Squatters see new haven in Las Vegas

Las Vegas

ON a drive through this desert city, the blight from the housing collapse of eight years ago can be seen on almost every block: Overgrown yards and boarded-up windows identify the foreclosed and abandoned homes that still pockmark southern Nevada.

But not all of the dwellings are empty. Squatters have descended on every corner of the Las Vegas Valley, taking over empty houses in struggling working-class neighbourhoods, in upscale planned communities like Summerlin, and everywhere in between. And they often bring a trail of crime with them.