A decade ago, a hospitality worker at a casino with a union job would have been able to buy a modest home here, Titus said.
That includes a worker like Samuel Delgado, a houseperson at the Bellagio. “I actually bought my house back in 2012,” he said.
I met Delgado as he was out canvassing for midterm election candidates backed by his union, Culinary Workers Local 226. The union helped him with the down payment he needed to purchase his five-bedroom home.
“I was very blessed to be a homeowner,” he said. “My boys have a place to call home, have a backyard. Just, it feels great.”
I asked him if he would have been able buy that same home today. “Absolutely not,” he responded. “I don't think at this time, with the market price, if everything skyrockets, it'll be quite impossible for me.”