Beneath the Neon

By Queuebot in Everything Else on Sep 24, 2009 at 11:19 am

Hundreds of couples are living underneath the US gambling mecca Las Vegas and living off the scraps left behind by its patrons. It’s claimed that up to 700 people call the network of tunnels beneath the casinos home.

They make their living by scavenging, and working their way down the strip of casinos. Steven moved into the tunnels two years ago after he lost his hotel front-desk job due to a heroin problem he claims he kicked in January. “The most I’ve ever found is 997 dollars on one machine. I’ve found about $500 a few times. But normally $20 or so is enough to call it a night.

“We buy food and supplies like shampoo and soap. Last night I went and watched the new Quentin Tarantino movie Inglourious Basterds up at the Palms Hotel.”

Pete Sampson wrote the article for The Sun: Link (Photo: Austin Hargrave)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by MJ.

Tags: homeless, Las Vegas

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Johnny Cat
Sep 24th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
“The main dangers are the floods and the Black Widow spiders.” [shudder].
Alex
Sep 24th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
This reminds me of the urban legend of the mole people in New York. Only it’s real. Scary!

And does anyone know what “credit hustling” means? I assume it’s prowling the casinos looking for overlooked coins or unplayed credits on the slot machines …
LisaL
Sep 24th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
That’s what I thought it meant too Alex. At least that’s what they’re making it out to be.

They need that one guy there to build those funky cheap scrap material homes *nodnod* Affordable and they’re awesome. And I’m sure a city like Vegas probably has a ton of material that just goes to waste that could be used to build low-income homes.
Alex
Sep 24th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Well, the article did say that the primary cause of these people living there wasn’t poverty (there’s a lot of charity that could help) but instead drug addiction and hiding from the law.
VSBM
Sep 24th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Vegas is a real shithole. Having lived here since 2003, I can attest to it. OK to visit, but not to live. Just one big valley with trash blowing around, both garbage and people. There are some decent local restaurants, but anything good is on the Strip and overpriced to suck in the tourists. And bums are everywhere. With a 13.2% unemployment rate, no wonder. “It’ll never happen to Vegas! Will be the last to go down and the first to recover!” WRONG. Exact opposite. Lots of drugs, lots of crime. Remember, if it happens here, it stays here! What a motto.
cam
Sep 25th, 2009 at 7:32 am
from another article…

“E.B. learned a new skill: credit hustling. He wandered through the slots, looking for machines that still had credits on them. Sometimes he picked up $40 or $50 a day.”
Gauldar
Sep 25th, 2009 at 11:25 am
@Alex

Do you deny the existence of the mole men? If that is the case, they thank you for your digression.
FishBottleT
Sep 25th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I wonder if this is concidered squatting since it not really a residence.

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