Leaving Las Vegas and Other Parts of the Southwest
Interesting nugget from British retail giant Tesco’s take on the global economy,as reported by the Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required):
One exception to the trend [of "upswing in consumer sentiment"], Tesco said, was the Western U.S. Tesco’s stores in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas have been hit hard by the collapse of local real-estate markets. “In some of these areas, there has been depopulation,” [Tesco chief executive] Mr. [Terry] Leahy said. “You can open a store but there’d be nobody there.”
Emphasis added.
Just another data point, along with those of declining school enrollment and falling water and energy consumption that suggest a shrinking population in part of the until recently booming desert states, just in time for the 2010 Census. The question is, where are they going? Back to the Northeast, Midwest and Mexico, to other parts of the desert states, or to adjacent or nearby states like Oregon, Washington, and Idaho?
