"The housing in the surrounding areas looked sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring, everything was beige/sand/brown tones. "
Much of the housing in the area around the strip is low income. If you want to see the mansions and upper crust areas you have to travel a bit north and south. Unless a place is landscaped with sod and imported palms the natural state of the place IS a desert. Scrub greens, browns, sand and cacti are what is indiginous - and can be quite beautiful, especially at sunrise and sunset.
Vegas exapanded like no other city has in the decade prior to the 2008 economic collapse. The city grew and built homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure as far north as the testing site (the site is still a good distance away but the housing is pretty darn close).
My friends have been living there since the mid 90's. They bought their first home there with 1% down. He started his "career" there delivering bagels and within 10 years he became a VP of a huge AV company there.
The harder they come, the harder they fall. My friends, thank god are doing OK but Vegas also leads the country in the most foreclosures post-2008.