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00:00There's some man, he played night, he played big dark on my life, bro.
00:05There's some man, he played dead.
00:07The traffic light's green. You can go.
00:14Okay, they're having...
00:15Las Vegas, baby.
00:20I'm Tirdondi, journalist and presenter.
00:24I'm in Las Vegas, where I've seen how the city has transformed its image.
00:30From the home of shotgun weddings and dingy poker rooms.
00:34To a destination for world-class entertainment and sports events.
00:40Bringing in billions of dollars of revenue.
00:45But now, it's time to dig a bit deeper.
00:48I want to find out how this transformation has impacted the city's famous sex industry.
00:54If anyone was leaving in cuffs, it was going to be me.
00:57It's not safe for us right now.
00:59And see just how much this glossy new image is disguising a darker reality.
01:04Reporters won't write on it.
01:06They don't want the violence to be known of what goes on here.
01:10And, with poverty rates higher than the national average,
01:13I want to know if any of the billions spent by visitors on the Vegas Strip
01:18are used to help the city's most vulnerable people.
01:21Things that happen in other states, we cannot allow that happen here.
01:24How long have you been here for?
01:27About four years.
01:48A lot of excitement here where dreams are made, you know.
01:52Maybe some dreams lost.
01:54Yeah.
01:55But it's unlike any other city in the world.
02:00A reputation for adult entertainment and sex has been part of the popularity of Las Vegas over the years.
02:09But where does sex fit in the family-friendly image the city is selling today?
02:16I'm meeting Willem on the Strip.
02:19As a former club promoter who's lived in the city for 25 years, he's seen first-hand how things are
02:25changing.
02:26So, here you've got Flamingo.
02:30So, there's, like, a burlesque show in the hotel?
02:32Yes.
02:33They're limited nowadays, but there's a few of them at different properties.
02:37Over the years, Vegas has got more family-friendly.
02:40I mean, I'm not going to lie.
02:42I've seen a lot of advertisements for strip clubs.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Naked women.
02:48Yeah.
02:48All of that kind of stuff.
02:50Yeah, of course.
02:50That's one of the things that people come here to Las Vegas to indulge in is, you know, anything that
02:57they're not getting at home, sex, drugs and rock and roll.
03:07Strip clubs here are perfectly legal.
03:11And in many parts of the state of Nevada, so is selling sex.
03:16But in Las Vegas and the surrounding county, it's illegal.
03:22The exact number of sex workers operating illegally in Las Vegas is difficult to determine.
03:28The estimates suggest it could be up to 10,000.
03:36As an adult content creator and a companion, Nina Nova knows the industry well.
03:42Hi.
03:43Hi.
03:44Nice to meet you.
03:45Lovely to meet you.
03:46How are you doing?
03:47I'm great.
03:49I love the pink light.
03:50Can I sit here?
03:52Of course.
03:52Yeah, you can sit here.
03:53While I get a little bit of makeup on my face.
03:56The sex industry in Vegas must be massive, right?
03:59It's massive.
04:00It's huge.
04:02Sex sells.
04:03You literally, like, go to a bar.
04:05There's go-go dancers, like, scantily dressed, dancing on tables.
04:10They're passing out little, like, cards with girls on them and numbers to call to get them straight to your
04:16hotel room on the strip.
04:18So how old were you when you first started?
04:21I was 18.
04:22I originally got started as a cam model at a cam studio.
04:26I started making mainstream porn, and then it took me even longer before I felt comfortable to start doing companionship.
04:34And what's companionship?
04:35A lot of people might know it is escorting.
04:38It's not my primary source of income.
04:41I get most of my fan base from my porn work because more and more people just want to get
04:45the chance to meet me.
04:46It's where the money is.
04:48Like, we're in Sin City.
04:55Your clients, are they more locals or tourists?
04:58Definitely more tourists.
05:01Are there a lot of Brits?
05:03Are there?
05:03There's been a few, actually.
05:06Really?
05:06I recently just had a Brit.
05:09We've been getting more foreigners in general, actually.
05:11Really?
05:15After you.
05:16Thank you so much.
05:19Despite Vegas cleaning up its image, if tourists do still come here to pay for sex, where does that leave
05:25the sex workers serving that market illegally?
05:29Thank you so much.
05:32Cheers.
05:33Cheers to Vegas.
