Comparing Two Places

Well-heeled mobsters, glamorous showgirls, fantastical mega-casinos, dazzling neon displays вЂ" Las Vegas is the world's most famous monument to reckless abandon and unbridled excess. From a dusty railroad town in the middle of nowhere, Las Vegas has grown into one of the world's premier tourist destinations. Once shunned as "Sin City" and considered beyond the pale of respectable society, it is now the epicenter of mainstream leisure much like Disneyworld, attracting more visitors than the holy city of Mecca. In contrast to Las Vegas, the city of Davis, one of the most educated cities in the United States, attests to a great history and a formidable education venture. A unique collection of artistic and vast resources lie within the boundaries of this farming city. At the city center stands the University of California Davis, a living monument of education and research. All things considered, the city of Davis is an academic institution, less commercialized, less ostentatious, less of a tourist attraction; whereas Vegas is more of a gambling institution, more of a commercial city, more showy and thousand times more of a tourist attraction. These differences create two different worlds, one that is spontaneous the other programmed.

While there is life beyond the Strip, Las Vegas will always be best known as a place of escape and much like Disneyworld is a space where “everything is done for me” (Willis 650). From its incarnation as the favorite nightspot for men and women, to its most recent re-invention as a post-modern desert “Disneyworld”, the city has made its living by anticipating the desires of its visitors and then catering to them. And through casinos, Las Vegas commodifies these desires, and in the end makes millions. Vegas casinos are literally adult playgrounds, a spacious place (high ceilings, uncluttered layout of slot machines) where the environment is inviting and refreshing, stimulating curiosity and exploration. Las Vegas casinos convey an instantly recognizable theme, inducing senses of freedom, order, and vitality. These casinos feature natural elements such as sunlight, warm colors, the presence of variety of plants and moving water. In addition, the gambling equipment is the dominant decorative feature; dÐ"©cor is used only to highlight and enhance the equipment layout. High ceilings and interior dÐ"©cor that is impressive, imposing or memorable are to be avoided so as not to distract from gambling activity. Moreover, clocks are nowhere to be seen, and walls are nowhere to be discovered, creating an illusion that time no longer exists. Furthermore, a maze layout of slot machines provides secluded, intimate gambling areas. The casino, with its theme-park like illusions, generates high levels of situational pleasure and arousal, creates feelings of being psychologically refreshed, and estimates tourists to gamble beyond planned levels. Las Vegas is a city that understands better than any other what Americans want most when they run away from home, and literally “puts them inside the world…where all life has been…replaced by a production of simulacra, so real that people have difficulty recalling that real… no longer exist” (Willis 651).

Davis is a city that is un-programmed, where life is not controlled by the “production of simulacra”; Davis is real world that fits the needs and wants of its populous: college students, families, and elderly (Willis 650). Take for instance, Davis’ university campus quad. Surrounded by Shield’s library, Memorial Union, South Hall and Wellman, the quad, filled with green grass and tall tree’s, is the heart of the campus and the source of Davis’ spontaneity. The paths were meant for people to walk on, yet students, faculty, and bikes trample across the grass. Besides the quad being a location to just walk across to get to another class, the quad is also a place where various un-programmed activities are happening. Students may be reading a book, taking a nap, drinking coffee and at the same time, players from the soccer team could be playing a pick-up game of two-hand-touch football. The quad does not psychologically imply to an individual to walk onto the paves paths instead of its fresh cut grass, nor does the quad demand students to sleep, read, drink or play within its boundaries. Everything is spontaneous. In contrast to the glitz, glamour and erasure of spontaneity that define the Las Vegas world, Davis is a world filled with volumes of books, thousands of students, millions of bikes and a downtown that would occupy the front lawn of a Vegas mega-casino. Davis is neither a Disneyworld nor Las Vegas; it is not a space where “everything (is) done for me” (Willis 650).

Whether for adults or adultery, Las Vegas is certainly one of the hottest vacation hotspots in the world and with its fame has successfully created a Disney-esque world filled with five-star restaurants, four-level nightclubs, and shopping centers with stores filled with Gucci, Burberry and Armani. Las Vegas has an unending supply of fun. If a tourist loves entertainment, there's is every kind to showbiz experience in Sin City, from a couple dozen Broadway-quality productions up and down the famed strip to intimate little music clubs that cater to every taste. Moreover, speaking of taste, if tourist loves dining, there are more quality restaurants within walking distance in Vegas