One report puts the population of Silver Peak at around a 100 or so, with industry being tied to mining(mainly Lithium now), military testing, and long haul trucking. So it's easy to see why there was little going on.
Alkali Springs never had a huge population, it was a Hot Spring and vacation area meant to serve the miners and citizens of the surrounding towns.
The heyday of the towns in that video seems to be 1900 - 1910, they were all but played out by the end of WWI.