05:36The legalities of sex work in Vegas seem, like, quite crazy to me.
05:41Because, you know, I've walked up and down the strip.
05:43It's in plain sight.
05:45That's illegal.
05:46It's the fantasy that makes Vegas what it is, right?
05:48Like, people are not coming to Vegas just to drink.
05:51Let's be real.
05:51But the girls who are actually doing the work are getting arrested and sent to holdings.
05:56Wow.
05:56So, I do know people who have spent months in jail.
05:59You know, like, literal months in jail.
06:03How has New Vegas or the entertainment industry in Vegas changed sex work?
06:07There's definitely a push for Vegas to be more family-friendly, more palatable.
06:12Vice is really cracking down on the strip.
06:14When there are big events happening in Vegas, like, we have the Super Bowl, there were stings all over the
06:19place.
06:20Like, Vice will be out hot and heavy.
06:22There's no mercy.
06:24So, do people involved in the sex industry, even Nina doing her legal work as a companion, feel protected by
06:31law enforcement?
06:33What would happen if, you know, something really awful happened?
06:36Is it quite hard to seek help?
06:38Yeah, absolutely.
06:39And that became true for me, too.
06:41It's you and one other person.
06:43And there was a circumstance where it went south and I was raped.
06:49I didn't really feel like I could call anyone because I knew that if anyone was leaving in cuffs, it
06:54was going to be me.
06:55I'm so sorry that that happened to you.
06:57It's something I tell people when they get into this industry.
07:00It's not an if, it's a when.
07:02It happens to you.
07:03Like, unfortunately, like, it's not safe for us right now.
07:11Data suggests the police are cracking down on illegal sex work.
07:14In 2024, they said there had been a 50% increase in arrests for prostitution offences due to increased enforcement.
07:31But if people working in the sex industry are too scared to call the police when they need them, they
07:37could end up in grave danger.
07:40There's no official data available, but searching online, there are some reports of sex workers being violently attacked or even
07:48murdered in Las Vegas.
07:51I'd like to know if these reports are a true reflection of the risks to sex workers.
07:58Hi, I'm Tia. Nice to meet you.
08:00Ivy, nice to meet you.
08:01I've come to a local courthouse to meet Ivy, a volunteer for the charity Red Umbrella, who supports sex workers
08:08in Las Vegas.
08:09They often attend criminal trials at courts like these, where the victims are sex workers, to show unity and draw
08:17more attention to the dangers they face.
08:20Ivy claims that what we see in the press is just the tip of the iceberg.
08:26There's kind of a saying we have, people come to Vegas to kill sex workers.
08:31That happens a lot here.
08:32We are losing friends, we're losing community members at an absurd rate.
08:37If not murdered, overdosing from a client or someone drugging them.
08:42I think the only people that know the real numbers are us here on the ground that are doing the
08:46work.
08:48A study conducted in 2018 found that Nevada had more individuals being sold for sex per 100,000 residents than
08:56any other state in America.
08:58And Las Vegas had the highest amount in Nevada.
09:02It's hard to imagine how that many sex workers can operate here illegally when police are clamping down.
09:09Las Vegas in recent years has become a lot more tourist friendly with the dazzling lights, you know, fine dining
09:17or sports.
09:17Vegas was very rooted in sex workers walking the floor, being in your casinos, sitting by the bar, and that
09:25has definitely changed.
09:26They aren't able to anymore.
09:28And is that all to do with New Vegas?
09:31I've heard the words cleaning up their app.
09:33Yeah.
09:33Making it more friendly for tourists.
09:35Yeah, but with that, what they're doing is really pushing sex workers further underground, making them not visible, pushing them
09:42to the streets, being street-based workers.
09:45And that's a perfect storm for criminalization.
09:49What scale are we talking?
09:51In recent years, we do see an enormous amount of sex workers that are harmed.
09:56Tourists are changing how they're really approaching these situations.
10:00We have cases where recently someone met with a client, and they had actually drugged the condom they used, and
10:08she was in the ER for a few days.
10:10There's people that slip pills into drinks, people that strangle people, and then, of course, people unfortunately passing away.
10:19And how do the police react to these sort of cases?
10:23They really try to hide it and push it underground when they can.
10:27Reporters won't write on it.
10:28They do what they can, really, to keep sex workers out of mainstream media because of the stigma.
10:35It's only really talked about when we push it.
