Different cities come for different reasons. Some are trying to renovate their downtowns, others are seeing a housing boom that needs accompanying services, while others want to help a property owner redevelop an aging mall.

The city of Ontario, CA, has had a booth at the convention for six years to promote various projects as it has grown. From 1990 to 2000, population has jumped by close to 20%. "We were in a very fast growth period," Mary Jane Olhasso, Ontario's economic development director, tells GSR. "We have [the booth] to get in front of the developers, tenants and brokers. We had to be in Las Vegas, period."

Officials of the city's 170,000 residents expect more people to enter their borders. Over the next 20 years they expect between 100,000 and 200,000 more to come. "We're going to be at ICSC for a long time," Olhasso says.