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Posted by on Feb 18, 2022 in Blog, Las Vegas | 1 comment

How Did “Naked City” Get It’s Name?

 

 

NAKED CITY (LAS VEGAS)

I learned something today, so I have to share it.

“Naked City” refers to the rundown neighborhood tucked in between the Stratosphere and Downtown Las Vegas. Actually, with the urban renewal of the Arts District in the last decade, “Naked City” is a much smaller zone now. It’s a few square miles of gritty warehouses, roach-infested slums, empty sunbaked storefronts, and even many small frame houses near-collapse surrounded by chain-linked fences and barbed wire. For many years, Naked City was a place NOT to go, especially after dark. The area was known for crack and blow jobs.

Oddly enough, I spent lots of time peddling through Naked City during the phase when I first moved to Las Vegas 20 years ago. I came out here to see if I could “make it” (Marieta was still back in Washington). So, I lived alone for 8 months, playing poker and betting sports full-time. I didn’t even own a car. Instead, I bought a bicycle and rode the bike everywhere around town. I lost 30 pounds and was in the best shape of my life. I’ll skip the obligatory humor of crack and blow jobs which would fit nicely here.

Anyways, I used to play poker on the graveyard shift at the Horseshoe downtown (before eventually taking a job there as the PR Director). Many nights, I rode through Naked City on a bike with $3,000-$5,000 stuffed in my pocket, which was my betting bankroll. Hookers, dope dealers, vagrants — nobody bothered me. Not ever. Not once did I have an issue, nor was I threatened. Maybe I was just lucky and stupid. Probably both. I had long hair at the time and sometimes got asked by strangers if I was “SELLING.” I guess I looked like a dope dealer to people. Why else would a 40-year-old white guy be on a bicycle in Naked City at 4 o’clock in the morning? Man, those were the days.

What’s remarkable is that Naked City was once the happening place! It’s where the cool people lived. In the 50s and 60s, back when Las Vegas was a city of just 100,000 and was controlled by the Mob, the lounge singers, dealers, bartenders, waiters, and other casino workers lived in these two-story flats with swimming pools. That’s pretty much all there was to do when the shift ended — hang out at the pool. Now, decades later, you can still see dozens of crumbling apartment buildings with people continue living in them. The pools haven’t seen a drop of water since the 1970s. Stray dogs and feral cats roam the streets. The neighborhood changed. But hey, what a great location!

As for “what I learned” today, here’s that story.

One of the remembering “old Las Vegas” groups on Facebook had a discussion going as to how “Naked City” got its unusual name. One version of the story goes that female dancers and showgirls who lived in the cheap apartments didn’t want tan lines to show. So, they often sunbathed naked, typically placing lounge chairs up on the rooftops of the apartments. The girls sunbathed in the nude, so the area became known as Naked City. Another version is that the zone took its name from a popular TV show during the late 50s. There was also a movie called “The Naked City” made in 1948, but that was filmed in NYC. My best guess is — the naked girls probably made it into the unofficial slang term for the area.

Naked City is an eyesore. It’s only a matter of time before it’s torn down, bulldozed over, and cleaned up. But it won’t be forgotten.

1 Comment

  1. I am about to fix it. Wanna join me as my PR director?

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