10:38When we bring the awareness, when we show up in court, the police don't want those cases to be visible,
10:43to be read, because they don't want Vegas to be seen as an unsafe city.
10:48They don't want the violence to be known of what goes on here.
10:59I want to try and understand just how dangerous this life can be.
11:03I've made contact with a sex worker who's been working in the Las Vegas area for eight years.
11:10We've agreed to protect her identity because she fears being targeted for speaking out.
11:18Every sex worker I know, for the most part, has experienced violence of some sort.
11:24It's paranoia and fear.
11:28Every time you go see a client, that's a possibility of you not coming out of that.
11:35I have been sexually assaulted.
11:38I've been robbed.
11:40And when that happens, what do you do?
11:42Nothing.
11:43Can't really do anything about it.
11:45You just kind of have to deal with it and hope for the best because it's better to let them
11:52do whatever than leave dead or with a broken face.
11:56You know, that's our reality.
12:01That's so scary that you can go through something like that.
12:05Yeah.
12:06We have nobody that looks out for us but each other.
12:11People don't realize how bad the police are here.
12:15Is there a part of you that's scared of the police force?
12:18Always.
12:19Not even just here, just always everywhere.
12:22There's violence that is perpetrated against sex workers by law enforcement.
12:28She tells me that before Vegas, she was working in neighbouring California, where she alleges she was the victim of
12:35an appalling abuse of power by a police officer.
12:40Police take advantage of their position by extortion or, you know, threats of arrest if you don't have sex with
12:50them.
12:51To me, that has happened.
12:52What?
12:53Yeah.
12:55For a long time, it wasn't something I talked about to anyone ever.
12:59I was 17 at the time.
13:01It was when I first got in the industry.
13:03What did you do in that situation?
13:06Just did it and took it and lived with the trauma from it.
13:12I'm really sorry.
13:13That's horrendous.
13:14I was scared, you know, as a teenager.
13:17Like, what am I going to do?
13:18No one's going to believe me, you know?
13:20Like, nothing's going to happen.
13:21This is a cop.
13:24I mean, we can't do anything.
13:26Like, if we're on the job, we can't report that.
13:30We can't go to the police because we're the ones that get arrested for committing a crime.
13:36In 2025, a change to the law in Nevada was proposed that would protect sex workers from being charged with
13:43prostitution offenses if they called for medical assistance or reported a crime to police.
13:47But law enforcement opposed the change, but law enforcement opposed the change, and Nevada's governor rejected it.
13:52We put the concerns about sex workers feeling unprotected to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
13:59They declined to comment.
14:01But in a debate over the proposed law change last year, the Metro Police claimed that taking legal action against
14:08a sex worker when they report a medical emergency does not happen.
14:12They said it was an inaccurate narrative, which increases the mistrust of the police by sex workers.
14:18They encouraged sex worker victims to come forward without fear of prosecution, and said the police will investigate allegations of
14:26battery, sexual assault, or any other crime, as opposed to prostitution offenses.
14:41In 2024, the rate of violent crime overall in Las Vegas was 26% higher than the national average in
14:49America.
14:51Many businesses here have turned to private security firms for extra support.
14:57One of the biggest, Protective Force International, has agreed to show me the type of work they do.
15:04Hello.
15:05Hey, how's it going?
15:05Good, thanks. I'm Tia. Nice to meet you.
15:07Alan, nice to meet you.
15:08I'm the assistant chief with Protective Force International.
15:10This is our headquarters here in Vegas.
15:12There are now nearly four times as many security guards as police in Las Vegas.
15:18PFI has 200 armed officers.
15:21In the past year, they've been hired by 18 casinos and many other private properties in the city.
15:28Here's where we have our virtual reality training.
15:31They are permitted to use their firearms to prevent imminent harm to themselves or others.
15:37Down here is our surveillance room. It's kind of where we monitor everything.
15:42Oh, wow.
15:43Yeah.
15:43You've got cameras in a lot of places.
15:45520?
15:47520 cameras total, yes.
15:49And what are you looking for in particular?
15:51Illicit activities, crime occurring, people trying to steal vehicles, to even just vagrants on property that would need to be
15:57moved on.
15:58Does it happen a lot? Do you see things a lot?
16:00There's always activity, especially here in Vegas.
16:08Today, chief officer Jonathan Alvarez is leading the team.
