Las Vegas

Here is a good, acid-tongued treatment of Las Vegas and its history from James Howard Kunstler. I used to have family there, and I must admit that my mother and I had a good time once driving down the Strip, laughing at how horrid and ostentatious and fat and unhealthy and wasteful everything was.

This is one of several writings by Kunstler that I've linked to lately. The guy is bitter and apocalyptic, and I'm not sure if I'd like spending much time around him. But he's right on in his condemnation of what's wrong with US urban environments (sprawl, domination by chains, lack of personality), and his common-sense prescriptions for reclaiming a liveable country (more compact cities, a return to economic activity that actually produces tangible things, less reliance on our cars).