegas. This approach requires constructing new roads and public infrastructure to provide services to these new suburban-style developments. This alternative demonstrates one scenario of assuming very little change in land controls or proactive measures are taken to inform land use decisions.

The second alternative looked citywide and explored a more aggressive "Extensive Mixed-Use Infill" approach. While still allowing for some development of currently undeveloped land areas, the majority of new housing would be accommodated through utilization of vacant land within existing development footprint, redevelopment of portions of lower-density commercial areas into high-density mixed-use areas, and smaller scale infill in portions of existing residential zones. This alternative takes the opposite scenario of requiring or highly incentivizing denser land use patterns and minimizing expansion into undeveloped areas.

The third alternative, which forms the basis for the future place type maps (see Chapter 2), takes a strategic, balanced, district-by-district growth approach to identify key opportunities for increasing density and mixed-use development patterns where they are most feasible and desired. The opportunity was taken to align higher density redevelopment opportunities with future transit and transportation infrastructure improvements, allowing for a clearer Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) approach to the place types map. Based on a reasonable amount of mixed-use redevelopment within the city, outlying land were then projected for development using a denser traditional neighborhood place type pattern, which predominantly utilizes single-family housing.

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A NEW DIRECTION: OUTCOMES AND ACTIONS

The future place type framework and associated strategies, tools, and recommendations (see Chapter 2), sets the stage for a healthy, equitable, resilient, livable, and innovative Las Vegas.

The plan accommodates 300,000 new residents, while minimizing additional incursions into vacant and outlying lands. Achieving this relies on redeveloping vacant or underutilized lands within the city as primarily mid-density mixed-use developments, that bring residents in closer proximity to stores, jobs, public services, and transit while reducing water consumption and infrastructure costs.

Compared to the "Business as Usual" alternative, the "Strategic, balanced growth" alternative accommodates the same 300,000 residents in a manner that is anticipated to consume nearly 20% less water. Overall, under this scenario the average gallons of water used per unit of housing per day would decline. In comparison, under the "business as usual" scenario, relying primarily on suburban singe-family housing would continue to increase the average amount of water used per housing unit per day across the city.

In addition to reducing the rates of water consumption, the "Strategic, balanced growth" alternative places the majority of new residents along existing or potential mass transit corridors - increasing the mobility options for residents while reducing the burden of additional remote vehicle trips on the transportation infrastructure.

CONFRONTING ACTIVE CHALLENGES

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As this master plan was under development and nearing completion, the world was thrust into the COVID-19 global pandemic. Given the dramatic impacts of these events and the ongoing active challenges for the community, and because both occurred during the planning process, several lessons learned have been interwoven into this plan. While COVID-19 affected the timeline to consider adoption for the plan and impacted some of the plan’s underlying assumptions, it has been important for the City to describe how it can be used to confront these active challenges and how the City can take action, make recommendations, and formulate the best response possible to events that occur unforeseen. These events set amid a national scene, however, underscore the necessity of adhering to the guiding principles of this plan and their application as the plan is implemented.

COVID-19 IS NOT SOLELY A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

After the discovery of the novel coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, China in late 2019, the highly infectious respiratory disease rapidly spread throughout the world, eventually making its way across Asia, throughout the European Union, and into the United States. On March 5, 2020, a 55 year old man returned to Las Vegas from a trip to Washington state. After exhibiting symptoms, he tested positive for COVID-19, confirming that COVID-19 had arrived in Las Vegas. Three days later, the state’s total cases rose to four with presumptive-positive tests reported in Southern Nevada. Suddenly, major conventions and events were being postponed, professional sports paused games mid-season, and NCAA basketball tournaments scheduled in Las Vegas were cancelled. By March 12, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency for Nevada and began issuing a series of directives to address the impacts of the outbreak; Mayor Goodman and other local governments would issue their own respective declarations within the week. Shortly thereafter, President Trump declared an emergency using the Stafford Act and used special authority to increase production of medical supplies and equipment and to use the National Guard to keep supply chains operational. Since then, Las Vegas – and the state of Nevada – has seen tremendous, dramatic shifts in infection rates, employment, and economic impacts.

Once the reality of COVID-19 being an easily transmitted, airborne disease was recognized by the health and public policy communities, Governor Sisolak took the unprecedented step of ordering all non-essential businesses, including gaming operations, to close and shut down, a decision that weighed the health of the public against economic viability and set the trajectory for future directives from the Governor’s Office. In a matter of days, Las Vegas residents, businesses and their employees, were confronted with a dramatic new reality. By March 19, just two days after announcing closures, 206,000 direct casino employees across Nevada found themselves without work. With one of every four workers in Nevada employed by the leisure and hospitality industries, the livelihoods of Las Vegas residents and strength of the city’s primary industry were compromised. By the end of April, Nevada had the worst-ever unemployment rate in history and the highest unemployment rate in the country with nearly 245,000 jobs lost.

With much of the city and state shut down, life in Las Vegas changed dramatically. In addition to the impact of COVID-19 on job security, livelihoods, and public health, the everyday living patterns of residents was altered due to the shutdown of all non-essential business. Instead of being able to enjoy a dinner out at a restaurant, people had to instead rely on takeout and curbside pickup options. No longer could a person patronize a supermarket without wearing a mask or waiting in line to enter so stores could ensure a six-foot distance between customers. Rather than dropping kids off at school, parents were left to homeschool their children with online support from educators; some had no support at all through the end of the school year. Those reliant on public transportation were faced with longer wait times for transportation. Public gatherings were limited to 10 people in late March. Many employees had to transition to at-home work protocols while others faced the strong likelihood that their jobs would be eliminated. Travel – particularly air travel – was severely limited by flight cancellations while road travel was punctuated by required self-quarantine periods upon arriving at one’s destination.

While COVID-19 has tended to have a greater impact on those who are older, have a pre-existing condition, or are immuno-compromised, approximately 80% of Clark County cases show sub-populations having a disproportionate impact, especially for black, Latino, and Asian populations, as well as men. A likely explanation for this could be inequitable lack of access health care, the lack of outreach on the risks of COVID-19, or the lack of personal protective equipment at home or on the job. Furthermore, these sub-populations may have no other options to earn income, thus working at a job that requires public service or interaction. Because this novel coronavirus spreads via human contact, individuals who engage in public-facing activities like riding the bus, live in multi-family residences, or face barriers to health care are more likely to contract and spread COVID-19.

THE PANDEMIC ONCE AGAIN EXPOSED NEVADA’S OVER-RELIANCE ON THE GAMING AND TOURISM SECTORS AND EXEMPLIFIED THE NEED FOR CONTINUED ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

In Nevada, the stark reality of having a state economy based primarily on gaming and tourism, with tax revenue derived from those sources, puts Las Vegas in an unprecedented economic situation. Nevada’s economy is heavily dependent upon its sales tax, which accounts for nearly 1/3 of total state revenue. Of this, leisure and hospitality account for the largest contribution. With casinos closed during the COVID-19 shutdown and visitation hitting historic lows, the financial impacts to the state’s biennial budget are substantial. Pressure was placed on Federal, state, and local leaders to respond to the pandemic and reopen the economy as quickly as possible.

As historic layoffs occurred, claims for regular state unemployment and pandemic unemployment assistance rapidly increased and overwhelmed an existing state unemployment system wholly unprepared for a staggering volume of new claims. While new unemployment claims increased and leveled off over time, continual weekly claims for unemployment, indicating long-term layoffs, saw steady growth throughout the majority of May.