Preserving Las Vegas' Midcentury Residential Neighborhoods

"Recent preservation efforts in Southern Nevada have focused on neighborhoods built during or right after World War II, as they harbor midcentury modern architecture or earlier styles and echo a pivotal era in Las Vegas," reports Jackie Valley.

"The value [in midcentury neighborhoods] is less about any individual home and more about the collective feeling," writes Valley. "Front porches. Carports. Decorative breeze block. Wood siding embellished with stone and brick. Intricate metal fences lining front yards."

Preservation efforts in Las Vegas are gaining steam, according to the article. "This month, the Las Vegas Planning Commission approved a request from the Beverly Green Neighborhood Association to become a historic district." If the full council approves the district in September, "Beverly Green will become the second neighborhood to earn the designation since John S. Park did in 2003," writes Valley.

In the process of telling the story of Las Vegas preservation, Valley speaks with representatives from the Nevada Preservation Foundation, Historic Preservation Commission, and the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors—who all make the case for the benefits of neighborhood preservation.