Category: Las Vegas

Downtown South- A Decent Las Vegas District South and East of Downtown

For the Downtown South Boundaries I included everything between Maryland and Eastern Avenues and between Sahara and Charleston Blvd.

Huntridge makes up the better known mid -century district within Downtown South centered at Maryland Parkway and Charleston where the old vintage Huntridge theater was constructed around 1945. The surrounding residential streets were built up starting in the 1940s and filling in by the 1970s. Downtown South is the extension of that neighborhood eastern wards to Eastern Avenue,

After the Arts Districts and John S Park neighborhoods to the west, Downtown South is considered one of Las Vegas’ best urban neighborhoods. It has generally gridded streets, decent public transit and good access among all modes to Dwtn and the Strip District, decent walkable schools, safety, reasonably priced housing, okay density, and some walkable cultural and retail amenities. But due to its auto centric business districts, a lack of place, limited bike amenities, and tacky commercial in-fill, I don’t quite consider this a quality urban neighborhood. For that to happen Sahara and Charleston Avenues need some walkable cohesion or Maryland Parkway needs to truly become a mixed-use street and center of the neighborhood.

Click here to view my Downtown South Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Decent public transit and very good access to Dwtn and the Strip.
* Good diversity across all categories.
* A decent # of walkable schools with decent ratings.
* For sale options are pretty affordability priced. Really no studio or 1-bed options for sale. 2-beds sell anywhere btwn 200K-350K, 3 & 4 beds anywhere btwn 230K-700K.
* Overall a pretty safe community.
* Some interesting mid-century architecture but much of it is pretty bland.
* Decent retail amenities including a supermarket, a couple Mexican markets, several drug store, lots of dollar stores, plenty of banks, a bike store, plenty of thrift and consignment stores, lots of antique stores, several dessert joints, and a major hospital is less than 1 mile south of the neighborhood. These are mostly auto centric oriented.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Decent ADA and sidewalk infrastructure. But plenty of residential streets with limited sidewalks and ADA curbs are often not up to date.
* One east to west bike lane running along St. Louis St. No other bike infrastructure in Downtown South.
* Rentals are very limited. 1-beds that do exist lease btwn 700K-1.5K. 2 & 3 beds lease for anywhere btwn 1.5K-2K.
* Park Amenities are pretty limited but there is Maryland Park in the middle of the Blvd and the larger and multi-faceted Jaycee Park.
* Modern in-fill is generally pretty awful autocentric buildings.
* No much redeeming about the urban form of the biz districts. Some ok mixed-use urban form along Maryland Pkwy.
* Cultural amenities are so . They include a decent # of ethnic restaurants, a handful of bars & cafes, a historic mid-century theater. Downtown cultural amenities are only 1 mile away.
* Limited sense of place as there is not walkable commercial district nor any heart to the community.

The Arts District- Las Vegas’ best urban neighborhood

I consider the Arts district to be between roughly Wyoming and Gass Street and the railroad tracks and Las Vegas Blvd.

This funky district has become a Vegas “counter cultural” enclave known for its distinct “non-Vegas” vibe striving to be an authentic arts and entertainment district where people have a heart, and locals striving for some semblance of authenticity flock. The Arts Districts has been in active development for several decades taking advantage of the decent urban form and walkability along Main St. To their credit the City has made a point of investing in the neighborhood’s public transit, and streetscaping, opened up zoning to allow for dense mixed-use apartments, and allowing murals and art installations to thrive. The district is also know for its watering holes, breweries, cafes, theaters, live music, and tons of antiques and vintage shops. But when compared to urban districts outside of Las Vegas, from an urban perspective, there are still many “urban needs”. That starts with a lack of density and population. There are also plenty of dead space and parking lots screaming for in-fill development, a lack of park amenities and trees, missing retail amenities (i.e. supermarket, post office, and churches). The Arts district could also use several walkable schools as well.

Click here to view my Arts District Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Great access to both Dwtn and the Strip and also high quality public transit.
* Good bike infrastructure with several dedicated bike lanes and bike stations.
* Great racial diversity and good economic diversity (although a high poverty rate remains.
* Pretty good array of rental options at moderate rents. 1-beds rent anywhere from 700K-2.5K, 2 & 3 beds options are pretty limited and generally lease for around 3K.
* Generally good sidewalks and ADA curbs.
* Great cultural amenities hear including lots of restaurants, bars, & cafes, lots of breweries, plenty of art galleries, lots of outdoor murals & sculptures, a couple museums, several local theaters, a boutique movie theater, a magic show venue, several night clubs & live music venues.
* Decent retail amenities including a drug store, plenty of boutiques, antiques & thrift stores, home goods & stores, several dessert stores, and a couple gyms.
* Generally a safe district but can get seedy at night and lots of deep spaces/underutilized spaces.
* Some nice branding around the Arts District and esp. a sense of place along Main St. But also plenty of dead and underutilized spaces. Lots of efforts have been made to improve the streetscape along Main St and other parts of the Arts District.
* Overall a very mixed-use district coming retail, warehouses, industrial, cultural amenities, art galleries, and some housing.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low Density for am urban district
* Few families with children in the Arts District.
* No schools within the Arts District boundaries, but a couple good walkable options in adjacent districts.
* Limited for sale product. Some condos for sale with 1-beds selling anywhere btwn 250K-500K, 2-beds 350-600K, but really not 3-bed product.
* The only park within the Arts District is the small Healing Parkette. A couple other small parks within walking distance to the neighborhood,
* Tree canopy is pretty limited to the main roads.
* Missing some important retail amenities (i.e. supermarket, banks, a local post office, only a couple churches.
* Not much historic architecture here, although some interesting mid-century architecture.
* More and more quality urban in-fill is being built but still tons of auto centric uses and ugly 1-story warehouses.
* Pretty good urban form along Main Street. Ok orientation along Las Vegas Blvd, Casino Center Blvd & Charles Blvd. Plenty of dead spaces, surface parking lots, and industrial areas however.