16:13You're going to get your own vest and a radio.
16:16Get yourself.
16:19So this is just in case anything happens, then?
16:22Yeah.
16:22We want you to be safe.
16:23Just in case.
16:24Yeah.
16:28PFI patrols cover parts of downtown.
16:31Here, casinos and bars are pushed up against an area struggling with high rates of poverty and drug use.
16:41This whole block is essentially ours.
16:44The sidewalk is public property, so that's not our jurisdiction.
16:50What's up, Arner?
16:52You heading out?
16:56Unit one to control.
16:59Go ahead, unit one.
17:01Looks like I've got one sleeping under the brush here.
17:05You good, bro?
17:08Unfortunately, this is private property, bro.
17:09You can't be hanging out here.
17:10You're no one to control.
17:11It's going to be co4.
17:12We're going to be providing him a golden ticket.
17:18It gives you all the details and stuff, but if you go there, they'll help you out, man.
17:22They'll help you out.
17:23All right, bro.
17:24Good luck.
17:27What does that golden ticket provide for them?
17:30We partner very closely with outreach programs from the shelters.
17:33These golden tickets provide somewhere to go out of the heat, food, water.
17:38That organization itself has resources to get them the help that they need.
17:42If they're high, they're intoxicated, they have a detox center there.
17:46You can go to that place, and there's a laundry list of help that they provide that whoever truly wants
17:54to get off the streets and start a fresh life, you can do it through that organization.
17:58Our top priority is making sure that the properties are safe and our residents are safe.
18:03But our secondary mission is making sure we have some sort of solution for these issues that we face on
18:09a daily, not hourly basis.
18:11Do you think that society is doing enough to help homeless people here?
18:14I have not seen a city that is so, that provides such an outpouring of help like Las Vegas.
18:22But I think at the end of the day, homelessness is a significant choice.
18:27And if they choose not to be part of society, it ends up consuming them.
18:32They turn to narcotics, they turn to substance abuse, to alcohol, and then they kind of spiral down.
18:38Our properties, our businesses, they have to thrive.
18:41And nobody is thriving with, you know, hundreds of homeless people defecating in front of the door of businesses.
18:50Like, things that happen in other states, we cannot allow that happen here.
18:59Do you think the homeless population knows that this is kind of a no-go area now?
19:07Yeah, we've been able to educate them a lot further than...
19:11Oh, here we got somebody here.
19:14Oh.
19:15Oh, the same guy?
19:16Same guy.
19:17Oh, God.
19:23Partner, this is our area, bro, I told you.
19:26Pretty much everything from Maryland to the Fremont Street is all ours, bro.
19:30Head out there.
19:32Drop your ticket, bro.
19:37So he dropped the ticket?
19:39Yep.
19:41We give him the opportunities and the resources, so you saw exactly firsthand.
19:45He just threw the ticket down.
19:47Do you ever feel bad about moving people on?
19:51No, it's sad, but we hope that one day he does get the help that he needs to get off
19:56the streets.
20:00Unit one in control.
20:02Jonathan spots some other belongings.
20:05I'm going to make contact with a second one.
20:08Looks like just a bunch of things, though.
20:11Stand by.
20:15Somebody's stuff is here.
20:17Obviously, that's a visual deterrent for, you know, tourism and things like that.
20:22Like, that has to be cleaned up.
20:27This individual came out from our property over there, but he's just walking through.
20:33We're not Gestapo's.
20:35We're not, like I said, we're not the police department.
20:37So we don't make contact if they're just going through, walking through.
20:42Because Vegas does have his eccentric individuals.
20:46Good morning, sir.
20:48Hello.
20:49You doing good today?
20:52Hey, partner, is that your stuff over here?
20:54No?
20:55Okay.
20:59It is your stuff, though, right?
21:01Well, you can't have it on the property, my man.
21:03Nobody's giving you a golden ticket yet?
21:04Dude, I'm a veteran.
21:06So am I, man.
21:07We got something in common.
21:08Here you go.
21:09Well, that'll be the best thing to do.
21:10They can help you out with everything.
21:12I went to the hospital like two days ago, brain surgery.
21:14Oh, man.
21:15Well, you look great for that.
21:16You look like you're doing good.
21:17Yeah.
21:18All right, man.
21:19I'm John.
21:20Army veteran as well.
