Joe Schoenmann
Story Archive
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Where is funding coming from for all this cultural development?
Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013 Plans to build an art museum, renovate the Reed Whipple Cultural Center and reopen the Huntridge Theatre are all underway. But who will supply the dough?
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Coterie manager Hannibal Nisperos brings the real to hip retail
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 "He’s that rare strain of original cool whose personal vibe becomes a statement that others follow in fashion or thought."
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: How will the Zappos-DTP relationship affect other local businesses?
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 The creation of neo-Downtown as a company town is coming into vogue.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Fremont Street bar owners note drop in Friday night patrons
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013 Barricades were up and police presence was down, but so was business in several east Fremont Street bars last Friday night. Some say that’s the price of success on the first Friday of the month.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Housing has to be cheaper for Downtown to be fully realized
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013 The Life Is Beautiful Festival made the neighborhood feel like a true city. When will it consistently be like that?
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Speakeasy-inspired lounge opening in Las Vegas Arts District
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013 A new urban lounge will bring more competition to downtown’s loaded bar scene, but it won’t be located on East Fremont Street, where much of the property is already owned by Downtown Project.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: With only minor glitches, leaders praise Life is Beautiful
Monday, Oct. 28, 2013 Despite a few minor arrests and injuries, city and police officials said Life is Beautiful was successful and that they'd like to see some parts of it become permanent. Over the two-day event, five people were arrested for misdemeanors and three people suffered minor injuries when a roughly 30-foot tower holding streamers tumbled in the wind at the entrance Sunday. Beyond that, however, the festival appeared to be a roaring success.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: 'We're getting back to our roots,' Wynn says at opening of Downtown Grand
Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013 The opening comes six-and-a-half years after the closure of the Lady Luck, which was gutted by investor CIM Group and converted into the Downtown Grand.
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A&E
Festivalgoers mostly well-behaved, full of praise for Life is Beautiful
Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013 The inaugural Life is Beautiful festival downtown continued to run smoothly on its second and final day, with an expected 24,000 attendees flocking to the festival grounds to take in dozens of bands, gourmet eateries, art installations and lectures at the weekendlong celebration. However, the day was not completely without incident. One of the towers at the entrance to the festival on 6th Street at Carson Avenue toppled in the wind around 4:45 p.m. No injuries were reported.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Training center will prepare homeless and unemployed for jobs
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 “We take people who are on the path of hopelessness and get them back on the path of hope.”
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Downtown Grand guests will be 'encouraged to leave building'; Hsieh covets greater connectivity
Monday, Oct. 21, 2013 Tony Hsieh came off as a modest voice of calm amid former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman’s outspoken ex-mob-lawyer-turned-mayor persona, as both addressed questions about downtown’s rebirth at a luncheon today.
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A&E
Joe Downtown: Artists’ visions bring vibrancy to drab downtown walls
Sunday, Oct. 20, 2013 Work on the first of 14 murals to adorn the walls of various downtown buildings has begun.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Revelers on bikes will light up the night for 'Blinking Man' pub ride
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013 The free ride, which has been described as “Burning Man on wheels,” begins at 7 p.m. at the Huntridge Tavern, 1116 E. Charleston Blvd.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Why aren't there stronger ties between UNLV and Downtown Project?
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 The answer is coming, largely by way of ... Iowa City, Iowa.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: With its anchor bars' future in question, what will become of Neonopolis?
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013 The complex took a big hit with the city's denial of liquor licenses for Krave and Drink & Drag.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: First Friday arrests plummet, and businesses are pleased
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 Downtown business operators seemed satisfied, and Metro Police had fewer arrests than in many months on Fremont Street last Friday night.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Tony Hsieh begins writing-publishing push with Hollywood screenwriters workshop downtown
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 As someone who had read scripts with the goal of finding good ones for Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Franklin Leonard hadn’t found a good script in so long, he began to doubt his own script filter.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: For the area to really succeed, more need to work and live here
Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 Many are working Downtown, but more need to actually move to the area.
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Joe Downtown
Downtown Project scores with job creation, more parking and Peyton Manning's mojo
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013 Nearly 500 jobs, 440 new parking spaces, a job fair, a new nachos joint and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning — all were on the menu of the monthly rapid-fire roundup of Downtown Project plans, activities and businesses Monday night.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Volunteer painters chip in to make the Huntridge shine
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013 In February, Nicole Phillips moved from her apartment on the outskirts of the city to downtown Las Vegas in February for one reason: She wanted to be part of what’s happening down here. On Saturday morning, she proved it with a brush and some white paint.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: With SlotZilla going up, Downtown walks the line between garish and smart
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 Joe Schoenmann wonders: Can Downtown be both garish and smart?
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: In a city built on booze, here's to some hope for better behavior
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013 Next time you look around Fremont Street and lament so many police officers, remember: You have a drink in your hand.
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Food
Joe Downtown: Container Park is taking shape; find out who is moving in
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013 Walking the few blocks of Fremont Street between 6th and 9th streets can be scary, downtown Las Vegans say. It's a virtual no-man’s land, drastically different from the bustle of the bars and restaurants just a few blocks away.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Drinks all around — Velveteen Rabbit earns accolades, Atomic hosts speakeasy party
Friday, Sept. 13, 2013 Beers, new fall drinks and a temporary speakeasy top this week’s Downtown Drinking News. Take a look at what's going on at the Velveteen Rabbit, Atomic lounge and Downtown Brew Festival. For one event, you'll even need a password.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: In Naked City, a house of light has shined for four years
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 Naked City in downtown Las Vegas, an area roughly west/northwest of the Stratosphere, is one of those zones you have to make an effort to visit. And it’s a place that, once there, you might wish the effort had never been made.
