Neighborhood Epicurean

Poor Commercial Center. It just doesn’t get the right kind of love or respect sometimes. For every shattered beer bottle, discarded razor wire and off-kilter philosopher living out of a shopping cart on the premise, there are winning attributes to counter it all. For one, how about giving it props for sticking around for nearly half-century in a city where commercial longevity is considered a strange bedfellow? Or how about enjoying the bristling, ornate diversity of its offerings south and west of East Sahara Avenue and South Maryland Parkway? Fetish clothing, avant-garde theater space, wigs, billiards, Asian food markets, gay bars and a notorious sex club (if you don’t know about the Green Door, welcome to Vegas; you’re obviously a newbie). Man, dumpster-diving must be a blast here.

The outsized Foothills Plaza is strategically placed at the confluence of Stephanie Street and Horizon Ridge Parkway (1450 W. Horizon Ridge) in Henderson, adjacent to the upscale development MacDonald Highlands, and is home to a rich diversity of dining options.

When I was 10 years old, my family headed south to Arizona for the holidays. The highlight was our walk around Scottsdale’s outdoor mall. I was shocked that such a place could exist: trees and grassy quads and stores and restaurants strewn about like islands. “I hope we get something like this in Las Vegas,” I said.

Twenty years passed before we got The District at Green Valley Ranch in 2004.

Yes, there is life along that slight stretch of Sahara Avenue just past Palace Station, so stop with the eye-rolling. If you’ve bothered to study beyond the low-rent, mason-bricked apartments, fetish shops and the interesting fashions of those hanging out at the bus shelters, you could be in for a lively time. Beyond the odd bar and coach deli in a parking lot, there’s an undercurrent of odd personality that surrounds the perks in this neighborhood.