PRESS: The Ups & Downs of Trying to Rebuild Downtown, Las Vegas

Lauralie was a guest speaker on KNPR. LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW HERE.

Lauralie Lee Ezra chose downtown Las Vegas to set up her social media marketing company Crowd Siren six years ago. Ezra lives in Summerlin but does business out of the Emergency Arts building because it's less expensive and she likes downtown's energy.

“For me, it’s about the vibe. It’s about what I can offer to my team members," she said. "It’s about being creative and being around creative people.”

Ezra was one of the first to recognize downtown as a potential technology hub. She worked with other startup founders to create a community of tech companies and build off the energy that was there.

However, Ezra said that energy has disappeared. Many of those who were part of that scene just two years ago have fled, some moving to Switch's Innevation Center.

“It is hard to compete with suburbia,” Ezra said, “If you could go to your neighborhood park ... or you can be downtown and there is a little dog park there. There is not necessarily this community of people who want to be there all the time.”

She also said the Switch Innevation Center offers some better basics like more space and faster Internet service.

Ezra has also seen people leave Las Vegas entirely for better paying jobs in San Francisco and New York City. She said for many of those people, the reality of the situation just settled in.

“Not anyone can just start a business and have it be successful,” she said.