21:21Well, I'll give you some time to pack up, brother, all right?
21:24All right, my man.
21:31But I guess, you know, you just move them on from this area,
21:35then they just go somewhere else.
21:37Yeah, and that's the unfortunate thing.
21:40Typically, what ends up happening is those areas end up calling us.
21:54The local authorities in Vegas do offer services for homeless people,
21:59including a large resource center co-funded by donations from some casinos.
22:07But despite the billions of dollars coming into Las Vegas every year,
22:12Nevada's homeless rate is one of the highest in the U.S. and rising.
22:20I'm visiting a homeless shelter, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission,
22:24to try and better understand the scale of the problem.
22:32Other shelters will do, like, a breakfast or a lunch during the day.
22:36But we're known for our dinner every evening.
22:47We serve about 800 trays of food a day.
22:51But we're seeing that number really increasing steadily over the months.
22:56British-born Heather Williams has worked for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission for 10 years.
23:01She began by volunteering around her corporate career.
23:04Now, she's here full-time as Director of Development.
23:08In terms of the beds that you have here, how full are they?
23:12We're pretty much full.
23:14We have just over 300 beds on property.
23:17I've heard that Las Vegas Rescue Mission is one of the only places
23:20that houses women and children. Is that true?
23:23We're definitely one of the only open shelters that do that.
23:27Most shelters will only have space for men,
23:30but the need for women and children's shelters is growing a lot higher now.
23:42Hi, Juana.
23:43I'm Tia. Nice to meet you.
23:45Nice to meet you.
23:46Thanks so much for meeting me today.
23:49Juana is a single mother trying to rebuild her life and hold on to her children.
23:55This is where we sleep, my kids and I.
23:59These are our beds.
24:02How long have you been here for?
24:04I've been here for going on three months.
24:07My kids have been here for about a month and a half.
24:10How many of you live in here?
24:13There's three other families apart from myself and my kids.
24:17There's two, four, ten of us all in all in here.
24:20I was homeless since like the middle of the year last year.
24:23I was sleeping in the back of a laundromat, you know, like in the street, anywhere I could sleep.
24:30So I'm glad I'm here.
24:32Like I never want to go back to those streets.
24:34Can you tell me what that experience was like for you?
24:37It was scary, especially because I'm a female.
24:41You know, they called it Sin City, the Devil's Den.
24:44It's not for nothing.
24:45And it's not even just the people and the drugs and all these other problems.
24:50It's the weather and like the weather itself.
24:52It's so hot outside.
24:54How did you cope with that?
24:56I couldn't.
24:57Yeah, like it was, I would try to stay in the shade as much as I could.
25:01It was hard.
25:02It was rough.
25:03You know, it's really hard to handle.
25:05There's a lot of days where you just want to give up.
25:08I was always just trying to get high.
25:10What sort of drugs were you taking?
25:13Crystal methamphetamines.
25:14And I know nowadays they lace it up with fentanyl.
25:17I was to the point where I was hearing voices and I was walking down the street talking to myself.
25:21If you don't mind me asking, when you were on the streets, where were your kids?
25:24They were with my sister.
25:25I put my kids through more than what I put myself through.
25:29You know, because at the end of the day, they're the ones that suffer.
25:32I'm 64 days sober today.
25:34Congratulations.
25:36I ended up going to jail.
25:38I got sober and I got closer to God.
25:41When I got out of jail, I decided like I got a change in my life.
25:52I just got them back.
25:57So I'm really happy.
26:01How did it feel for you when you eventually got them back?
26:05Like, like, no drug in the world could ever top the love that I have for my kids.
26:15I couldn't ask God for, like, a better situation at the moment.
26:26I think what became apparent to me today was the homelessness problem here is massive and you've got blazing heat.
26:35You know, it's almost 45 degrees.
26:37I can't imagine what it's like being out here all day for a lot of people.
26:41And while the homelessness shelter is doing everything that they can, there's a lot of people here who have slipped
26:47through the cracks.
26:56Paramedic Sam helps some of the city's most vulnerable homeless people.
27:01Those who are avoiding the searing heat by living underground.
27:06In a network of storm drains known as the tunnels.
27:12Hi, Sam, how are you?
27:14Hey, Tia, doing well. How about yourself?
27:15I'm good, thank you.
27:17Sam's one of the few people who can take me into the tunnels, which are thought to shelter more than
27:221,000 people.
