Online retailer Zappos is known for its zany, zealous corporate culture. But one stunt seems to bridge the gap from "culture" to "cult": For CEO Tony Hsieh’s 40th birthday party, his inner circle of friends—apparently calling themselves "Zapponians"—all got the same tattoo.
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As the story goes, Las Vegas was built by Mormons and mobsters. This unlikely team worked together to bring gambling to a place almost exclusively populated by men constructing the Hoover Dam. Their work turned a tiny sun-baked town into a global phenomenon.
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Between the Downtown Project’s area
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About 1.5 miles southwest of the Downtown Project’s cluster of development in Las Vegas is another creative neighborhood going through changes. It’s named 18b.
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The oldest freestanding bar in Vegas is Atomic Liquors, built in 1952, back when you could climb onto the roof and watch atomic bombs explode at desert test sites 60 miles away. If you sit long enough at its expansive bar, chances are Kent Johns will pull up a stool next to you and tell you about it.
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When I meet Josh Westerholt at the offices of Project 100, the Las Vegas urban mobility startup that’s funded by the Downtown Project, we decide it would probably make sense to head out into downtown Vegas to tour their project area in person. From the other room, his co-worker has an even better idea: "Take the Tesla."
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On the Downtown Project’s website, among several lofty goals—such as adding ground-level density and creating passionate communities for downtown Las Vegas—one goal sticks out as a bit different, if not simply odd: "Create the shipping container capital of the world."
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If you’ve been to downtown Las Vegas in the last few years, you’ve likely been to Fremont Street, specifically the caged section near several historic casinos that hosts a nightly laser light show. But, thanks to the Downtown Project, the neighborhood is now home to a large and diverse concentration of startups, each slowly making their mark on the landscape.
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I am standing in Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s apartment in downtown Las Vegas. He’s not here. A housekeeper is here. And a dozen strangers are here, taking a tour of the Downtown Project, Hsieh’s urban renaissance initiative. A "tour" which, for the most part, takes place right here, in Tony Hsieh’s apartment.
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