Las Vegas is a nexus of sensory extremes. In the middle of a broiling desert, we’ve got a string of air-conditioned Strip casinos boasting some of the world’s finest food, splashiest production shows, and, of course, row upon row of clamorous, glittering games of chance. (As for smell, there’s Fremont Street. Ba-dum bum.) The observation that, wow, this place could like totally melt your medulla oblongata was the impetus behind this month’s feature story, “In the Realm of the Senses.” When we talk about what defines Southern Nevada as a place, we often default to tropes such as landscapes, buildings, statistics, and demographics. But how does it feel to live here, through the sights, sounds, and tastes that help define the soul of a metropolis? Gawd, that sounds like diaphanous poetic guff, but we really do drill down toward some answers. Writers Kim Foster, Dawn-Michelle Baude, T.R. Witcher, Veronica Klash, and I consider that question on p. 57. (As part of my assignment to consider the sense of sound, I spent time in a noise-absorbing chamber where, thankfully, no one could hear me whimper in dread.)
Our home design feature on p. 46, “Home Feels Advantage,” embodies a spectrum of extremes as well. We profile subjects whose home decor styles range from curated minimalism to riotous thrift-store eclecticism to personal art gallery — but each of them intrigues, challenges, and delights the senses in its own way. Home truly is a feeling.