Any city in Nevada with a traditional downtown? (Las Vegas, Reno: closing, live)

[tvdxer]

Is there any city in Nevada with a "traditional" (pedestrian-oriented, non-tourist) downtown? Or do all the downtowns in Nevada consist of highway strips?

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is there any city in Nevada with a "traditional" (pedestrian-oriented, non-tourist) downtown? Or do all the downtowns in Nevada consist of highway strips?

1. No; 2. Not quite, but most are so small that's all they can afford.

There are really only 2 "cities" in Nevada, the Las Vegas metropolitan area, and the Reno metropolitan area, 440 miles apart by land, and 1,000,000 miles apart in everything else. Every other location you see on the Nevada map outside the two metro areas is either an isolated small town, or literally just a name on the map. Think Austrialian outback, but in the U.S.

Henderson, in the LV Metro area, but officially the 2nd largest city in the state, does sort of have a downtown that isn't full of tourists, but there are no tall buildings to leap.

Elko, Ely, and Boulder City have small downtowns, but they aren't very big, and you do find tourists walking around. If I was choosing a town other than Las Vegas or Reno, I'd choose Elko probably. But all the towns in Nevada that are not near Las Vegas or Reno are isolated.

[TAHOE GIRL]

Going to add Winnemucca to your list

[bigdave01]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is there any city in Nevada with a "traditional" (pedestrian-oriented, non-tourist) downtown? Or do all the downtowns in Nevada consist of highway strips?

There definitely are. Reno definitely has a downtown, its not perfect but its continuing to improve. And many small towns do as well, Elko, Yerington, Carson City, Minden, Winnemucca, Virginia City, Fallon, Tonopah, etc, etc.

I don't know if you're looking for a big-city type downtown or just a quaint small town with a main street but Nevada has both.

[.highnlite]

Ely

[dynimagelv]

Tonopah seems to have one, altho VERRRY small....

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Is there any city in Nevada with a "traditional" (pedestrian-oriented, non-tourist) downtown? Or do all the downtowns in Nevada consist of highway strips?

The O/P seems to be asking if we have any "traditional" downtowns that are not tourist attractions, but are the center of business for the locals without all the tourists (although I think all towns would like to have more tourists), and do not look like Pahrump or even Austin. I'd say it's one of those things that's in the eye of the beholder. What I consider a "traditional" downtown is the one I grew up in, and others like it, where people came from miles away to shop and do business. Most downtowns have been wiped out by shopping malls, which became the new town squares in the 60's and 70's. Now the mall builders are going back to designs that look like old fashioned town squares, but I doubt if we'll ever get back the "traditional" downtowns that we had before unless someone wises up and realizes that there is no reason why "downtown" couldn't be turned into a mall; ...almost like the Fremont Street Experience, but a little less flashy.


Pic of old downtown where I grew up for example. Malls nearly turned it into a ghost town. Glass factories closing finished the job: http://www.city-data.com/forum/nevad...s-main-st..jpg

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by dynimagelv

Tonopah seems to have one, altho VERRRY small....

Tonopah is one of the liveliest ghost towns in Nevada, but I picture it more like the highway strip the O/P suggested our towns are.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by TAHOE GIRL

Going to add Winnemucca to your list

Highway strip? Yo no se.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

The O/P seems to be asking if we have any "traditional" downtowns that are not tourist attractions, but are the center of business for the locals without all the tourists (although I think all towns would like to have more tourists), and do not look like Pahrump or even Austin. I'd say it's one of those things that's in the eye of the beholder. What I consider a "traditional" downtown is the one I grew up in, and others like it, where people came from miles away to shop and do business. Most downtowns have been wiped out by shopping malls, which became the new town squares in the 60's and 70's. Now the mall builders are going back to designs that look like old fashioned town squares, but I doubt if we'll ever get back the "traditional" downtowns that we had before unless someone wises up and realizes that there is no reason why "downtown" couldn't be turned into a mall; ...almost like the Fremont Street Experience, but a little less flashy.


Pic of old downtown where I grew up for example. Malls nearly turned it into a ghost town. Glass factories closing finished the job: http://www.city-data.com/forum/nevad...s-main-st..jpg

I actually had Pahrump in mind when I made this thread as the picture of an "anti-downtown". I wondered if all NV cities were like that.