Originally Posted by
dhuey
That sure is strange. So the City of Las Vegas is just part of the metro area (normal so far), but I see that Paradise is an unincorporated part of Clark County that includes the Strip. I can't recall ever seeing a densely-populated unincorporated anything. Those almost seem like contradictory terms.
All "unincorporated' here means is that it's not a self-governing area and is instead governed under the umbrella of a larger entity (typically the county). There are around 50 designated unincorporated towns in Nevada and represent about half the state's population; these population centers still benefit from or desire representation reflecting their local/community needs but don't want the massive hassles and costs of incorporation. (Note that in areas facing financial turmoil - especially the Midwest - there has been a trend of many incorporated cities actually disincorporating, either voluntarily or because they went insolvent.)
Similar unincorporated areas are actually very common outside of a few northeastern states; I believe there are several hundred in California, including even in central LA County (this issue made the news recently since the Mayor of LA didn't have jurisdiction over the million-or-so people in those areas for his quarantine shutdown).
Originally Posted by
DenverBrian
Paradise is essentially a commercial HOA. It's unique to Las Vegas. For most Strip hotels, there is no pesky "city" to deal with involving regulations - only Clark County commissioners.
There are actually around a dozen unincorporated towns in the Las Vegas metro area that have designated representation with the county.