27:26So what do you usually do when you go down?
27:28It starts with a wellness check, making sure, you know, seeing if anybody needs anything, seeing if they have any
27:34medical issues that we can address.
27:35I've got some basic medical gear with me, toiletries, some food, some water, some snacks.
27:46We're going to be walking underneath the freeway.
27:49So we've got the freeway right there, we've got Caesars Palace, and the tunnels basically run right underneath our feet.
27:54Wow.
27:56We're going to see if we can walk down.
27:58All right.
28:01Above ground, it's nearly 40 degrees Celsius today, so for many, the cool tunnels are a refuge for when there's
28:08nowhere else to go.
28:14Hey, guys.
28:16Hello.
28:17How are you guys doing today?
28:18We're at the medical.
28:20We're down here just checking in, seeing if you guys do anything.
28:23You guys keep school?
28:24At the entrance, I meet Louis.
28:29Would you say that there's facilities that help people like you?
28:33I don't know.
28:34I don't go to school.
28:35Do you not?
28:36Why?
28:36You start asking, you know what I mean, questions that have no bearing on whether you're homeless or not.
28:41You know what I mean?
28:41I think the police, they try and set me up to take me to jail, so I don't really know.
28:46Okay.
28:46So you think a lot of people don't go because they're scared that maybe they'll...
28:50I don't think you're scared.
28:51Do you want to go to jail?
28:53I don't want to go to jail, no.
28:56Definitely not.
28:58You know what I mean?
28:59Mm.
28:59You've got to figure out who your friends are, and my friends ain't going to take me to jail.
29:03And that happens a lot.
29:04Bullshit, like just trespassing, whatever.
29:08In 2025, a camping ban made it a misdemeanor to camp, lie down, sleep, or store personal property in public
29:16places.
29:19Violating this law can result in 10 days in prison, or a fine of up to $1,000 if convicted.
29:27Has that ever happened to you?
29:29Yeah, I just kind of did.
29:31Twice in, what, a week?
29:32Twice?
29:33What, this week?
29:35Yeah.
29:36Okay, thank you, Louis.
29:38Not a problem, thank you.
29:45You can see the graffiti down here and burn marks from people's fires.
29:53God, it's so dark down there.
29:55It is so hot outside, but down here, I feel completely cool.
30:00It's almost like it's aircon.
30:01It's like a ventilation system.
30:04Up here, we should have a storm drain that's emptying out.
30:07Oh, God, look.
30:08You can see it all coming out there.
30:10When it rains, this can be filled top to bottom of water.
30:13You know, entire, just this entire channel just full of water.
30:16And so, you know, if you're caught in a flash flood down here, you know, you're probably not surviving it.
30:25In another part of the tunnels, we meet David.
30:28Nice to meet you, volunteer.
30:30Hi.
30:31Do you mind if I sit down with you for a sec?
30:33Yeah, good.
30:33Thank you so much.
30:35Do you need anything from Sam?
30:37He's a medic.
30:38How you doing on socks, toiletries, toothbrush, toothpaste?
30:40Well, socks.
30:41Take socks?
30:42All right.
30:43How long have you been here for?
30:45About four years.
30:47How do you find it living down here?
30:51Out of sight, out of mind.
30:52Out of sight, out of mind.
30:58David offers to guide us further into the tunnels.
31:02Hey, anybody home?
31:05You guys need a toothbrush or anything?
31:08How about some waters for you guys?
31:11The view above this person's makeshift home...
31:15Oh, my God.
31:18..is Caesar's Palace Casino.
31:30Down below, you have homeless people.
31:34And above, you have these lavish casinos,
31:38which have five-star hotels in them.
31:55Vegas is a city of two worlds.
31:59If you compare it to the pool party that I went to,
32:03or some of the casinos that I've been in,
32:07it's sad to see people living out of society in the dark.
32:29Billions of dollars have been invested into the strip
32:32in the last few years,
32:33and it's paying off for the big corporations.
32:38In 2024, visitor spending in Vegas
32:41hit an all-time high for the third consecutive year.
32:44An average of $1,300 per visit.
32:48Despite a relative decline in spending on gambling,
32:51the city's new entertainment, sport and dayclub offerings
32:55are generating huge incomes.
