Reno: One year view from a CA transplant (Las Vegas, Carson City: apartment complex, lease)

[free]

I have to agree with everyone: The initial post was probably one of the best descriptions of an area for potential movers I have ever read on here.

As a European who has been looking for the nicest place in California for many months now , I have just recently turned my eye on the Nevada side of the Sierra Mountains and just loved this post as a wonderful introduction!

Personally, I can't stand deserts at all, just don't share the aesthetics of this type of landscape . So I want to stay as close to the Sierras as possible and as an IT guy I assume (probably rightly so) that Reno is my best option for job opportunities, and all I need after that is the greatness of the outdoors, the close proximity to Lake Tahoe to satisfy my need for having an ocean around... and enough money in my pocket at the end of the month to enjoy it all.

It appears Reno could offer that, and I will now look more closely into the different neighbourhoods and suburbs, focusing on safety, good schools and rentals (no need to buy really).

So yea. Thanks for this!

[FlyDrive100b]

Originally Posted by nea_prez

After recently passing my one year anniversary as a new Reno resident, I thought it might be time to add my voice to the forum. This will be a big post and I will check back in to see if anyone has questions on topics that I didn't address.

Background: I grew up on the edge of the Mojave in SoCal, moved to West Los Angeles for almost ten years, met my future wife and most recently spent eight years in downtown San Francisco. I'm a software developer with zero unsecured debt, a moderately healthy savings, and a coherent long term plan for retirement. My wife is a professional. We lean politically conservative, but aren't psychos about it. We can get along and be agreeable with all kinds of decent people. We don't miss a single thing from San Francisco and were eager to move. My wife was never a native Californian and had no irrational emotional attachment to the state as I've noticed in many CA natives -- I even once had this mindset. After about two years of searching for the best job possible that the Reno IT sector had to offer, I finally jumped.

The State: I enjoy the provincial feel of Nevada. The NV state legislature recesses for a lengthy part of the year unlike in Sacramento where the state house stays in session all year long inventing new ways to insult the apathetic citizenry and shake them down to fund their latest social engineering insanities and political junkets. In contrast, I like how the NV legislature concerns itself more with issues that fit more along the lines of what a typical CA county board of supervisors would debate. Yes, I know that the governor is a bit of a goofball, but he's done nothing so far that gets on my outrage radar screen.

Really, perhaps its because you have low standards or biased standards.

If you have a modern economy job, there are essentially two locales in the state to choose from: Las Vegas and Reno. Moving to LV was out of the question for us; Too hot, dangerous, and dry. It'll suffer the same fate as Phoenix AZ soon enough. Reno was the obvious choice -- the only one that remained, to be more precise.

How's reno doing now? What bias, washoe county ain't doing well economically.


The City: We chose South Reno down into South Meadows though we considered Coughlin Ranch and the SouthWest. We finally built a home on Veteran's Parkway with an unobstructed view of Mount Rose/Slide Peak. I originally wanted to live up in Virginia Highlands like Little Joe and Hoss from 'Bonanza', but my wife nixed that idea in favor of the creature comforts of South Meadows. My wife enjoys the mini California accommodations and the natural beauty of the scenery there. The greasy downtown area doesn't concern us as we never have cause to go north of Claim Jumper on S. Virginia Blvd. Yes, we live in a 'McMansion' in a cookie-cutter community. Fine by me. After all, once you're inside your modern pine and plywood box finished with chalk paper, styrofoam, and glue, does anything else really matter aside from your loving spouse and air conditioning?

Ignorance, Pay lots of money for a cheap , overinflated, low quality home, can't wait till things start going wrong with the house.

If I wanted a charming country manor house with charisma and history with natural streams across the property facing a secluded forest glen, I'd have moved to rural Connecticut. Too bad that my skill set requires that I work at a real job (Real job?, your lucky if you have one in Reno) and I don't instead author torrid summer romance novels and decorate my house with phony nautical junk (the same person that bought a cookie cutter home, talk about sub-standard new construction junk). What, do you think I'm Sen. John Kerry over here or something? Let's continue.

The Amenities: Most of modern America consumes the same plasticky chain store geedunk that you can find all across the nation: Bed, Bath & Beyond, Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, McSatan, Costco, your local supermarket's offerings, Olive Garden, and mattress stores where everything's on sale 365 days a year So does Reno, but wait aren't these stores common in places with cookie-cutter homes and suburban homes. Reno has all these big box basics covered that you can find everywhere in America. For the eclectic hipsters, there's a decent assortment of individually-owned businesses that cater to readers, music lovers, outdoorsy folk, gourmets, and the counter-culture So do many cities, but reno isn't known for that in particular. Like anywhere else, you must seek them out and support the ones you like best if you want to see them stay. Reno has a nice offering of places like these and I hope that it grows. I like culture and will invent my own if I'm not already finding what I want. No, there's not Honolulu-quality sushi here, but Sushi Moto does a convincing job at Los Angeles quality. Yes, that's right, I just admitted to loving sushi.

