Quote of the Day (Morris)

“There is always a sneer in Las Vegas. The mountains around it sneer. The desert sneers. And arrogant in the middle of its wide valley, dominating those diligent sprawling suburbs, the downtown city sneers like anything.” – Jan Morris, Journeys (1984)
(I’m back from a business trip to the City of Neon, the metropolis built on the 4Fs—flash, flesh, fantasy, and the future. I’m instinctively mistrustful of any city so desirous to take my hard-earned money that they’ve even installed slot machines at the airport. More and more, I’ve come to believe that this deeply artificial city cannot sustain itself—not at a current population growth that will strain its weather supply. Rising gas prices and near-hopeless congestion on the Strip, may finally be forcing this ultimate automobile city—a place where I waited in line for a taxi one day this week, in 100-plus degree weather at 6 pm, for 35 minutes—to reassess its ways, though, as this story about—gasp!—increasing bus ridership—makes clear. Maybe this will make the “sneer” that Morris noticed a little less pronounced—and save the city from itself.)