What do we want in a City?

I have written about Las Vegas before. This time, I wanted to write about something I read in Planning Magazine - a professional periodical for city planners. In November's issue, there's an article called "A Surprisingly Urban Place" highlighting some of the history of Las Vegas and where it is at currently. Much of the article is about how the architecture of the Strip has evolved over time and it's affect on cities all over the world. What I found particularly interesting appears in the last two paragraphs:

Las Vegas shows us a great deal about what people want from cities and what will induce them to visit. They want grandeur and excitement and novelty and stimulation.

They want to come to a city for what they cannot get on the Internet. They want visual splendor and they want surprise. And they want to see other people and mill about with them and even get a sense of community. That's not a bad set of things to want. As we try to figure out how to build cities that have the sustaining and nurturing qualities that many of our cities undeniably lack, we must admit that we can still, even today, learn from Las Vegas.

I could not agree more. It's important for each of us to find ways to make our community more interesting. These places are cool because there are people there. People are attracted there because they look cool. And they stay there and come back there because there are things that they like to do available. We need to encourage the businesses in our community to consider these things as they develop, helping establish areas that people like to come and be.