Las Vegas, Nevada is a great place for a second home!

Las Vegas (often abbreviated as Vegas) is the most populous city in the state of Nevada, United States, and an internationally known resort, shopping, entertainment, and gambling destination. It was established in 1905 and officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, Las Vegas became the largest U.S. city founded in the 20th century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century).

The name Las Vegas is often applied to the unincorporated areas of Clark County that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4½ mile (7.2 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester.

The center of gambling in the United States and the world, Las Vegas is commonly known as The Entertainment Capital of the World; famous for its massive and lavish casino resorts, availability of alcoholic beverages at any time (as is true throughout Nevada), and various degrees of adult entertainment. It is also referred to as Sin City, but in recent years the city itself has stopped using this moniker in its marketing. The city's image has often made it a popular setting for films and television programs.

Having been late to develop an urban core of any substantial size, Las Vegas has retained very affordable real estate prices in comparison to other western U.S. cities. Consequently, the city has recently enjoyed an enormous boom both in population and in tourism. However, as a New York Times series on the city reported in 2004, the median price of housing in the Las Vegas Valley is now at or above the nationwide median. The urban area has grown outward so quickly that it is beginning to run into Bureau of Land Management holdings along its edges, increasing land values enough that medium- and high-density development is beginning to occur closer to the core.

In 2004 Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman announced plans for the Union Park Development which will include residential and office high-rises, The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, an academic medical center, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and a new City Hall. The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is expected to be completed in 2007.

Along with the Union Park Development, other promising residential and office developments have begun construction around downtown Las Vegas. New condominium and hotel high rise projects have changed the entire Las Vegas skyline dramatically in recent years. Many large high-rise projects are planned for downtown Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip.

Many technology companies have either relocated to Las Vegas or were created there. For various reasons, Las Vegas has had a high concentration of technology companies in electronic gaming and telecommunications industries. Some current technology companies in southern Nevada include Bigelow Aerospace, CommPartners, Datanamics, eVital Communications, NAHETS, Petroglyph, SkywireMedia, Switch Communications, WorldDoc, and Zappos.

Constant population growth means that the housing construction industry is vitally important. In 2000 more than 21,000 new homes and 26,000 resale homes were purchased. In early 2005 there were 20 residential development projects of more than 300 acres each currently underway.