What do you think the chances are that Tropicana Avenue will be renamed? After all, the Tropicana is long gone, to be replaced by Bally's. Shouldn't the avenue be renamed Bally's Boulevard or something like that?
It’s tempting to imagine that, Vegas being Vegas, there would be a rush to call it Athletics Avenue or Fisher Boulevard (the latter after the Oakland A’s owner). After all, Sin City has a Hugh Hefner Way, even though Hef’s connection to the Palms was both tangential and temporary. We also have a street named for Al Davis, never mind that the Oakland Raiders' owner was long gone by the time the team began playing at Allegiant Stadium.
So when it comes to street names, Las Vegas is curiously nostalgic. Why curious? Well, this place feels little nostalgia for anything else, grinding up history eagerly to make room for the Next Big Thing. When the Sahara briefly became SLS Las Vegas, there was no corresponding rush to rename its signature street SLS Avenue.
Likewise, Flamingo Road will surely always be Flamingo Road, no matter what happens to the eponymous casino. After all, the idea of flamingoes frequenting Las Vegas is an evocative image.
And long after Steve Wynn became persona non grata, there’s still a Wynn Road. Maybe our city fathers rationalize that they can pretend it's named after Elaine Wynn instead.
And don’t even get us started on all the places and things named after the late Howard Hughes!
Besides, Tropicana Avenue stretches from the far western end of the valley to the far eastern end and countless business and residential addresses have been tied to the name for 70-plus years. So it's hard to imagine that the county would go to all the expense of changing the street name, not to mention the outcry from all the businesses and residential owners, just because it's no longer tied to a casino.
Desert Inn Road is still Desert Inn. There’s still a Sands Avenue. So we feel reasonably safe in assuring you that you’ll be driving down Tropicana for a long time to come … regardless of what eventually stands on the southeast corner of its intersection with the Las Vegas Strip.
