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The Mike & Carla Morning Show

The Mike & Carla Morning Show

The Mike & Carla Morning Show

Las Vegas: Eastside Versus Westside, Where Do You Live

Author Mike O'Brian
A rooster weather vane pointing out north, south east and west

It’s a discussion that has been going on for years in Las Vegas, Eastside versus Westside, where do you live and why? Listen, I have tried to live on both sides of town and I do prefer the westside. But, I do have friends on the eastside who swear they could never make the move. I’m like really? Of course, keep in mind that they have been on the eastside forever and just can’t convert. So, what is it about this town that separates us so much?

I’ve even heard of the argument from people on the eastside saying that it’s too windy on the westside! I was like really? Too windy? But on the westside, I’ve always said, I like the accessibility to the entire valley from here. And since the 215 has gone in, even more so now!

I must admit that ever since working on The Mike & Carla Morning Show, I’ve become even more of a “westsider!” I not only live, but I work, eat and sometimes even workout on this side of town! It’s been that easy! I’m just more comfortable here. Put me on the eastside and I am like a fish out of water!

Las Vegas: You’re Either Are Eastside Or Westside

From the moment I moved here, I was a westside guy. Back in 1986, I rented a home in the new area of Westcliff and Rainbow. Not much was out there except an Albertson’s, which has since been two or three different things. I liked that part of town and the access to the 95 at the time. Keep in mind that Summerlin Parkway wasn’t there yet, but I was comfortable there. I knew that anywhere I had to go, I could get there easily, but yet I seemed far removed from the strip and all that!

To be fair, I did chance it and live on the eastside for a minute. My first home in the valley was at Windmill and the 215. I didn’t mind it, but as time went on, I yearned to be back on the westside. With my friends and family. It was so much easier to navigate on the westside. The shopping, things to do, the bars, the restaurants…all right in my backyard!

But, as we always say, to each his/her own right? So, why is it that we’re so set in our ways when it comes to this? And don’t even bring Henderson into the conversation…that’s for another time! But if you’d like to respond, simply hit us up at the Mike&CarlaMailbag@963kklz.com.

Mike O’Brian is the Program Director and Morning Show host on 96.3 KKLZ in Las Vegas, along with Carla Rea. He has been with the Beasley Media Group for almost 23 years. Mike was named one of the “Best Program Directors In America” by Radio Ink magazine. Over the years, “The Mike & Carla Morning Show” have been presented with a number of proclamations for their work in the community and numerous awards. Having lived in Las Vegas for over 35 years, he writes articles on living in Las Vegas, sports, and odd stories happening within the state of Nevada. Mike is the host of the morning show and program director of 96.3 KKLZ/Las Vegas. He has been doing mornings in Las Vegas for the past 38 years. Over the years, he has hosted a numerous amount of community events and has been the P.A. announcer for a number of sports teams in Las Vegas. He has written on living in Las Vegas, the sports teams here, as well as odd & little-known facts about Las Vegas & Nevada.

7 Streets In Las Vegas Named After Real People (And Why)

If you drive around any major city, you’re going to see streets named after famous people. And sometimes the name is so famous that you don’t have to look it up. Bob Hope Drive in Burbank, California. Sam Cooke Way in Chicago, Illinois (thank you, Mental Floss, for both of those examples). And more streets in the country named after U.S. presidents than we can count. And Las Vegas has its share of streets named after the rich and famous. But some of our most-used streets have names that aren’t so well known.

How To Get A Street Named After You

It’s not that hard, logistically speaking, to get a street named after you. For info on that, we turn to one of the states notorious for its famous street names: New York. The West Side Rag reports that the process starts with a petition of multiple signatures of people who advocate for the name. In Manhattan the required signature count is 100. The next step is to provide compelling evidence that the person contributed to that block or community in some significant way.

Sounds easy enough. At least so far. The next steps are a little more difficult. After the petition and supporting evidence, the proposal has to go through the political hoops of getting approved by city council members. And then, finally, signed off by the mayor.

But the really hard part of getting your name on the street sign comes even before the petition. You have to have done something pretty remarkable in your city. Something that makes other people want to commemorate you.

Names We See On Las Vegas Street Signs

Las Vegas has been home to some very famous entertainers. Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra and more all have their own streets here. But less famous people actually contributed just as much to building Sin City. So what did people like Bruce Woodbury or Rafael Rivera ever do for Las Vegas? A lot, it turns out. Here are some of the lesser-known people named on our street signs, and why they deserve to be there.

  • Stewart Avenue

    Stewart Ave, Las Vegas, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Helen Stewart is one of the most awesome women in Las Vegas history. Her husband ran a ranch in Lincoln County (which included present-day Clark County). After he was murdered, Helen had to learn how to operate the ranch on her own, even though she knew nothing about the business and had four children and one on the way at the time of his death. She was so successful that she started buying up land around her ranch, knowing it would be valuable some day. And by 1890 she was the largest landowner in Lincoln County (nevadawomen.org). And all before she even had the right to vote.

    Besides beating the odds to be a business mogul, Stewart was also appointed the first postmaster in Las Vegas in 1892. Her other contributions to Las Vegas include helping found the Christ Episcopal Church and in 1916 Stewart became the first woman elected to the Clark County School Board (nevadawomen.org).

