When one flies over Las Vegas, the intensity of the housing activity becomes obvious. It seems that almost all the land in Glitter Gulch is parceled out divided into neat squares of up to one acre.
Some lots are just getting started with foundations being dug and poured, while others are almost complete, with sodded lawns being trimmed and tiled roofs finished. Soon there will be nothing but pastel stucco houses from the Sunset Mountain Range to the Sierra Madres.
But the city's infrastructure is barely adequate to deal with its current size. Roads are constantly under construction, the airport is expanding, septic systems are full, and water is scarce.
In 1995, 17,921 new homes were built and sold, according to data from Home Builders Research Inc.
This year, that figure is expected to be between 18,000 and 19,000, according to Dennis Smith, president of the research company. "Las Vegas approved more building permits per 1,000 population that any other city in the country," he said.
"There's property for everyone out here," added Ronnie Schwartz, a real estate broker. "If you want to be out in the desert by yourself, you still can."
The town doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down, and several factors have kept the Las Vegas housing boom from going bust. "The three best things that ever happened to this town were the savings and loan crisis, the desert tortoise, and the water shortage," said Rick Piette, vice president of Weyerhaeuser Mortgage Co. and manager of the company's builder mortgage division.
If these financial problems and environmental concerns hadn't popped up to slow growth, home builders "would have gone absolutely bananas," said Mr. Piette. "It would have been like Phoenix, we would have real long absorption rates" for home purchases.
And despite naysayers' predictions that the boom couldn't last, Las Vegas seems to be on the cusp of its third growth spurt.
Two new major casinos are being built on the strip, for a total of 13,000 new jobs. Chase located a credit card operations nearby, cranberry juice giant Ocean Spray announced it would open a plant outside town, and construction is under way on a domed stadium that residents hope will attract the Super Bowl.
Said Mike Shustek, a local real estate operator, "We always say our city bird is a crane, because there is so much building going on in town. "
