Tunnels beneath Vegas a refuge for homeless people

APresized

 

 

 

 

 

January 4, 2010

OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer interviews Huntington Press author Matt O’Brien, whose Beneath the Neon title continues to garner national and international media attention.

LAS VEGAS — Underneath its glitzy casinos, far from the bright marquees, there is another Las Vegas, a pitch-black, dank underworld virtually unknown and unseen by those who live, work and play above…

Matthew O’Brien, a writer who began exploring the tunnels in 2002 and wrote a book about them published in 2007, said people live in the tunnels for a wide range of reasons, including to get out of the desert summer heat that easily passes 100 degrees.

O’Brien said the vast majority are addicted to either drugs, alcohol, gambling or some combination of the vices.

“In these tunnels, no one bothers you, no one harasses you — there’s a permanence,” he said. “When you leave and come back, you know your home’s going to be there in the tunnel.” Matthew O’Brien, a writer who began exploring the tunnels in 2002 and wrote a book about them published in 2007, said people live in the tunnels for a wide range of reasons, including to get out of the desert summer heat that easily passes 100 degrees.

To read the full article, which to date has been reproduced in the LA Times, Star Tribune, Las Vegas Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, Fox5Vegas.com, and numerous other media outlets, click here.

This entry was posted in Print/Online and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.