Under Vegas glitz, a dark life in tunnels

[Liberal_in_LA]

Under Vegas glitz, a dark life in tunnels

Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) -- More than 37 million people visit Las Vegas each year for its glitz, glamour and lure of hitting a jackpot. Yet few tourists ever see the dingy world beneath the bright lights: tunnel dwellings that have become home to those down on their luck.

Steve Dommer and his girlfriend, Kathryn, live in the depths below the Vegas Strip. They created an elaborate 400-square-foot space, complete with a living room, bedroom, kitchen and workshop to fix bicycles. Everything is elevated off the floor with wooden pallets or milk crates because of potential flooding.

Their prized possession is a queen-sized bed, found in a Dumpster near the Palms Casino Resort. "I like to be able to come back and sleep as comfortably as possible," Dommer said, patting his bed.

By day, he scrounges for change above ground. He's been living down below for two years. He lost his construction job because of an addiction to speed and heroin.

The couple is not alone in the city's tunnels. "Hundreds of people live in these tunnels," says journalist Matthew O'Brien.

pictures of the tunnels:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/24/vegas.homeless.tunnels/index.html

[marmar]

1. Kicked and Rec'd, because there's somebody unrecing all the threads with any negative....

.... info on Las Vegas.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Ahhh...so that's the pattern.

[JVS]

3. They better be careful or the CHUDS will get them!

;-)

K&R

[JVS]

4. Seriously sad. It's awful that people have to live like that.

[DesertRat]

5. Such a sad story. n/t

[lunatica]

6. As long as they don't soil the Pretend World of the glitz

and drive tourists away with their smell who cares?

:sarcasm:

[Joe Fields]

7. Exactly, and thats their mindset. I lived in Vegas, and everyone should

know that you are treated worse than scum, if you're down and out there. It is absolutely the most heartless city in the U.S.

[lunatica]

8. The only thing that's a saving grace for Las Vegas

Is that it doesn't bother to pretend it's anything more than what it is. It's actually exactly what it advertises itself as. Glitz and Greed are it's motto.