The People: I've met so many Reno residents who've come from somewhere else: Texas, Alaska, Oregon, the New England states, Southerners, and various foreign lands. More keep coming in every day. You only need to drive around South Meadows to notice the out of state license plates on cars that will soon be hosting NV plates. The stories these transplants tell sound very much like our own: "We hated Fort Worth/New Jersey/Florida/Lexington/Memphis/etc and loved the mountains here. The people are so nice compared to where we're from. We couldn't afford so much as a shoebox in a high crime area to live in where we came from for the price we just paid for the 3100 square foot two story we just bought in Double Diamond/Spanish Springs. We want to start a family, but that was impossible where we were being taxed to death and couldn't save a dime...". My hope is that the influx of young neo-yuppies to Reno eventually produces some culture, increased wage standards, and all the things that go along with those demographics such as improved scholastic results, expansion of arts and science, superior medical care, and an agreeable revenue stream for local government.

Not anymore


The Mindset: Anyone settling on Northern Nevada to call home has to either adopt or already be in tune with a classic libertarian mindset. Happily, this seems to be proving true with the people I've spoken with as I'd mentioned above. There is a concern that the influx of new residents might want to adopt the failed ideas of the places they've fled from and simply turn Reno into a smaller grittier version of the same. On the contrary, I've detected a resistance to that in most everyone I've met in that they're content to let Nevada be Nevada and we'll all adopt new ways of thinking. However, if I can put it in a nutshell I've been getting this feel for Reno as if it is a step back in time to Southern California of the early 1970s mixed with a dose of central Colorado only heading in a good direction rather than bad. I hope that this trend continues and matures over the long run, and that the long time natural residents of the Reno/Sparks area aren't entirely resentful of this change. I share their feelings about letting Nevada turn into another broken down California hellhole. We must fight to keep the good things that are particular to this state while addressing the issues that need real attention.

The Weather: I had never lived in a place where it snowed in winter without driving long distance to see it fall, and I thought the 2008 winter Sierra storms were really exciting. The scenery of the Sierra range is breathtaking when snow-capped. Even on the coldest day in winter, the temperature only barely broke down into zero degrees Fahrenheit. The Sierra range's snow-melt in Spring with the wildflowers springing up in the grassy fields in the foothills reminded us of the opening scene in 'The Sound Of Music'. The Geiger Grade drive from Virginia City looking out at the snow-capped Mt Rose/Tahoe peak is just like driving through Switzerland... minus the presence of 15th Century church steeples. In Summer, it may break 100 degrees for a few days which is nothing compared to the long months of 100+ misery where I grew up out on the last green strip of land facing the Mojave Desert in SoCal. Otherwise, the weather is just fine and a welcome change from the salty fog-laden sea air of San Francisco that always kept me soggy, chilly, mildewy, and morose like an inhabitant of Northern Sweden.

The Pros: Lots of home for the money, no state income taxes, decent people, comparatively low crime rate (depending on where you're from), great medical care, a healthy economy and outlook, astonishing scenery, and one of the most fantastic outdoor adventure spots you can find in the continental United States. If you can afford Tahoe and survive their winters, live there.

The Cons: When you mention 'Reno' to anyone who's ever been here, they immediately think of the greasy downtown casino area. Yes, it's still there. Deal with it.

That's what its kn owned for, I wonder why?

Schools are ranked 49th in the nation, but there's an abstract formula used to calculate it. After all, Massachusetts is one of the highest ranked and I can show you schools in Boston that you wouldn't even want to drive past in an armored personnel carrier at a high rate of speed.

While its true education statistics can be misleading, why do you to stoop to cherry picking a few inner city schools in a city to judge the entire statewide school system, talk about bias and a spokesperson.

I can guarantee you they're not outperforming Reno kids there either. As always, parental involvement is key(Agree). Jobs and the job market may be uninspiring for those without degrees, specialized skills, technical expertise, or equal experience. If you do have any of these things, you'll be better than just OK here. Things move slower in Reno, so you'll need patience to get what you want most. (Agree, but that's why you can't depend on it all the time)

For the Best Match: If you're into hiking, camping, boating, biking, 4x4s, motorcycles, classic cars, golf, families, walking, nature, and love the high desert, you'll fit in here just swell. If you like eating beef, welcome to Meatville. If you're a stone cold gun nut to the point of fringe kookery who thinks handguns with silencers ought to be sold out of vending machines, this is heaven on Earth for you.



If you're a slightly butchy tomboy lesbian who wears spiky hair under a golf visor and would look comfortable in a Volvo wagon with your girlfriend and your two Akita dogs in the back slobbering and fogging up the rear window with their breath, you'll also fit into Reno just swell.

Those who might not like it here: Druggies that don't want to spend ten months in Washoe County Correctional Facility for having any detectable amount of methamphetamine or other illicit Schedule 1 drugs in their possession. Reno is definitely not the town to be a career criminal specializing in property crimes (Wasn't the mafia best at that in the 1980s for a while and had to depend on the FBI).

