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| Downtown Las Vegas may have found what it's looking for | Downtown Las Vegas may have found what it's looking for |
| (12 days later) | |
| A few blocks from the glitzy hotel where Prince Harry cavorted in Las Vegas last year, doing his bit for its party-town image, the neon-lit strip of casinos, bars, restaurants and malls greys into a landscape he almost certainly did not see: broken pavements, empty lots, boarded-up facades. This urban wasteland is the real downtown Las Vegas, the product of decades of dysfunction and neglect, home to poverty, unemployment and foreclosures, a dystopian hangover to the strip's excesses in a town hit harder than most by the recession. Ocean's Eleven feels far away. | A few blocks from the glitzy hotel where Prince Harry cavorted in Las Vegas last year, doing his bit for its party-town image, the neon-lit strip of casinos, bars, restaurants and malls greys into a landscape he almost certainly did not see: broken pavements, empty lots, boarded-up facades. This urban wasteland is the real downtown Las Vegas, the product of decades of dysfunction and neglect, home to poverty, unemployment and foreclosures, a dystopian hangover to the strip's excesses in a town hit harder than most by the recession. Ocean's Eleven feels far away. |
| Yet it is here an enigmatic tycoon is spending $350m (£230m) in a unique experiment at urban regeneration and, as he puts it, human happiness. Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) is luring poets, artists, inventors, investors, geeks, a motley band of British entrepreneurs and 1,500 ferociously cheerful employees known as Zapponians into an attempt to turn downtown Las Vegas into a hub of culture and innovation. | Yet it is here an enigmatic tycoon is spending $350m (£230m) in a unique experiment at urban regeneration and, as he puts it, human happiness. Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) is luring poets, artists, inventors, investors, geeks, a motley band of British entrepreneurs and 1,500 ferociously cheerful employees known as Zapponians into an attempt to turn downtown Las Vegas into a hub of culture and innovation. |
| Hsieh, 39, a Silicon Valley wunderkind with a Midas touch, has become an improbable aristocrat of Sin City. In the past year he has bought swathes of real estate, including the former city hall, as part of an ambitious plan to jumble together business, arts and architecture in a way that fosters "serendipity", connections between people that fuel creativity and fulfilment. "Evolution has proven that we're more intelligent and better off when we collaborate socially," he says, overlooking the city. "It's our genetics." | Hsieh, 39, a Silicon Valley wunderkind with a Midas touch, has become an improbable aristocrat of Sin City. In the past year he has bought swathes of real estate, including the former city hall, as part of an ambitious plan to jumble together business, arts and architecture in a way that fosters "serendipity", connections between people that fuel creativity and fulfilment. "Evolution has proven that we're more intelligent and better off when we collaborate socially," he says, overlooking the city. "It's our genetics." |
| Downtown Project, as it is formally known, is one of Las Vegas's boldest gambles. Success, says Hsieh, will show that any city, no matter how decayed, can be rescued. "We want to build the most community-minded city in the world. If we can do this in Las Vegas, the place you would least expect, where can't it be done?" If it fails the experiment will be branded utopianism and could leave Hsieh ruing a very expensive roll of the dice. | Downtown Project, as it is formally known, is one of Las Vegas's boldest gambles. Success, says Hsieh, will show that any city, no matter how decayed, can be rescued. "We want to build the most community-minded city in the world. If we can do this in Las Vegas, the place you would least expect, where can't it be done?" If it fails the experiment will be branded utopianism and could leave Hsieh ruing a very expensive roll of the dice. |
| Young entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, London and New York have flocked to the desert on the promise of tabula rasa, that its urban and civic failure offers a clean slate for transformation. "Las Vegas is the last big city that's still being invented," says Paul Carr, 33, a British writer turned entrepreneur who has moved here. "Other big cities are already established but Vegas is not even slightly finished yet. There's a sense you can make a difference here." | Young entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, London and New York have flocked to the desert on the promise of tabula rasa, that its urban and civic failure offers a clean slate for transformation. "Las Vegas is the last big city that's still being invented," says Paul Carr, 33, a British writer turned entrepreneur who has moved here. "Other big cities are already established but Vegas is not even slightly finished yet. There's a sense you can make a difference here." |
| Andrew Crump, 27, the co-founder of Bluefields, a social platform for sports teams and players, is so impressed he's moving the company from London later this year. "We were blown away by what's happening. It's real. The town feels like a start-up." Another British company, Teamly, which develops workplace collaboration tools, is already installed. "This is one of the most interesting things happening in the US right now," says co-founder Scott Allison. | Andrew Crump, 27, the co-founder of Bluefields, a social platform for sports teams and players, is so impressed he's moving the company from London later this year. "We were blown away by what's happening. It's real. The town feels like a start-up." Another British company, Teamly, which develops workplace collaboration tools, is already installed. "This is one of the most interesting things happening in the US right now," says co-founder Scott Allison. |