  • Rafael Rivera Way

    Rafael Rivera Wy, Las Vegas, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Long before there was Siegfried & Roy or Jerry Tarkanian or anyone else on our list, there was Rafael Rivera. And without him, we don’t know how far along our famous city might be. Sure, someone would have eventually stumbled upon what is now the Las Vegas Valley. But Rivera did it first, when he discovered Las Vegas Springs in January of 1830 (lasvegasnevada.gov).

    And we can thank Rivera’s curious nature for it. He was part of a group traveling on the Spanish Trail. Which ran from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles, California. The trail didn’t originally go through the Las Vegas Valley until Rivera literally took a road less-traveled. He broke off from his exploration group and started looking around an unexplored area. That’s when he discovered Las Vegas Springs.

    After Rivera’s discovery, the spot was added to the Spanish Trail, which significantly shortened the travel time from the two major cities it connected (lasvegasnevada.gov).

  • Roy Horn Way

    Roy Horn Wy, Las Vegas, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Driving along the 215-Beltway around the Durango curve in Las Vegas, you’ll see a street to the immediate south that runs parallel. And you already know who the street is named after. You probably just don’t realize it because we never use his last name. Roy Horn is the Roy from Seigfried & Roy. The famous entertainers who delighted Las Vegas locals and tourists for years at the Mirage Resort on the Vegas Strip.

    Roy Horn Way was renamed that in 2008 (lasvegassun.com), about five years after the Seigfried & Roy show was canceled due to the infamous tiger attack. Both Roy and Siegfried were still alive at this time. But Roy is the only one who got a street named after him. Although, a road going from the Las Vegas Strip to the Mirage Casino was renamed Siegfried & Roy Drive after the resort’s reopening in 2020 (travelweekly.com).

  • Jerry Tarkanian Way

    S Jerry Tarkanian Way, Spring Valley, NV 89148

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Sports fans in Las Vegas are very familiar with this name. Jerry Tarkanian was a UNLV basketball coach who coached the UNLV Rebels from 1973 to 1992 (unlv.edu). During that time he took the team to four Final Fours and the brought home the trophy in the national NCAA championship in 1990. 

    Tarkanian made history in 2013 as the first UNLV coach or player to be inducted into the national Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also named Coach of the Year by the United Press International in 1983. Besides the road that is parallel to the 215-beltway on the westside of Las Vegas, Tarkanian’s name graces the Thomas & Mack Center basketball court. Which was lovingly referred to as The Shark Tank when Jerry “Tark The Shark” Tarkanian was the coach there (unlv.edu).

  • Brent Thurman Way

    Brent Thurman Way, Spring Valley, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    On the side opposite of Jerry Tarkanian Way at the 215 is Brent Thurman Way, named for a rodeo bull rider who competed in the 1994 National Finals Rodeo at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). Thurman suffered severe injuries when he fell off of the bull he was riding. He got stuck under the bull, who then stepped on his head enough to cause severe cranial damage and facial fractures.

    Thurman was put on life support in critical condition and died six days later, at the University Medical Center (UMC) at the age of 25 (oklahoman.com).

  • Bob Stupak Avenue

    W Bob Stupak Ave, Las Vegas, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Boy, does this guy deserve his own street in Las Vegas. If it weren’t for him, the STRAT wouldn’t exist as we know it today. And the journey that Bob Stupak had to take to get where he did was just as impressive as his 1,049 foot tall casino. Let’s just say he gambled a lot, and more than once had to go all in to get his dream realized.

    The land that the STRAT now sits on started as a dumping-looking former car lot. Not more than 1.5 acres to work with. And that wasn’t even the beginning of Stupak’s hurdles. His first attempt to build a casino there burned down. But that didn’t stop him. Stupak took all kinds of risks to rebuild, even after losing faith with a lot of investors. He pushed casino coupons, shifted the odds on his tables to get more people in the door, even ran for mayor in 1987 to get publicity.

    Many labeled Stupak reckless and risky. But he was also known for his determination. And because of it, the Vegas Strip was forever changed. That’s definitely worthy of a street sign. Get a more in-depth look at Stupak’s story and contribution to Las Vegas in this 1999 article from the Las Vegas Review Journal.

  • Bruce Woodbury Beltway

    Co Rd 215, Las Vegas, NV

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

    Sometimes we call it the 215-Beltway, but it’s other name is the Bruce Woodbury Beltway. Appropriately named for the man who was responsible for its existence. Bruce Woodbury is a former politician who served as Clark County commissioner for 28 years. During that time he made some very important changes to the southern Nevada landscape.

    The Boulder City Review details Woodbury’s contributions to the Las Vegas Valley. In the early 1990’s, he was a member of the Regional Transportation Commission as well as the chairman of the county commission. And he is the one who realized that our roadway system wasn’t nearly big enough to handle the Las Vegas population.

    Woodbury then proposed the Master Transportation Plan that was funded, campaigned for, and then voted on. The approval of the plan lead to the construction of the 215-Beltway. Woodbury was also behind some of our pedestrian walkways over the Strip, and he was behind the improvement of the flood plan in Las Vegas and he proposed the Clean Air Action Plan to improve Las Vegas’s air quality (bouldercityreview.com).

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