You may have been at the grand opening of the world's largest H&M at the Forum Shops at Caesars Dec. 11.

I was always reluctant to buy into this notion of Las Vegas as a place of second chances and new starts. It seemed too easy.

Don't dismiss Vegas' classic urban form. You'll love strip malls after this tour that traces the DNA of an emerging new cityThe pearly glitz of the Las Vegas Strip should not cause us to neglect all of Las Vegas' other strips.

If the governor wants local government to pay for local needs, fine. Let's secedeDid you know that Nevada has the smallest state government per capita in the whole United States of America? It's true!It's still too darned big, of course (it was on the news), so Nevada legislators and a new governor will soon be cutting public employee salaries and benefits, curtailing services for the mentally ill, slashing education funding and taking other steps to make state government even smaller.

Inner peace sells, but who's buying? We all are. A seasoned, stress-busting insider offers insights on the modern industry of peddling wellnessIt used to be that massage therapy was for injured athletes, psychotherapy was for the mentally ill, and boxing was for, um, boxers.

Many of Southern Nevada's cultural institutions have roots in the historic Mesquite Club, the women's organization that does much more than afternoon teaNearly 100 years ago, a group of Las Vegas women gathered for tea. The city hasn't been the same since.

Think accessible housing is just an issue for the "disabled"? Think again. Making Las Vegas livable in the future means making homes more visitable - todayAfter a year in rehab recovering from surgery that left her without the use of her legs, Marteen Moore wanted to be with her children and to go back to work as an interior designer.

I'm the last guy you'd expect to try yoga. What I discovered stretched my understanding of the practice - and (pop!) of myself AFTER SPENDING MY YOUTH CONVINCED OF MY INDESTRUCTIBILITY, I'M SPENDING MY MIDDLE AGE IN DENIAL ABOUT MY FRAGILITY I don't bend well.

Mayor Oscar Goodman has it. Caesars Entertainment Corp.

Spas used to be about massages and mud baths. Now they embrace alternative medicine and exotic therapies from around the globe.