# The people who live underneath Sin City, Las Vegas



## editor (Jan 15, 2010)

Here's an incredible set of photos showing the people who live below the casinos of Las Vegas in the 200 miles of tunnels running underneath Sin City.



> Dank, dark and cobwebbed the over 200 miles of labyrinthine tunnels running underneath Sin City may be, but they are home to an underground community, scattered in pockets, that may easily number hundreds of individuals. The dwellings these people have made for themselves can be as basic as a few blankets or as elaborate as living spaces complete with double beds and kitchen areas.
> 
> Possessing little of their own, the tunnel people of Las Vegas yet display a remarkable ingenuity in making do with what they’ve got – and what they can find – with resourcefully fashioned furnishings, shelving and damp-resistant crates piled with belongings; and in the case of lovers Steven and Kathryn even a makeshift shower made from an office drinking water dispenser.
> 
> While offering a guided tour of his home to The Sun, Steven Dommermuth – who moved into the tunnels after he lost his hotel front-desk job because of a heroin problem – explains: “We use our imagination a lot. Our bed came from a skip outside an apartment complex. It’s mainly stuff people dump that we pick up. One man’s junk is another man’s gold.”








http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/sin-city-underground-tunnels/18773


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## Stanley Edwards (Jan 15, 2010)

FFS! I had no idea. I want to go NOW!


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## krtek a houby (Jan 15, 2010)

What, to live there? 

I can certainly see the attraction in all these hidden cities across the world in a curiosity sense but also, these are other people's homes... I'd wait to be invited first


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## Badgers (Jan 15, 2010)

Stanley Edwards said:


> FFS! I had no idea. I want to go NOW!



There goes the neighbourhood  

Great link though


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## Stanley Edwards (Jan 15, 2010)

jer said:


> What, to live there?
> 
> I can certainly see the attraction in all these hidden cities across the world in a curiosity sense but also, these are other people's homes... I'd wait to be invited first



The whole subject of 'ghost cities' and the ever expanding unofficial urban population is fascinating. I was woken this morning by Policia Nacional  Another safe, warm, dry, FREE bed gone. I had no idea that Vegas had such an established 'ghost city'.  as fuck!

Yes - they're peoples homes, but why wouldn't they be any more open to visitors than anyone else? Seriously, of all the unofficial places I've visited the people living there are more willing to invite you in than in normal surburbia. They generally rely on strong community values. They have no police to call if needed!


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## zenie (Jan 15, 2010)

Badgers said:


> There goes the neighbourhood
> 
> Great link though


 
Innit! Watch out Vegas! 

Sad, but awesome at the same time


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## HarryinOz (Jan 18, 2010)

I watched a doco. on the people who lived under New York...about 3-3 1/2 thousand of them! many in old subways and the tunnels that run under them...wonder if it's like futurama?

Thing is though, in the richest nation on earth so many homless....and that was just the number who had a bed.

BTW. they used to get in by these gates in the parks (central park I'd imagine, but these gates were well hidden and kept that way.


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## Detroit City (Jan 18, 2010)

i didn't know there were tunnels under vegas


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## 8ball (Jan 18, 2010)

Fuck me - makes me think of Futurama!


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## little_legs (Jan 18, 2010)

A couple of months ago, I heard on Radio 4's Americana program US author Matthew O'Brien discussing his book 'Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas'. I got the impression that life in the tunnels was less romantic than one would hope ...


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## Bernie Gunther (Jan 18, 2010)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris


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## little_legs (Jan 18, 2010)

Bernie Gunther said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris



Oh yes... these were covered extensively by Victor Hugo. I think Gavroche lived in one for some time.


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## Bernie Gunther (Jan 18, 2010)

My mate Andy lived in the 13th Arondisment (or however you spell it) and there was a way in near his flat. Wonderful place.


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## little_legs (Jan 18, 2010)

Bernie Gunther said:


> My mate Andy lived in the 13th Arondisment (or however you spell it) and there was a way in near his flat. Wonderful place.



that would scare the bejeebers out of me... something tells that andy's landlord refrained from advertising the proximity of the said catacombe to the flat.


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## Stanley Edwards (Jan 18, 2010)

little_legs said:


> ...I got the impression that life in the tunnels was less romantic than one would hope ...



People die in 'the system' also. Most people living outside of the system do so because they have somehow fallen through the state safety net, or been forgotten purposely. Many have issues - life threatening issues to themselves and others. Death rates among homeless on the streets and below the streets are always going to be much, much higher.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 19, 2010)

Detroit City said:


> i didn't know there were tunnels under vegas



There's tunnels under a lot of cities in the US.  

Kansas City has such extensive tunnels that there's restaurants and roads to serve the people who work there.  It's used for records storage by a lot of major corporations.  






The town I live in has tunnels that run under most of the north-western part of the city, but they're all locked down.  I have a key to one entry and you could hide bodies down there and no one would ever find them.


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## 8ball (Jan 19, 2010)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> The town I live in has tunnels that run under most of the north-western part of the city, but they're all locked down.  I have a key to one entry and you could hide bodies down there and no one would ever find them.



All that open space too - you people are spoiled for choice when it comes to body disposal!!


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## twistedAM (Jan 19, 2010)

8ball said:


> All that open space too - you people are spoiled for choice when it comes to body disposal!!


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## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 19, 2010)

twistedAM said:


>



LOL!  He wasn't very particular about cleaning up after himself.  He just left them lying about.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 19, 2010)

8ball said:


> All that open space too - you people are spoiled for choice when it comes to body disposal!!



We probaby own more woodchippers than average too.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Jan 19, 2010)

An incomplete list of underground cities in the US:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_there_underground_cities_in_the_US


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## sheothebudworths (Jan 19, 2010)

HarryinOz said:


> I watched a doco. on the people who lived under New York...about 3-3 1/2 thousand of them! many in old subways and the tunnels that run under them...



That's Dark Days - well worth seeing, it's a great doco...but there's also this earlier short one, which won a few awards....


Some of the people feature in both films (they were made a good few years apart I believe, but many of them have been residents of the tunnels for a good few years more than that!)


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## phildwyer (Jan 19, 2010)

I suppose that's where you go after losing the house at roulette.


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