33:00The food, service and hospitality sector
33:03is the largest employer here,
33:05but Vegas wages are lower than the national average.
33:09And the cost of living has rocketed here in recent years.
33:13So what's going to happen if workers like Mohamed
33:16can no longer afford to live in the city?
33:19Hi, how are you?
33:20Hello, I'm good, how about you?
33:22I'm good, thank you.
33:23So this is where you grew up, is it?
33:25Yes, it is.
33:26The outskirts of what they don't show.
33:29I met Mohamed earlier on in my trip,
33:31at a boxing gym, supporting young people in the community.
33:36That's the house I grew up in.
33:39What does it feel like looking at it now?
33:41Breathing back good and bad memories.
33:43Yeah.
33:45It looks way different now.
33:48It's been eight years since I've been here.
33:50Eight years, really?
33:51Yes.
33:51Why so long?
33:52This whole area, especially this street, was very dangerous.
33:56A lot of shootings and a lot of violence.
33:59This street, I had about three friends live on this street.
34:02We knew everybody.
34:04A lot of blood, a lot of sweat, a lot of tears, a lot of laughter.
34:08It was shed in this neighbourhood.
34:11It seems pretty quiet to me.
34:12Has it changed over time?
34:14From what I've seen, yes.
34:15Because during the daytime,
34:17this whole place would be active back when I grew up.
34:19Really?
34:19Yeah.
34:21But it's quiet now.
34:22The people I really know, like neighbours and stuff,
34:25are no longer there.
34:27Why do you think it's changed so much since you were here?
34:30Do you think it's not really affordable
34:31for people to live here anymore?
34:33Oh, yeah.
34:34Most definitely.
34:36OK.
34:36So do you think a lot of people from this area
34:38have been pushed out?
34:40Yeah.
34:42It's not that it's hard to get a job.
34:43It's the pain.
34:44There's not enough jobs that are paying enough
34:48for us to survive here.
34:49Like here on the east side, it's about $1,500 a month.
34:52And that's just your rent a month.
34:53People are just making enough to have a place to live,
34:57not to eat.
34:57So they're starving out here.
34:59And in the suburbs where I moved to
35:01to get out of this environment,
35:02I'm paying $3,400 a month in a nice area.
35:05And I'm still struggling to get by myself.
35:07$3,400 a month is quite high as well.
35:10Oh, yeah.
35:10It's like more than London rates.
35:12It used to be cheaper out here,
35:13but everybody from California and all around us
35:16are moving over here because they heard,
35:18oh, it was cheaper.
35:19From the east side, west side and north town,
35:22if you drive all around those areas,
35:24you'll see a whole lot of vacant homes.
35:35The city's become an attractive place to live,
35:38but that's pushed house prices up.
35:42One report says only 20% of homes for sale in Las Vegas
35:46are affordable to families on an average income.
35:52That's left lots of houses vacant.
35:54Others are converted as tourist lets,
35:57and many are snapped up by investors.
35:59In one deal I've seen,
36:01a corporate landlord purchased 264 of the area's homes
36:05in a single day.
36:07According to the latest figures for 2025,
36:10in total, Nevada has nearly 124,000 empty homes.
36:19I'm heading back out with the private security company, PFI.
36:23They help some property owners secure their empty homes.
36:29So where are we heading?
36:30We're heading to one of our apartment complexes
36:33that is known for a lot of squatting in the vacant units
36:37that they have on property.
36:39So we're going to go see if we can clear it out.
36:42There's a fair few of you, isn't there?
36:44Yeah.
36:45We have a lot of properties in this downtown area,
36:47so this area's pretty saturated with all of us.
36:50In these vacant units,
36:51you can find anything from human trafficking,
36:56drug trafficking, prostitution.
36:59It's comforting knowing people like us are out there
37:01to help solve the problem.
37:04Is this the property?
37:06This is, yes.
37:08Okay.
37:08So we'll get out here.
37:22They've got a key to the property
37:24that they're going to check.
37:26Police security.
37:32I'm probably scared.
37:33You're going to make something go down.
37:37There's someone in there.
37:38There's lights on.
37:40So they're checking it now.
37:43Do a full sweep in there.
37:55Yeah, it's coming.
37:58So this one, actually, somebody's been in there.
38:01Right.
38:02Yeah, I can see stuff on the floor.
38:04They'll come in here and they'll use the restaurant.
