Meet the Goodmans: Las Vegas’ Flamboyant Political Family, Governing
Did you know the Strip — with its high-rolling casinos and debauched dance clubs — isn’t actually within Las Vegas’s city limits? It’s technically on Clark County’s turf. The timeworn battle between city and county is playing out in the Nevada desert, as a husband-and-wife pair who’ve held the mayor’s office for a collective 17 years try to remake the city’s downtown, gambling their future on a performing arts center, a med school and a pro sports team.
High-Rise Greens, The New Yorker
In 2003, Ed Harwood, a 66-year-old inventor from Ithaca, N.Y., sketched out designs for a seemingly impossible idea: a compact vertical farm, where produce could grow without any soil, sunlight or more water than a fine mist. Today, his grow tower has been perfected and adopted by AeroFarms, a company in Newark, N.J., whose indoor agriculture aims to compete with California’s kale, bok choi and arugula farmers.
Did Free College Save This City? Christian Science Monitor
For every graduate of the Kalamazoo, Mich., school system — rich or poor — a group of anonymous donors has guaranteed scholarships to cover the cost of college tuition. The 11-year-old educational experiment, known as Kalamazoo Promise, has revived the district public schools and fostered a college-going culture in this frozen Rust Belt city that’s trying to transition to the digital economy.
Continue reading “Las Vegas’s First Family Gambles on Downtown, Indoor Agriculture Gets a Boost and More”
Tag: las vegas
Sin City Goes Green, Philanthropic Investments That Reap Incredible Returns and More
Behind the Bright Lights of Vegas: How the 24-Hour Party City Is Greening Up Its Act, The Guardian
It may be known as Sin City, but that doesn’t mean the indiscretions taking place in the Nevada desert must include harming the planet. A new leafy oasis now offers vacationers a respite from the bright-as-the-sun neon lights that illuminate the Strip all night long. The Park, which features native Southwestern plants, a 40-foot-tall statue originally from the Burning Man festival and large metal structures that keep visitors shaded and cool, might be the only actual green space amongst the seemingly-endless stretch of casinos, but it’s one of many ways that Las Vegas is reducing its environmental footprint.
How to Bet Big on the American Dream, The Atlantic
Despite politicians’ proclamations, the American Dream isn’t dead or even on its last legs. But how much philanthropic investment is necessary for low-income residents to have a shot at upward mobility? The nonprofit advisor Bridgespan Group examined how impactful $1 billion dollars invested in each of 15 different philanthropic ventures would be at reducing poverty. As with any investment, the payout isn’t certain. But with returns estimated at being between $3 and $15 for each $1 spent (not to mention a high probability of drastically increasing program recipients’ lifetime earnings), these are bets that seem to be worth taking.
New MOOCs for Rising Leaders, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Why is it that things are usually out of reach to those most interested? Social entrepreneurs often can’t afford or get to leadership development programs. But now, educational seminars are going to them, thanks to the release of two new MOOCs (massive open online course). Free video classes from Philanthropy U provide students insights from social enterprise greats such as the cofounder of Kiva.org; Leaderosity, which charges tuition, touts among its instructors leaders from The Presidio Institute. Both programs provide access to personnel development that’s desperately needed in this sector.
MORE: Big Bets: How a 12-Month Boot Camp Transforms Low-Income Youths into Whiz Kids
Despite Adverse Weather Conditions and a Transient Population, a Garden Sprouts in a Desert
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While some find rolling hills and crystal clear lakes attractive, it’s an abandoned Las Vegas parking lot for others.
That’s the situation with Rosalind Brooks. Looking at the vacant lot across the interstate from Las Vegas’s moribund downtown, she saw the potential for something foreign in that area: a community garden.
Brooks has a degree in business, a master’s in education, has worked at various jobs and has two children, but from the moment she laid eyes on that lot, she knew this garden was her calling.
That vision came to fruition when the Vegas Roots Community Garden opened in March 2010 — becoming the first community garden in Las Vegas. Run entirely by volunteer labor, the garden covers an acre of land and produces organic herbs and vegetables as well as chickens. Most of the produce is either sold or donated to youth groups and senior centers.
The garden also boasts a demonstration permaculture garden run by the Greater Basin Permaculture. In this garden, artichokes, thyme, Echinacea, lettuce, sunflowers and pomegranates flourish. The garden isn’t just for the group though. Greater Basin Permaculture also hosts classes and weekly work parties to teach participants important gardening skills to keep the crops alive.
And while it hasn’t been difficult to keep the crops alive in the 115 degree Fahrenheit heat of Las Vegas, growing a supportive base in the area has been. Las Vegas isn’t a place where most people settle; rather it’s a place boasting a large turnover rate.
Because of that, many of the garden’s volunteers are from other places in the metro area. But this isn’t a discouraging factor for Brooks. The recent economic crisis has meant that more people are staying in the area.
Beyond that, though, the garden has served as an inspiration for others. Across the city, gardens are popping up in schools and churches, giving kids the access to healthy food, exercise, nature and job skills. In addition, there’s a growing farmer’s market scene.
For Brooks, all of the hard work has been completely worth it and her expectations for the future keep getting higher.
“I see the hand of God in every single thing we’ve done,” she told Grist.
MORE: A Garden Grows In Camden
9 Quirky Start-Ups Tony Hsieh Is Betting On in Downtown Las Vegas
As Zappos’ CEO, Tony Hsieh grew the company to $2 billion in annual revenue while cultivating a workplace that’s consistently ranked among the best in the country. Now he’s using his talents to revitalize downtown Las Vegas. His $50 million incubator, VegasTechFund, invests in companies that have the potential to help the area thrive. Here are nine of the projects he’s betting on and what they’re up to:
1. Mouth: The first online marketplace for artisanal, or “indie,” food.
2. Rolltech: Bowling with Big Data.
3. True & Co.: Perfect-fit bra shopping without measuring tape or fitting rooms.
4. Quarterly Co.: Subscribe to quarterly gift packages from people like the editors of Cool Hunting and Alexis Ohanian.
5. CrowdHall: A platform for virtual town hall discussions, with celebrities, politicians, or friend groups.
6. iDoneThis: A personal, daily productivity email check-in.
7. LaunchKey: Account security with biometrics, not passwords.
8. The S.P.I.R.I.T. Project: Applying technology to help at-risk youths and families in local communities.
9. NSFWCorp: Digital publishers of highly readable investigative journalism (recently acquired by Pando Daily.)
What Happens In Vegas…
Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, is partnering with Las Vegas to help transform the city’s downtown into more than just a hard-partying gambling hub. Hsieh and other investors have put up $350 million to start the Downtown Project with the goal of transforming downtown Vegas into “the most community-focused large city in the world,” creating “a vibrant, connected urban core.” The effort was already underway when Hsieh moved Zappos’ headquarters to nearby Henderson, Nevada, in 2004. But after Las Vegas built a new environmentally friendly city hall and eased restrictions on small businesses, Hseih decided to buy the old city hall in 2010 and moved Zappos’ headquarters there. Now he hopes to encourage tech companies and startups in Vegas and make the city more family-friendly. Vegas will always be known for the things it does best—glitz and gambling—but it might also become known as a place for innovative new businesses and creative communities.