| Everyone is asking two questions: who exactly is Tony Hsieh? And will his idea work? | Everyone is asking two questions: who exactly is Tony Hsieh? And will his idea work? |
| He has made his headquarters near Fremont Street, where U2 filmed the video for I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. It is a historic quarter of sorts. Bars and brothels sprang up in the 1920s to service workers from the Hoover dam, a seedy heyday. Once the strip started attracting mega-casinos and acts likes Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, all the money and attention migrated to Las Vegas Boulevard, which formed a dividing line. To the west, the razzamatazz that is a magnet for 39m tourists annually; to the east, the dilapidation locals call home. The 2008 economic crisis hit particularly hard – Nevada had the US's highest rate of foreclosure. | He has made his headquarters near Fremont Street, where U2 filmed the video for I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. It is a historic quarter of sorts. Bars and brothels sprang up in the 1920s to service workers from the Hoover dam, a seedy heyday. Once the strip started attracting mega-casinos and acts likes Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, all the money and attention migrated to Las Vegas Boulevard, which formed a dividing line. To the west, the razzamatazz that is a magnet for 39m tourists annually; to the east, the dilapidation locals call home. The 2008 economic crisis hit particularly hard – Nevada had the US's highest rate of foreclosure. |
| Towering over the grim concrete wilderness is the Ogden, a 25-storey luxury apartment complex. Hsieh has leased dozens of rooms in top floors where he and collaborators live and work. The views are spectacular, especially at sunset: a carnival of lights – the strip – and then Mojave desert, a scorched plain ending in a mountain horizon. Aides speak of Tony – everyone calls him by his first name – with awe. "A visionary," says one. "A genius," says another. "And so sweet!" Wherever he goes people flap around him. He is assumed to be the smartest, richest guy in the room. | Towering over the grim concrete wilderness is the Ogden, a 25-storey luxury apartment complex. Hsieh has leased dozens of rooms in top floors where he and collaborators live and work. The views are spectacular, especially at sunset: a carnival of lights – the strip – and then Mojave desert, a scorched plain ending in a mountain horizon. Aides speak of Tony – everyone calls him by his first name – with awe. "A visionary," says one. "A genius," says another. "And so sweet!" Wherever he goes people flap around him. He is assumed to be the smartest, richest guy in the room. |
| We meet for brunch on one of the top floors. Shy and soft-spoken, Hsieh wears jeans, a grey hoodie and black suede slippers. An antithesis to the blowdried Donald Trump, whose tower rises in the distance. Downtown Project, says Hsieh, is all about getting people to interact, because therein lie success and happiness. "We're trying to get people to run into each other, to collide on the street, in cafes, bars, offices, galleries. The idea is to create as many walkable collisions as possible." | We meet for brunch on one of the top floors. Shy and soft-spoken, Hsieh wears jeans, a grey hoodie and black suede slippers. An antithesis to the blowdried Donald Trump, whose tower rises in the distance. Downtown Project, says Hsieh, is all about getting people to interact, because therein lie success and happiness. "We're trying to get people to run into each other, to collide on the street, in cafes, bars, offices, galleries. The idea is to create as many walkable collisions as possible." |
| He has been inspired by Edward Glaeser's book Triumph of the City (subtitle: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier) and its idea of cafes, parks or squares anchoring communities. "You need to cluster anchors but they should be not too close, not too far. The idea is people walk and collide, it's not just about the destination." The target for downtown, which feels ghostly in places, is to have more than 100 people per acre. Hsieh envisages a community where a software developer, a painter and a waiter could bump into each other, hang out and maybe come up with a brilliant idea. "Most innovations come from something outside your industry." | He has been inspired by Edward Glaeser's book Triumph of the City (subtitle: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier) and its idea of cafes, parks or squares anchoring communities. "You need to cluster anchors but they should be not too close, not too far. The idea is people walk and collide, it's not just about the destination." The target for downtown, which feels ghostly in places, is to have more than 100 people per acre. Hsieh envisages a community where a software developer, a painter and a waiter could bump into each other, hang out and maybe come up with a brilliant idea. "Most innovations come from something outside your industry." |
| The $350m is broken into $100m for land, $100m for residential development, $50m for small businesses, $50m for education, $50m for tech start-ups. Many ideas have come from post-it notes, which people are encouraged to leave on a wall in Hsieh's apartment. | The $350m is broken into $100m for land, $100m for residential development, $50m for small businesses, $50m for education, $50m for tech start-ups. Many ideas have come from post-it notes, which people are encouraged to leave on a wall in Hsieh's apartment. |
