Beyond the land of HOA's

I'm a third generation Las Vegan. My parents met each other at Las Vegas High School (Wildcats). Back in the 60's and 70's if you got three hundred meters outside of the Strip, Vegas was really just a strange kind of cowboy town. There were lots of ranch-style houses, dusty mobile homes and cynderblock castles.

Sure there were the European and East Coast style mansions in Rancho Circle and Scotch-80's. But these were owned by casino executives from Chicago and Detroit. Everywhere else Las Vegas looked a lot like Tucson, St. George or Phoenix.

Then in the mid-80's the Snowbirds moved in. These were retirees from northern states who wanted to escape the cold, the gloom and the children. They nested in great gated communities, with Wackenhut guard stations and expansive golf courses. Their kingdoms ruled by HOA committees. Snowbirds represented the slow death of Las Vegas.

 Now all you see is cookie-cutter houses that all look the same with the same plants and the same colors, but if you look hard enough in the backwoods of Vegas you can still spot some of the unique characters that still inhabit this town.

Another rock pile idol

Saguaro cactus made from telephone poles

A flying trapeze in someone's backyard.

Trivia- In the song "Mickey" by Tony Basil, the cheerleader uniform she is wearing is from  Las Vegas High School. She attended LVHS and was a cheerleader.

2010-2011 Copyright Cram, Kmuzu - No reproduction or publication or modification without my written consent. If you want to use any of the picture just send me an email, I'm pretty accommodating.