Intuit, the maker of the popular tax software “Turbo Tax”, released a list of the “Top Ten Tax Procrastinating Cities in America” which shows Las Vegas ranks 8th. We were number 11 last year.So who makes the most last minute trips to the post office on April 15th? Chicago.

While the January report looked like an indication that tourism traffic may be softening, the February numbers at McCarran airport helped ease fears that Las Vegas blew that fear out of the water. Passenger traffic in MCarran rose 3.2 percent from February 2007 to February of this year, with over 3.5 million people arriving and departing Las Vegas. The February surge put the city back on track for passenger growth for the year, albeit a small 0.2 percent increase for the year to date. All eyes will be on the March numbers to see of the growth can continue.Read the entire report: McCarrans’ February Passenger Report (pdf)

This, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report. The growth measure was based on the actual number of people moving into metro areas, not on percentage terms - by that count, Las Vegas did not crack the top ten. The report says that the Las Vegas Metro’s population increased by 59,165 people from July 2006 to July 2007. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro added the most people, growing by 162,250 people.You can find the complete report here: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011671.html 

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Monday that home sales increased by nearly 12 percent in February, marking a two-month streak in sales growth.But dig deeper, and you’ll find what is likely driving the sales growth: continued fire sale prices. The medium home price fell again in February, albeit slightly (1.4 percent), driven by a large number of short-sales and banks frantically dropping prices on foreclosed homes. (more…)

Nevada’s employment rate stood 0.6 percent higher than the national average and a full point higher than January of 2007. The numbers, which were released in the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s monthly employment report, showed that areas outside of Las Vegas were particularly hard hit. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks area shot up to 6.6 percent, and to 7.5 percent in Carson City.

As expected, the construction sector took another beating, losing 4,600 jobs, falling behind retail, which lost 4,700 jobs after the holiday shopping season. Government jobs were hardest hit, with 5,700 fewer state workers in January.

It seems that the Strip, while not completely immune, is doing its best to weather the current economic downturn, according the a report released today by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.  Impacting the numbers was a decrease in the number of rooms available to fill, due in part to the closing of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. Overall, Las Vegas January visitor volume fell by 0.6-percent. This modest decrease came despite the fact that convention attendance was down over 100,000 people, or -13.1 percent.

Gaming revenue on the strip was down by about $8 million, and was down 4.1-percent for Clark County as a whole. The county-wide visitor numbers were dragged down by softness in Boulder City, Laughlin and Mesquite. However, there was one bright spot for casino operators in Mesquite, as although visitor volume wasd down 5.4 percent, those who did make the trip appeared to spend more per-capita. The city’s gross gaming revenue rose 25.9-percent to just over $13 million.

When it comes to walking in Nevada, Reno ranks right at the top for Best Walking City and North Las Vegas ranks at the bottom.

The rankings were done by Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

The cities ranked in the following order — Reno, Paradise, Sparks, Las Vegas, Spring Valley, Carson, Sunrise Manor, Henderson, Enterprise and North Las Vegas.

By the way, the best city for walking in the United States is Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tell us where you like to walk.