38:07You see, I mean, it's real dirty.
38:09There's a lot of...
38:09Oh, gods.
38:11And with these ceilings,
38:14sometimes they like to hide things up here.
38:16Typically, you know,
38:17sometimes we'll find drugs, we'll find guns.
38:25A lot of these properties look really nice.
38:28Yeah.
38:29But then we come to find out how many vacants they have.
38:32And then you find out where the problems are.
38:40Rent in Las Vegas has gone up by over 35% since 2020.
38:46You've got a light on in the back left.
38:47Robert's here, you can both know now.
38:49One reason blocks like these might be empty.
38:53So this one you can tell is a little more trashed.
38:57Yeah, freshly vacant.
38:59You can smell it even.
39:00I can smell something, yeah.
39:02Yeah.
39:02These are signs of nefarious activities.
39:05You can see a little bit of resin on there
39:07from some sort of narcotic.
39:10Most likely either marijuana
39:11or maybe even black car heroin.
39:13Mm-hmm.
39:21Property security, everyone's here.
39:23Sound off.
39:26With what we've heard about the housing crisis here in Vegas,
39:29a lot of squatters come in here
39:31and think that they can use them
39:32looking for refuge, I guess.
39:41All around right now,
39:42it's very expensive to rent.
39:45It's also a lot harder now
39:47to even find a house to buy
39:49because a lot of corporations are buying the houses
39:52and only having them to lease.
39:54I think one thing to help minimize
39:58the amount of vacancies
39:59would be to lower the rent
40:02so you can actually fill them.
40:04Unfortunately, that's above my pay grade.
40:31Before I leave Vegas, I'm checking in with Juana.
40:35Hi, Juana.
40:36Hi.
40:37How are you?
40:38I'm good, how are you?
40:39Nice to see you.
40:40Good.
40:40When we first met,
40:42Juana was getting back on her feet
40:44with help from the Las Vegas rescue mission.
40:47How's everything been since I last saw you?
40:49Pretty good, actually.
40:50We moved from the rescue mission,
40:53so we got into this program
40:55that helps us with housing.
40:57I'm working steady.
40:58Everything's going really well.
40:59Oh, I'm so happy.
41:00Yeah.
41:01Staying clean, staying out of trouble.
41:03I feel like I look better.
41:05I can speak more clearly.
41:07I got a job lined up,
41:08and everything's falling into place.
41:16And how are they feeling?
41:18They're good.
41:19They're happy.
41:19Like, everyone in my family tells me
41:21they're, like, they look happier,
41:22they're cleaner,
41:23like, they're just, like, they're more...
41:25They speak to people now.
41:26They're not just, like, all quiet
41:28with their heads down.
41:29Yeah.
41:29What are the plans for the future, then?
41:31What do you have in store?
41:32I just want to go to school
41:34and find somewhere stable to stay,
41:37somewhere for us to call home.
41:39But, you know, right now,
41:40we're just taking it day by day,
41:41and that's how we...
41:42That's how we go.
41:45It's a relief to know
41:46there is some support available
41:48for people like Juana.
41:51But there isn't enough
41:52for everyone struggling in this city.
41:59I came to Vegas
42:00to find out more about its new image
42:02and how it's attracting
42:03a whole new generation of visitors.
42:08The resort and their pool parties,
42:11the nightlife,
42:12the live music,
42:13the sports...
42:15It all combines to create
42:16an exciting party town.
42:19And I can see why Brits come out here
42:21to experience it.
42:24But the more time I've spent here,
42:27I've realised there's a lot of things
42:29which are hiding beneath the surface.
42:31And my perception of Vegas
42:33has definitely changed.
42:35We've heard so many times
42:37what happens in Vegas
42:39stays in Vegas.
42:42There's a huge PR machine
42:43keeping up this perception
42:45of this glossy,
42:47lavish place.
42:54It's clear
42:55Vegas is a complicated place
42:57with a lot of challenges.
43:03And like many other US cities,
43:06when it comes to luck and money,
43:08there will always be those who win
43:10and those who lose.
43:18Ain't it different?
43:19I'll lick my ting in LA.
43:21I can't fly to the states
43:22cause I've got too much convictions.
43:24Apparently all I talk is prison,
43:25but I don't know no different.
43:27Cause I was in jail up north
43:28when they're done a coalition.
43:32Because I'm in jail.
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