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| - If there ever was a case of less is more, this is it! How can a person not love the "Welcome to Las Vegas" Sign?
I'm hoping there's only this one, since several would make this one less climactic and more pedestrian. I really like the word "pedestrian." I learned it while once reading the Tacoma Weekly at Barnes & Noble off I-5, wherein local women were sounding off that the available men in the Tacoma, Washington area were "pedestrian." Perhaps that's why Dyan Cannon moved to Hollywood in search of greener pastures from hemlock studded Tacoma.
This small but significant landmark is located at what was once the tumbleweed friendly southerly access to Las Vegas along Las Vegas Boulevard, or The Strip, and slightly south of Tropicana Avenue. I believe the sign used to be off to the side. At this point in time, it sits in the middle of the landscaped median. To make the "Welcome to Las Vegas" Sign "as good as it gets," or worthy of 5 stars, that median is large enough for them to have included a fair number of parking spaces, enabling folks to pull in, get out of their cars, chuckle, take some photos, and continue on with their journey.
Looking at other American cities, their icons are much bigger and bolder. Seattle has the Space Needle, San Francisco has the Transamerica Pyramid, the Coit Tower, and the Golden Gate Bridge, Los Angeles has the Hollywood Sign, St. Louis has the Gateway Arch, Chicago has the Willis (ne' Sears) Tower, New York has the Statue of Liberty and the Empire Building, and so on. However, while Las Vegas is often depicted as a cluster of its more famous casino hotels, no one single landmark is more emblematic of Las Vegas than this small, kitsch Jetsonian sign.
In a way, the "Welcome to Las Vegas" Sign is akin to the Mona Lisa and the Louvre. That's a stretch. However, I think you get the idea.
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