When you walk the Las Vegas Strip you see wondrous sites. It's hard not to be awed by the sheer scale of Caesar's Palace or the fact that Luxor really does look like a modern take on an Egyptian pyramid.
And, while some of the theming for a few Las Vegas Strip resort casinos might be a bit over the top, it's hard not to be amazed by the Las Vegas version of the Statue of Liberty and its Eiffel Tower. The Strip also offers spectacles like the Bellagio fountains, which offer a free show that would be impressive by Walt Disney theme park standards.
With its massive resorts, high-end shopping, and celebrity names not just on marquees but on restaurants as well, Las Vegas has become not just a gaming mecca, but arguably the center of the sports and entertainment worlds. It's a land of excess, but a walk on the Strip also shows you that not everyone in Las Vegas has shared in the success.
There's no shortage of panhandlers, buskers of questionable talent, and other down-on-their luck people filling up the Las Vegas Strip. Walk for even a few minutes and someone will offer to sell you drugs and the smell of (legal) marijuana overpowers everything.
Now, with Formula 1 headed to the Las Vegas Strip for a first-of-its-kind race, the city plans to clear out some of its homeless, kicking them out of one of the spots they have used as a place to sleep.
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Las Vegas police plan a Strip action
While sales have slumped a little, Las Vegas Strip leaders including MGM Resorts International (MGM) -), Caesars Entertainment (CZR) -), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) -), The Venetian, and Resorts World Las Vegas will all welcome high rollers to the city for the Formula 1 race. The Nov. 16-18 weekend will bring many wealthy people to the city along with crowds packing the Strip-side viewing stands that have been built just for the race.
Before those people arrive, however, the Las Vegas Police Department will clear out the tunnels under the Las Vegas Strip.
"A series of interconnected concrete flood channels ushers stormwater beneath the Las Vegas Strip to Lake Mead from its origin in the mountains west of Las Vegas. Known to local Las Vegans as 'the tunnels,' they are bone dry between storms, when they house a population thought to swell to around 1,000 people," Casino.org reported.
Las Vegas police have issued a warning
YouTube influencer Sarah Jane Woodall in an episode of her popular “Wonderhussy Adventures” channel first reported on the signs. They were posted at the entrance to the most densely populated section of the tunnel, alongside Flamingo Road between the Rio and Caesars Palace.
The signs had a simple message:
"These tunnels are scheduled for shutdown during the Formula 1 event. On November 15, a tactical unit will clear them of any human presence. After that, the tunnels will be shut down and no one will be allowed access until the event ends on November 20, 2023."
Additional signs did share locations for various homeless shelters, but all of the sites named are "miles" from the Strip.
The F1 race, of course, did not create Las Vegas' homeless problem, but it has cast some light on the issue. Caesars, MGM, Wynn, and the other major resort players likely don't love having a large homeless population on the Strip, but addressing it will require more than signs and police actions.
"There are over 5,000 homeless people living on the streets of Clark County and tens of thousands more who are housing unstable or living in unsanitary, overcrowded or otherwise unsafe conditions," the Las Vegas Sun reported.
Only about 40% of that population has found temporary housing in shelters, while the remaining 60% remain unsheltered, according to the most recent Las Vegas Homeless Census Count.
