re: I think both of you are pretty close to the truth.
in 1994 I drove from Las Vegas down to Hoover Dam and back. It was a trip through the desert, with a couple of casino's, Palace Station and Sam's Place, stuck way, way out there in the middle of nothing.
Last Spring I drove back up from Boulder Dam up to Las Vegas. That entire area was jammed with houses, condominiums and shopping centers, about 20 miles of them.
And there didn't seem to be any way for a person to make a living. Except, maybe, by building more.
Amazing. Unless thousands upon thousands of multi-millionaires had retired there one would expect a disaster.