| The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Hsieh grew up in California, earned a Harvard computer science degree, co-founded the internet advertising network LinkExchange and sold it to Microsoft in 1999 for $265m. He was 26. With business parter Alfred Lin he co-founded an investment firm, Venture Frogs, and in 2000 took over Zappos, a small company that sold shoes online. In 2009 he sold it to Amazon for $1.2bn. | The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Hsieh grew up in California, earned a Harvard computer science degree, co-founded the internet advertising network LinkExchange and sold it to Microsoft in 1999 for $265m. He was 26. With business parter Alfred Lin he co-founded an investment firm, Venture Frogs, and in 2000 took over Zappos, a small company that sold shoes online. In 2009 he sold it to Amazon for $1.2bn. |
| Hsieh remained as CEO of Zappos (a name coined from zapato, Spanish for shoe) because to him it was not just a company but a vehicle to develop ideas from his 2010 book, Delivering Happiness. He wrote it in two and a half weeks, barely sleeping, swigging vodka with coffee beans. Subtitled A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, it debuted at No 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. | Hsieh remained as CEO of Zappos (a name coined from zapato, Spanish for shoe) because to him it was not just a company but a vehicle to develop ideas from his 2010 book, Delivering Happiness. He wrote it in two and a half weeks, barely sleeping, swigging vodka with coffee beans. Subtitled A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, it debuted at No 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. |
| Hsieh drilled fanatical customer service into a 2,000-strong workforce of "Zapponians" selected, it seems, for their bubbliness and cheer that they direct at customers and each other. As the company grew he considered converting its headquarters in Henderson, a suburban sprawl outside Las Vegas, into a Facebook or Google-style campus. Instead, prompted by a bar-owner friend, Hsieh moved the operation downtown to try to apply Triumph of the City. | Hsieh drilled fanatical customer service into a 2,000-strong workforce of "Zapponians" selected, it seems, for their bubbliness and cheer that they direct at customers and each other. As the company grew he considered converting its headquarters in Henderson, a suburban sprawl outside Las Vegas, into a Facebook or Google-style campus. Instead, prompted by a bar-owner friend, Hsieh moved the operation downtown to try to apply Triumph of the City. |
| City and state authorities, delighted that someone is taking responsibility for downtown blight, are giving Hsieh's team largely a free rein. A few trendy bars and cafes have already sprouted to serve the self-styled "pioneers". Low taxes and living costs are also big attractions. | City and state authorities, delighted that someone is taking responsibility for downtown blight, are giving Hsieh's team largely a free rein. A few trendy bars and cafes have already sprouted to serve the self-styled "pioneers". Low taxes and living costs are also big attractions. |
| Frank Gruber, 34, recently moved his media networking company Tech Cocktail to Vegas because he considers it a new frontier. "You look over the landscape and see all these empty lots. There's so much to do here." He cites nightly events such as "poetry slams, jamming, art openings, cocktails, you name it" as proof the experiment is already working. | Frank Gruber, 34, recently moved his media networking company Tech Cocktail to Vegas because he considers it a new frontier. "You look over the landscape and see all these empty lots. There's so much to do here." He cites nightly events such as "poetry slams, jamming, art openings, cocktails, you name it" as proof the experiment is already working. |
| Not all are convinced. At Macworld/iWorld, a technology show in San Francisco, opinions range from cautious to dismissive. "It's fascinating but I think the jury's out on whether they'll persuade top talent to move out there," says Brian David Johnson, a futurist with Intel. "I hate Vegas, there's nothing real there. I don't think they'll get the talent. A rock star developer earns enough to live in a place that's already livable," said Seth Weintraub, a blogger with 9to5mac.com. | Not all are convinced. At Macworld/iWorld, a technology show in San Francisco, opinions range from cautious to dismissive. "It's fascinating but I think the jury's out on whether they'll persuade top talent to move out there," says Brian David Johnson, a futurist with Intel. "I hate Vegas, there's nothing real there. I don't think they'll get the talent. A rock star developer earns enough to live in a place that's already livable," said Seth Weintraub, a blogger with 9to5mac.com. |
| Carr is bullish. "For a while I felt like the only Brit in the village but I wander around now and it's like an invasion," he says. "Silicon Valley is so crowded it can take two years to get a meeting with an investor but in Vegas you could get to meet Tony straight away." He cautions, however, that settlers should not expect handouts. "If you think this is Tony town and I'm on the Tony train, you need to realise that investors don't work for you, you work for them. And you better know what you're doing." | Carr is bullish. "For a while I felt like the only Brit in the village but I wander around now and it's like an invasion," he says. "Silicon Valley is so crowded it can take two years to get a meeting with an investor but in Vegas you could get to meet Tony straight away." He cautions, however, that settlers should not expect handouts. "If you think this is Tony town and I'm on the Tony train, you need to realise that investors don't work for you, you work for them. And you better know what you're doing." |
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