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Joe Downtown
Bars to close early during downtown's Life is Beautiful festival
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 Residents and business owners will get credentials and vehicle tags so they can get into and out of the perimeter of the Life is Beautiful festival this October.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: The Downtown Grand should become a major player
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 The coming casino's proximity to Zappos headquarters, convenience and friendly amenities will help it make a big impact Downtown.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Martial law or proactive policing? Officers swarm downtown's Fremont Street
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013 "Martial law." "A police state." That's how downtown regulars described the police presence Friday night on East Fremont Street. Metro Police blocked off traffic to the bar-filled block and made people walking outside dump their drinks.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Historic day for city’s center as Zappos makes itself at home
Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 Almost 1,600 people, the majority of them Zappos employees, streamed into their new headquarters in downtown Las Vegas today, many of them seeing the rehabbed former City Hall for the first time.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: 5 ways Zappos is reshaping downtown Las Vegas
Monday, Sept. 9, 2013 Zappos employees will take six weeks to completely move into the company’s new downtown headquarters, the former City Hall the company has spent millions of dollars renovating. Some 200 employees who already worked downtown, in a building at 3rd Street and Bridger Avenue, moved in over the weekend, said Zach Ware of Zappos. The remaining 1,300 or so will fill the building over the next six weeks.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: State shuts down Krave Massive nightclub over permit matter
Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 Details were not immediately available, but the City Council on Wednesday is set to consider an item to extend a temporary tavern license for a change of ownership from Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon to Krave Massive.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Reality show on Las Vegas government could spotlight local problems
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013 The City Council and various city departments might be on the small screen soon.
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A&E
Joe Downtown: New Bunkhouse will be an expanded version of the old saloon
Monday, Aug. 26, 2013 Closed since July 1, the Bunkhouse Saloon will reopen in November, not in 60 days as originally planned. Downtown Project sources, however, say that when it reopens, the longtime live music venue/dive bar will have retained much of the vibe that locals grew accustomed to over the years.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: One former sex worker shares her darker past
Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013 Downtowners aren't all trust-fund kids with nothing better to do than work on apps.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: 3 businesses, seeking grants for face-lifts, bank on east Fremont area
Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 One of the truisms about redevelopment is that urban zones forgotten and left for dead only turn around when perceptions do. For decades, east Fremont Street was no-man’s land to most residents. But redevelopment has changed perceptions of the area.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Connections made at Vegas' SXSW conference worth its cost
Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 The tech conference attracted Millennials by the masses.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: In keynote speech to techies, Hsieh touts value of serving a greater good
Monday, Aug. 12, 2013 Tony Hsieh’s mantra is unwavering, especially when he’s addressing some 1,000 techsters who would like to do nothing more than to do what he did, and turn their app and website ideas into millions.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Businesses breathing life into Neonopolis
Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013 Eleven years after it opened, dozens of businesses have come and gone from Neonopolis, the cuboid mall at Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. Lately, though, some businesses have managed to stay open long enough — Denny’s, Heart Attack Grill and Drink & Drag — and downtown is growing just enough that other entrepreneurs are starting to move in.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Fighting Monsanto with money
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013 Local activist Angie Morelli is bringing the fight against GMOs to the voters.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Musings on the neighborhood's weird and wonderful characters
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 "I’ve never seen them like here. It’s like with some of them, ‘Why are you still alive?’”
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Light rail on Maryland Parkway would boost accessibility and enjoyment
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Trains on the road would connect UNLV to the Huntridge and other Downtown hangouts.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Eggs, bread and other grocery staples find a home on East Fremont Street
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 A new grocery store is heading downtown. Sources with the Downtown Project say an urban grocery store is planned for East Fremont Street in the space formerly occupied by Mamita’s Mexican restaurant and the Fremont Street Market & Deli.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: First Friday takes a step back toward its roots
Wednesday, July 17, 2013 August's First Friday will unveil “antARTica,” an immersive streetscape.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Sound the alarm—Fremont East could lose its local edge
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 More and more taverns are coming to Downtown and some, if not all, will be targeting tourists.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Fremont Street executives say downtown Las Vegas is getting out of control
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Downtown’s recent success as a nightlife hub is ratcheting up fears that the area is becoming so awash in booze and underage drinking that violence is growing, creating an expensive need for more law enforcement.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: In tavern-heavy Fremont East District, underage drinking abounds
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Two cops rode side by side on horseback. Six officers stood in designated spots while about 18 more shifted in and out through the night. Another eight Downtown Rangers kept watch, with videotape.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: In downtown Las Vegas, every day is a balancing act
Friday, July 5, 2013 Life is a balancing act, even in downtown Las Vegas.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Proposed dog park would help downtown go green
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 When a planned private dog park is finished on Fremont Street, it will immediately become one of the largest — if not the largest — patches of green space on one of the city’s oldest byways.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: Ferguson Motel being converted into taverns, retail spaces
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 Built more than 60 years ago, the Ferguson Motel is one of the nicer-looking pieces of Vegas memorabilia still upright on Fremont Street. A fence surrounds the shuttered property at 1028 Fremont. When the fence comes down, it won’t be a motel anymore.
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Joe Downtown
Joe Downtown: The fine line between problems and progress
Tuesday, July 2, 2013 The Southern Nevada Senior Law Program is a different example of the Downtown Project's efforts.