Las Vegas grew up in the 1980s from a purely gambling town to a destination resort for families and conventioneers . While the gambling industry boomed , builders transformed the Las Vegas valley into housing , attracting residents from around the country almost doubling the population . When the city was hit by the recession of 1981, tourism spending grew a little less than 1%, though visitor volume posted a slight decline. Now the regional economy is beginning to slow . Many casinos have been laying off workers while thousands of new hotel rooms are being built . David Shulman , a Solomon Brothers economist said that " Las Vegas is an accident waiting to happen . " Efforts have been made to keep Las Vegas from relying so heavily on the gambling industry by permitting interstate banking but those efforts have not been too successful .
Las Vegas grew up in the 1980s from a purely gambling town to a destination resort for families and conventioneers . While the gambling industry boomed , builders transformed the Las Vegas valley into housing , attracting residents from around the country almost doubling the population . Now the regional economy is beginning to slow . Many casinos have been laying off workers while thousands of new hotel rooms are being built . David Shulman , a Solomon Brothers economist said that " Las Vegas is an accident waiting to happen . " Efforts have been made to keep Las Vegas from relying so heavily on the gambling industry by permitting interstate banking but those efforts have not been too successful .