Proposed Filipino Town Cultural District gains traction in Las Vegas
Rozita Lee/CONTRIBUTED
LAS VEGAS – In recognition of the 250,000-strong Filipino American community’s significant contributions to Nevada’s economic and cultural landscape, Las Vegas city officials are moving forward with plans to establish a Filipino Town Cultural District. Clark County officials are scheduled to vote on the proposed Filipino Town on April 15, 2025.
The initiative, which has received overwhelming support from local residents, businesses and city officials, aims to create a vibrant and unified district that reflects and preserves Filipino culture and heritage through art, cuisine and community events.
Spearheaded in 2024 by 90-year-old community leader and civil rights advocate Rozita Villanueva Lee, the proposed district is located in the heart of Las Vegas, along a 1.2-mile corridor on Maryland Parkway between Flamingo and Desert Inn.
It is a thriving area frequented by Filipinos who patronize Filipino-owned businesses that include the iconic grocery chain Seafood City, world-renowned fast food restaurant Jollibee, Red Ribbon bakery and Chowking.
The Boulevard Mall, which houses a concentration of numerous other Filipino establishments, is a regular gathering place for locals and a popular tourist destination for visiting Filipinos.
The April 15th vote is the final vote for approval by the Clark County Commission after the Paradise Town Advisory Board unanimously approved the initiative in February 2025.
If approved by the Clark County Commission, the Filipino Town Cultural District could become a key landmark in the city and would join other government-recognized Filipino neighborhoods nationwide: the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Heritage District in San Francisco and Historic Filipino Town in Los Angeles.
An official designation as Las Vegas’ Filipino Town Cultural District could potentially attract more businesses, jobs, customers and tourists to the area, thereby strengthening the local economy and ensuring the district’s long-term sustainability.
In her address to the Paradise Town Advisory Board, Lee assured its members that the creation of a Filipino Town in the area will further boost local business.
“Businesses will grow and flourish,” Lee declared to the board and community members who packed the hall where the proposal was approved. “And we hope to have more businesses come in and this will be a flourishing town.”
Lee is a distinguished Filipino American community leader in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a legacy of public service and advocacy spanning several decades.
She has held various leadership roles, including serving on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, where she influenced the appointments of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) judges at federal, district and state levels.
Lee has been actively involved with organizations such as the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), the Asian Community Resource Center and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.
As a key proponent of the project to establish the Filipino Town Cultural District in Las Vegas, Lee’s vision includes the establishment of cultural institutions such as a museum of Filipino history, a library of Filipino literature and a Filipino language school.