Staunch ideologically committed political liberals with a penchant for social issues will likely be miserable as hell here (prostitution legalized in the state although not in washoe due to tourists and gambling image) and should probably move to where their efforts are most appreciated because life is too short to be wallowing in self-pity. Average old moderate Democrats will be perfectly fine, however, and may even like it best. Ultra nutjob religious zealots who preach hellfire and brimstone and protest the funerals of fallen soldiers and murdered coeds will be lucky to escape town without a savage beatdown and should never come to this town unless they need a bat broken over their heads. Busybodies of any kind generally don't belong anywhere in Nevada period(Yes they do, that's what attention nevada gets conventions and celebrities stopping by on occassion). If you can't keep your stupid opinions to yourself, keep your mouth shut until you're safely back in California. (Too late for that)

Lastly, itinerant undocumented aliens who like to loiter in front of Home Depot looking for day labor work need to keep trucking West on I-80 unless they want a free ride out of the USA on a green-windowed bus with a box lunch on their lap. Oh wait, you do have documents? You're good to go then.

(We don't need them, lest stop working on the homes so that they foreclose, better hope the shattered wood, and boarded up homes don't look bad next to your home, wait here's garbage thrown there)

The Bottom Line: We really like it here and my wife even adores the place. Only once when I was a bit down with other events in my life did I ever question if settling here was a good idea. One quick look at the news from California and what we'd left behind slapped some sense back into me and caused me to straighten up and get back with the program. For the first time, I feel like the pressure is off and I am finally getting somewhere without a lot of extraneous clutter taking up my time and attention. I have never been more productive in my professional life and have an emerging sense of clarity returning to me for the first time in a long while. I look at California like it's East Germany now. I've gone back once for a wedding and that's it.

Really, nevada is looking like Easter Germany. Oh come up you don't say Nevada can't be as bad as cali.

I've read many posts here warning off those who had questions about settling in the Reno area. I don't deny that many here may have lived here and loathed it, but I suspect that the reasons for why they felt that way weren't being forthrightly explained.

Some books you can judge by the cover (Correction, some books you can't judge by the cover) and if you were to have a firsthand look at the lives of the most critical posters here, you might come away with a different opinion than the one they want you to have. As is always good advice: Internet post; grain of salt.

A heap of salt that is.

[dano]

Originally Posted by azranchland

I like the first post, but there's one thing drastically wrong with this picture (and the state). His name is Harry Reid. One of the most partisan Democrats in Congress supposedly represents a libertarian state. How'd that happen??

I liked the post as well. I grew up on northern nevada but now pursue a carreer in Las Vegas. Regarding Harry Reid it is a little known fact that he was originally elected by good old Vegas mob politics back in the '70s when his mob handle was "clean face". Was a lap dog lackee for the mafia for many years until they faded away. Now he survives by redistricting, bullying and playing for Mormon card when it suits him. It is time to show Harry the perverbial door next November.

[Clarks]

Reid, yep, a real mob sycophant;

Reid then served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981, a post that subjected him to death threats. Jack Gordon also tried to bribe Reid. Reid allowed the FBI to tape Gordon's attempt to bribe him with $12,000. Reid lost his temper and attempted to choke Gordon, "You son of a *****, you tried to bribe me!", and was pulled off by FBI agents. Gordon was convicted in federal court in 1979 and sentence to six months in prison.[3] In 1981, Reid's wife once found a bomb attached to one of their cars, a bomb Reid suspects was placed by Gordon.[3]

[Zipcode933]

Thank you for an intelligent and helpful post. We are retired in California and are looking for a place to relocate. Our children will probably move with us, so the lack of employment for them is a big negative.

Again, thanks for sharing your views.

[jwaters943]

Originally Posted by Gohomecalifornia

Go home californians!!!!! From a nevada native

Well, this 3rd generation Nevadan (2nd generation native) thinks you should stuff it! I'm tired of you and your ilk. Before the Californians arrived, this place was a dump!

[dazy12]

Love this post. Very well done! A lot of the tiny-voiced questions I had about our move out to Reno in the next few months are now squashed. Thank you for making me feel better lol.

[Salmanal]

This was the best post, by far, I've read on Reno. Some posts were almost a warning to avoid Reno. I like the positives, no city can be that bad for everyone. I've seen most of the country and seek out the positives in each place I visited. We're all individuals and will have different likes. I currently live in Upstate New York, what pushes me out? The culture here is as Bass Ackwards as is Philadelphia, where I graduated. With your positive notes added, I feel better with Reno as a choice.

Thank you sooo much nea_prez,

-s

[Zod]

Originally Posted by Salmanal

I currently live in Upstate New York, what pushes me out? The culture here is as Bass Ackwards as is Philadelphia, where I graduated. With your positive notes added, I feel better with Reno as a choice.

Reno is a trailer park with giant homes instead of trailers. Imagine a town built around a truck stop with a bunch of dead, dried up weeds and rocks for scenery and People of Wal-Mart type inhabitants. That's Reno. It used to be the last place on Earth I'd choose to live, but if you say upstate New York and Philly are worse, then perhaps Reno is now the third to last place. Good luck.

[18Montclair]

Excellent first post. +1

I love Reno and would like to actually live in the area some day.