The Las Vegas metropolitan area , also known as the Las Vegas-Paradise-Henderson Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, consisting of Clark County. A central part of the metropolitan area is the Las Vegas Valley, a 600 sq mi (1,600 km 2 ) basin in which is located the metropolitan area's largest city, Las Vegas. The area contains the largest concentration of people in the state. The history of the Las Vegas metropolitan area largely coincides with the history of the city of Las Vegas, whose name is sometimes used to denominate the entire region. The metropolitan area's population was estimated at 1,836,333 in 2007.
Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the many tourist destination buildings in the area. As seen from space, Las Vegas is the brightest city on earth.
History
Main article: Las Vegas historyThe area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864, beginning a long relationship between southern Nevada and the U.S. military. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a gaming center as well as a resort destination, primarily targeting adults. Relatively inexpensive real estate prompted a residential population boom in the Las Vegas Valley in the 1990s and is still expanding in every direction.
Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast corner of the valley. The ranges that the Nellis pilots use and various other land areas used by various federal agencies, limit growth of the valley in terms of geographic area. Due to this reason, the valley has seen more mid- and high-rise buildings erected.
Boundaries
Aside from the federal government's definition of the metropolitan area's boundaries, several unofficial definitions are employed by local governments and area residents. Most definitions agree on the inclusion of the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson, the Las Vegas Strip, Summerlin, and the unincorporated communities of Winchester, Paradise, Enterprise and Spring Valley.
The government of Clark County defines an "Urban Planning Area" of Las Vegas. This definition is a roughly rectangular area, about 20 mi (32 km) from west to east and 30 miles from north to south. It is generally as described above. Notable exclusions include Boulder City, Red Rock, Blue Diamond and Mount Charleston. With its ban on gambling, Boulder City is sometimes noted as being outside the metropolitan area. From the federal government's definition, however, it is part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area as it lies in the same county and just 22 miles away from Las Vegas. The rapid growth of Las Vegas in recent years has also made this distinction harder to maintain.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department exercises jurisdiction in Clark County, including areas as far away from Las Vegas as Laughlin, about 90 mi (140 km) from downtown Las Vegas, but excluding cities with separate police forces such as North Las Vegas and Henderson.
The United States Census Bureau defines the Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump combined statistical area, which includes all of Clark County as well as the community of Pahrump in southern Nye County, about 75 mi (121 km) from downtown Las Vegas.
Residents often use the term "the valley" as a synonym for "metropolitan area", but this is a misnomer, as the valley is in fact a basin. The basin is an area generally defined by the Spring Mountains on the west, Sheep Mountains to the north, Muddy Mountains, Eldorado Range and Lake Mead to the east, and the Black Mountains to the south.
Geography and environment
The Las Vegas Valley lies in the Mojave Desert. The surrounding land is desert with mountains in the distance.
Climate
The Las Vegas Valley lies in a relatively high-altitude portion of the Mojave Desert, which tends to produce drastic changes of temperature between seasons, and also between day and night. The Valley generally averages less than 5 in (130 mm) of rain annually. Daily daytime summer temperatures in July and August are typically around 101 °F (38 °C) degrees. Very low humidity, however, tempers the effect of these temperatures, though dehydration, heat exhaustion, and sun stroke can occur after even a limited time outdoors in the summer. The interiors of automobiles often prove deadly to small children and pets during the summer and surfaces exposed to the sun can cause first- and second-degree burns to unprotected skin. July and August can also be marked by "monsoon season", when moist winds from the Gulf of California soak much of the Southwestern United States. While not only raising humidity levels, these winds develop into dramatic desert thunderstorms that can sometimes cause flash flooding.
Winter season is moderate in Las Vegas and temperatures are mild, with winter daytime highs near 60 °F (16 °C) and winter nighttime lows of about 40 °F (4 °C). Snow accumulation in the valley itself is generally uncommon, but every few years apart, the Las Vegas Valley can get snow. The mountains surrounding the valley are snow-covered during winter.
Air quality
Being located in a desert basin creates issues with air quality. From the dust the wind picks up from disturbed desert surrounding the city, to the smog produced by vehicles to the pollen in the air, the valley has mostly bad air days.
Pollen can be a major issue several weeks a year with counts occasionally in the 70,000 plus range. Local governments are trying to control this by banning plants that produce the most pollen.
The dust problems usually happen on very windy days, so they tend to be seasonal and of a short duration.
Smog on the other hand gets worst when there is no wind to move the air out of the valley. Also in winter it is possible to get an inversion in the valley air that actually traps any smog in the valley.
The county is working to control these problems and has shown some success over the years. The constant tightening of Federal requirements for allowable particles in the air, make the task of meeting air quality standards difficult.
Water
The native flora does little to help the soil retain water. During the intense rains of monsoon season or (relatively) wet months of January and February, a network of dry natural channels, called washes or arroyos, carved into the valley floor allows water to flow down from the mountains and converge in the Las Vegas Wash which runs through the Clark County Wetlands Park. The wash system used to form a large natural wetlands which then flowed into the Colorado River, until the construction of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River led to the creation of Lake Mead. Further development in the 1980s and 1990s made Lake Las Vegas, which required directing the Las Vegas Wash into tunnels which run under Lake Las Vegas and into Lake Mead.
The Las Vegas area receives about 300,000 acre feet (370,000,000 m³) of water each year from Lake Mead, with credits for water it returns to the lake. The allocations were made when Nevada had a much smaller population and very little agriculture. The allocations were also made during a wet string of years, which overstated the available water in the entire watershed. As a result, precipitation that is below normal for a few years can have a major impact on the Colorado River Reservoirs.
Early Vegas depended on the aquifer which fed the springs, but the pumping of water from these caused a large drop in the water levels and ground subsidence over wide areas of the valley. Today, the aquifers are basically used to store water that is pumped from the lake during periods of low demand and pumped out during periods of high demand.
Urbanization
The population doubling time in the greater metropolitan area was under ten years, since the early 1970s and the Las Vegas metropolitan area now has a population approaching two million people. This rapid population growth led to a significant urbanization of desert lands into industrial and commercial areas. ( see suburbia).
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.58 White (60.23% White Non-Hispanic), 9.08% Black, 5.74% Asian, 0.79% American Indian and 12.81% of other or mixed race. 21.96% were Hispanic of any race.
In 1999, the median income for a household in the MSA was $44,616 and the median income for a family was $50,485. The per capita income was $21,785.
Economy
The driving force in the Las Vegas Valley is the tourism industry and the valley
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