Las Vegas - Mark Gottdiener

Most writing about Las Vegas focuses on the spectacular story of casino gambling and tourism. This book is different. It recognizes that in addition to being the capital of glitz, Las Vegas is home to over one million permanent residents and is the fastest growing metropolitan region in the US – expecting to double in population over the next decade.

Using the perspective of the new urban sociology, this book is an historical account of how Las Vegas became a metropolitan area. Attention is paid to the role of the federal government in subsidizing growth, as it has done for the entire sunbelt, at the expense of the rest of the country; to the key actions of a select group of real estate developers who brought mass suburban housing to the desert; and to local public officials – some of whom worked to improve the region, and others who betrayed the people's trust for personal gain.

Las Vegas: The Social Production of an All–American City also addresses growing problems in the area, including an environmental crisis, increasing public debt, overcrowding of schools, gridlock traffic, the proliferation of special interests, and the poor performance of weak government.