Downtown Las Vegas has also grown and evolved with art murals thrown onto the sides of buildings and art installations like the love locks on display in front of the Container Park or the world’s largest fire hydrant outside of the dog park (hint: pull the lever for a surprise).

Perhaps most importantly, as the downtown area has changed, its appearance has maintained the old Vegas feel with classic neon signage. He bulldozed a run down Motel 6 and built The Container Park, and put a pyrotechnic praying mantis in front because he thought it would make people smile. He put in $350 million dollars into the Downtown Project, using his personal fortune.

Hsieh recruited people to move downtown, offering housing in apartments like The Ogden. He wanted a younger generation to come make art, great food and a community driven culture here. His goal was to change the image of downtown, and fast. He began a revitalization called the Downtown Project. He decided to move his company and all its 1,000 employees to the old Las Vegas city hall in downtown. He’s the CEO of the extremely successful company Zappos, and the innovator behind downtown Las Vegas’s rejuvenation. Through the years downtown instead became associated with drug use, homelessness and other dangerous activities.

The casinos still made money, but it wasn’t even close to matching the powerhouses of the Strip. In 1995, the Fremont Street Experience opened in Downtown Las Vegas, but the area had begun to decline. But in the 1990’s, the Strip began transforming, enticing more tourists further down the boulevard.

Vegas was booming thanks to the gaming and hotel industry. That’s when casinos really hit their stride, and lavish hotels began popping up. After World War II, Las Vegas became known as a city for partying and big entertainment. Downtown Las Vegas was once the premier place to gamble and party in Las Vegas long before the Strip existed.

Hotel oasis at gold spike