Mayor hopes to add NBA team to list of downtown’s strides
In the first State of the City address during her tenure, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman focused on one area she believes is essential to the city as a whole: downtown.
In a speech that ran for more than an hour, Goodman highlighted the projects in the area, citing this year’s opening of City Hall, 495 S. Main St., where she delivered the speech; the Mob Museum, 300 Stewart Ave.; and the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, 361 Symphony Park Ave., among others. She called 2012 The Year of Downtown, mentioning the proposed opening of the La Concha Visitor Center and Neon Museum, 810 Las Vegas Blvd. North, the moves of the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum to Symphony Park and Zappos into City Hall’s former location at 400 Stewart Ave.
“My hope is that Las Vegas becomes the new Silicon Valley and that it becomes an (information technology) hub for the world,” Goodman said. “No group is better prepared to bring home that dream than Zappos.”
Goodman spoke about another project she hopes to bring to the forefront, which includes a professional sports arena and an NBA team.
“I will say nothing more on this until the money’s in the bank and the shovel’s in the ground,” Goodman said. “But rest assured, I want an NBA team in our city as much as my husband (former Mayor Oscar Goodman) did.”
She mentioned the growth of the Fremont East Entertainment District, an area of downtown that Goodman said has become a major draw for tourists and residents in the past year.
“I love this part of the city because it used to be a crime-infested, crime-ridden place that tourists (and) our own residents continued to avoid,” Goodman said. “But now it’s alive and vibrant.”
Goodman’s address wasn’t all about the downtown renaissance, however. She discussed Nevada being at the forefront of the national foreclosure crisis, calling it a “tsunami in its own right, but one of a different kind.” She touched on the need for job creation in Las Vegas and having top-notch health care facilities.
“There is no reason for our families to seek care (at) M.D. Anderson, Scripps, Mayo, UCLA or elsewhere – any of the affiliates – if we are going to be a city of any stature and standing.”
The mayor made a point to focus on her plans for downtown, discussing three improvements she hopes to make, including the “appearance of downtown,” making the area more pedestrian-friendly and increasing mobility for residents, tourists and bicyclists. Goodman added that she plans to create 175 miles’ worth of bike lanes in the area by the end of 2012, and she expects parking to improve with the addition of the city’s “parking czar,” Brandy Stanley, the city’s parking services manager.
Goodman ended her address with jokes and a promise that next year’s speech wouldn’t be as long. Her closing remarks were focused on downtown and what she hopes the area will bring to residents and tourists in the future.
“We will continue to make our downtown a place that invites everyone into it, whether it’s living or visiting, to come into (the) theater, to come into the arts district, for food, for entertainment,” Goodman said.
Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Lisa Carter at lcarter@viewnews.com or 383-4686.