Last Primm Resort to Close

[Plutonic Panda]

None of your list includes any of the top notch outdoor recreation destinations around Las Vegas Valley.  Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon, Lead Mead NRA and Mount Charleston all come to mind as places I've frequented over the years.  Death Valley National Park isn't exactly far away either. 

As far as entertainment venues go my wife and I just saw a movie at the Sphere.  Me personally I would call that a wash with other similar media that I've been to along Las Vegas Boulevard.  I don't think that I could ever bring myself to pay convention prices for Highway signs.  It always been way more affordable to just do private sales and hunt online listings for deals.

In recent years I've taken a liking to the Neon Museum and Pinball Hall of Fame.  I mentioned Fremont Street stepping things up already.  It probably is easier for me to explore the area being only 5.5 hours away.  We have plenty of incentive to visit Las Vegas given my wife has family there and I have a sibling nearby.

It just boggles my mind like I fucking turned an Asian family onto a bunch of the places you mentioned and got the guy's phone number, though some of his responses he would send in voice notes for some odd reason almost I don't know if you would call it aggressive, but it was definitely like an interesting tone of Japanese, but I translated it and it seemed like he was happy and told me he wasn't even aware of these places and he was just gonna stay on the strip. This is when we were on the Ferris wheel. I forgot what it's called. I generally only go on the orb that has the alcohol on it.

[TheCatalyst31]

For me, the one sad thing about the demise of Primm is I'll never get to see the bizarre little amusement park in Buffalo Bill's. Even while the casino was open, the rides hadn't been consistently running for the past decade, but they were strange. Their roller coaster was once the tallest in the world, and their log ride had an indoor carpeted section for some reason:

[Rothman]

Been to Vegas a couple of times.  Never gambled there.

[kphoger]

There's not enough of the top 1% of income earners who are gambling junkies to keep casinos in Vegas afloat. Plenty of those in the top 1% income class aren't idiots with their money either.

People talk about "the top 1%" as if it's a small number.  In reality, more than a million U.S. households are in the top 1%.  Don't forget how many people there are out there.

[Bobby5280]

Yeah, simple math says the top 1% of income earners are roughly 3.49 million people. How many people in that group need to visit Las Vegas per day or per year to keep books in the black? Not everyone in that income class is going to visit. Of wealthy people who do love gambling some of them may be just as likely to travel overseas to more exotic locations like Macau.

[Max Rockatansky]

Probably worth pointing out that the economy of Las Vegas Valley has long expanded from being completely dependent upon the health of the casino industry.  It is far from a one trick pony economy. 

[kphoger]

How many people in that group need to visit Las Vegas per day or per year to keep books in the black?

Depends how much they spend.  If the top 1% of those 1% are spending a wildly exorbitant amount of money, then that matters.

[kphoger]

Been to Vegas a couple of times.  Never gambled there.

Been to Vegas one time, during a family road trip in high school, when it was 115°F at Glen Canyon and my parents realized there's nothing to do there if you don't have a boat.  Went in several stores, went in a couple of casinos to eat, never gambled.

[ZLoth]

The one time I went to Primm was also the one time I went to Zyzzx.

[Max Rockatansky]

Zyzzx is a way more interesting place than Primm ever was.  Kelso and Cima are worth it also if you like rail infrastructure.

[kendancy66]

One fun thing about Primm from a roadgeek perspective is that the main north-south street through Primm is old US 91, which means it is named Las Vegas Boulevard, even though it no longer connects to the Strip. However, since Primm is unincorporated Clark County just like the Strip is, the Las Vegas Boulevard signs at the intersection with Primm Boulevard are identical to the ones on the Strip.

The GPS in my old 2012 Honda CR-V would show that as US-91 in a US cutout shield

[Scott5114]

I think I've mentioned before that the best way to approach a trip to Las Vegas is to go into it exactly the same way as you would approach a trip to Kansas City. Do the research to find the attractions and restaurants that interest you, then find a place to stay based on that. Staying in the Strip ecosystem can be fun but make sure that's what you really want to do.

[kphoger]

I think I've mentioned before that the best way to approach a trip to Las Vegas is to go into it exactly the same way as you would approach a trip to Kansas City. Do the research to find the attractions and restaurants that interest you, then find a place to stay based on that. Staying in the Strip ecosystem can be fun but make sure that's what you really want to do.

The one time I was in Las Vegas, it was Plan B at the last minute with my parents on a road trip.  We stayed at a La Quinta in North Las Vegas, which was the first hotel I ever saw the lamp chained to the wall.  After that, I learned that North Las Vegas featured frequently on the TV show Cops.

[Scott5114]

After that, I learned that North Las Vegas featured frequently on the TV show Cops.

They frequently film with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (which covers all of Clark County other than NLV and Henderson) as well. One episode followed the shift of an officer who, decades later, eventually made quite a name for himself—Joe Lombardo, the current governor of Nevada.

[Henry]

Why build casinos that close to Vegas in the first place? It's not like I'd ever want to throw my cash away on the crap tables, roulette wheel or slot machines in Primm.

[Max Rockatansky]

Why build casinos that close to Vegas in the first place? It's not like I'd ever want to throw my cash away on the crap tables, roulette wheel or slot machines in Primm.

I can appreciate the idea of having an off strip hotel near the state line.  The truckers used to love Terrible's. I stayed in Primm once long ago when the San Diego 500 got backed up on I-15 into Nevada.

[Scott5114]

Why build casinos that close to Vegas in the first place? It's not like I'd ever want to throw my cash away on the crap tables, roulette wheel or slot machines in Primm.

The idea was, back in the days of US 91, you could take a break upon crossing into Nevada, gas up, and immediately get a taste of what you were there to do, drink and gamble. And when you were going back to California, you could take a break and get one last bout of drinking and gambling in before returning to your regular law-encumbered existence.

Once I-15 was built and the travel time was reduced between the state line and Las Vegas, and fuel efficiency made stopping for gas less necessary, it stopped being such a draw.

[ZLoth]