Las Vegas-raised councilman wants to give back to Historic Westside

KLAS Las Vegas
by Mary Jane Belleza, Stephanie Overton

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Councilman Cedric Crear made his roots in the Historic Westside. His father John Crear was the second black doctor in Nevada and the councilman is proud to honor his family and hometown.

“I actually live in the house that I grew up in, which is in the Historic Westside,” said Crear. “So it’s very personal to me for the development of our ward.”

For decades, there was a lack of growth in the Historic Westside. Crear made it his mission when he entered office in 2018 to revamp the area by executing the Hundred Plan. This helped establish a sense of community while renewing the local economy.

“We’ve got a number of things happening, like our urban farm where we’re growing our own leafy greens and we’re giving it back out to the community because our community is in a food insecurity zone,” said Crear.

Crear not only wanted to give back to his ward but also pay tribute to the Historic Westside.

“If you look at the Historic Westside where black people can only live, you can come work downtown or work on the Strip but you could not participate in the restaurants, the shows, you couldn’t buy a home outside of there for red lining reasons,” explained Crear.

“So knowing that history and knowing what was there and also being part of that history, you see that and what it was and you also start playing into what it can be so we’re in the business of a can do business and making things happen.”

With several projects in the works, Crear wants people to know this is just the start of creating a legacy for current and future residents.

“The future is so bright. I think over the next five to 10, 15 years there’s going to be so much advancement taking place in the Historic West Side,” said Crear.