Let's get specific about housing (Reno, Sparks: hardwood floors, apartments, rentals)

[ScrubJayPeanuts]

Ok, so we are in Portland, Oregon, where our rent for a very basic, no frills 2 bedroom apartment in a basic neighborhood that's becoming overrun by entitled-attitude homeless people, heroin addicts, and more, is going from $1000 a month to $1500 a month at the end of our lease (and going to keep going up with everyone else's, after that). Considering a move then to even the crappy neighborhoods means now paying $1200 a month to live with gangbangers, meth heads, and more (a friend who lives on one said the clerk at her neighborhood 7-11 sells illegal drugs over the counter there). And there's no apparent end in sight here to the growing rents, and (unless you are a very well-off person) the decreasing quality of life and standard of living.

So, when I read here about rents going up in Reno, I'm wondering - like it is in Portland, or not as bad? Everything is relative, of course, to what one's personal experience is. And it's hard to tell from here how bad a neighborhood is there (like from looking at Google Maps, Neighborhood Scout, etc). But we are learning a great deal from what's posted here by others.

Here are our own questions:

1. Here are 3 randomly picked rental house ads from Craigslist (I'm assuming I can't post the links, so here's the copy/paste info). Are these unrealistic to what we should expect there?

A.
"Cute one bedroom house with fenced-in yard. Near Victorian Square (Sparks). house
w/d hookups street parking, Cute little one bedroom one bathroom house with fenced-in yard.available Sept 1. No garage. Perfect for a single or couple. 680 Sq ft Great location. Walk to Victorian Square, Sparks. $850.00 per month and security deposit $1000.00"

B.
"Cozy home located in downtown Reno!!! 633 Sinclair St, Reno, NV 89501, $699/mo, Come make this studio home with a private yard yours today! Located near downtown Reno, the location offers so much. The kitchen is partially upgraded and has new appliances. The bathroom is also partially upgraded and has newer paint. Water, trash and sewer are also included in the rent! Home also includes washer and dryer for your convenience."


C.
"$1200 / 3br - 1800ft2 - 3 bedroom 1.5 bath 1800 sqf (803 Spokane St), house w/d hookups off-street parking, $3,400 to move in first and last and $1,000 deposit 1800 square feet Nice older brick home with easy access to freeway off-street parking with yard hardwood floors washer and dryer hookups forced air heating "

2. What's up with Fernley? Seems like easy pickins for a lot of rental house for not much money, so what's wrong with it? Other than the hour-drive to Reno (we are looking at a 1 to 2 hour drive to find what we can afford, if we stay in the Portland area), that is.

3. Homeless in Portland means that there are camps with filth (like garbage, but also excrement and other body-things), drugs (especially meth and heroin, with the needles/etc those come with), and crime (theft but also robbery/assaults) and fires getting out of control, all through the parks and wilderness areas, as well as along the sidewalks and road sides and medians. It means more and more aggressive panhandlers through the downtown areas (my spouse works downtown and can't even do her hour lunch hour without being hit up for money or drugs in the restaurant while she eats several times). And all this with a mayor and local government who have made it legal for all the above to keep happening. How does this compare to what's happening in Reno?

4. What do you anticipate happening to rents in Reno and area in the next five years? Expectations in Portland is that a 1 bedroom apartment in 5 years will cost around $1800 to $2000 a month, and that even the poor areas will require multiple wage earners to afford them. Basically the San-Franciscoization of Portland, where the less-well-off have to move further and further outside of the city, and commute longer and longer distances, to work for smaller and smaller wages.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

[cre8lite]

first off, stay away from downtown - you'll end up in exactly the situation you have now in portland

fernley is really only ~30 minute drive to reno, unless there is snow on the highway or an accident. fernley is in a different county than reno (lyon county vs washoe county), so you have different tax rates. it's basically a bedroom community to reno.

personally? i'd live in fernley over reno, but i prefer the small town feel to the hustle & bustle of a big city

Fernley, NV - Official Website
https://burnersxxx.files.wordpress.c...y_nv_full.jpeg

[nyctc7]

According to the latest "Best Of" in the Reno News & Review (one of those free alternative type papers) the top three neighborhoods are

1. Old Southwest Reno

2. Midtown District

3. Northwest Reno

See https://www.newsreview.com/reno/neig...t?oid=21621611

I live Downtown and can only recommend (for Downtown living, that is) the Riverwalk District. See here Home |*The Riverwalk District Reno and note that the area is smaller than the map suggests. We have several nice high rise condos so the owners are certainly interested in keeping it a nice, safe area. (Units are occasionally available as rentals on craigslist.) I think the Arlington is the best one. The Palladio is nice but may be too expensive. The Montage is nice. There is a brand new building called 3rd street flats getting set to open but it looks expensive. But maybe you'd rather be in a house, the area immediately to the west of Riverwalk is really nice (Riverside Dr.).

For other neighborhoods someone else will have to chime in. I'm not very familiar. As to rising rents, it's true. But with rising rents comes new development and a little more competition. We'll just have to wait and see.

[KnightStar05]

We live in South Reno (double diamond) where the rent is pretty pricey for a 1 bedroom (~$1200 - $1,500). We love this area but wouldn't pay that much if we weren't already homeowners. I know Sparks has pretty good housing for $950 (1bedroom).
Edit: rent is going up a lot (one of the highest in the nation) so many people are moving into rooms instead of apartments to save. We are renting a room to a friend who is a teacher! That's pretty bad that not even a teachers wage can afford a decent living on their own.

[2sleepy]

Why Reno, do you have jobs there?

[ScrubJayPeanuts]

We don't have jobs yet - Reno is one place in our "top 3" that we are considering, as we get ready to move out of Portland. We would enjoy the climate and the natural environment, it seems. And we'd be closer to things we like to do.

But we are leery of the rising rents, as mentioned, as we don't want to move just to get stuck in a similar situation as what's going on here in Portland. And we're also looking for a city-atmosphere that fits us better - somewhere less "progressive" and more moderate, politically (as we are probably just barely left of middle, and more libertarian, between my spouse and I).

The alternatives around Portland are pretty sad and bad. A long commute (1-3hrs) in 10mph traffic to get away from the incredible rent and housing increases. And that's to live in small communities where crime and drugs and homelessness are also rampant, by and large.

Portland is just not the city it was even 10 years ago. Quality of life and community has dropped so dramatically, and those responsible just want more of the same to "fix" it.

We totally understand nowhere is perfect, and we aren't looking for perfect. We're just looking for a new city where there are middle income jobs to be had for those who work them, and basic, safe housing for a price that doesn't demand 50% or more of one's income. And fast internet That's about all we require.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by ScrubJayPeanuts

We don't have jobs yet ... We're just looking for a new city where there are middle income jobs to be had for those who work them, and basic, safe housing for a price that doesn't demand 50% or more of one's income. And fast internet That's about all we require.

Please, do NOT move to Reno unless you get a job first! You would do better to move to Sacramento than Reno unless you have specialized skills that are in high demand I'm not kidding or exaggerating I lived there for 14 years and watched my son struggle for two years to find a job that paid more than 25k a year after he graduated from UNR, he finally gave up and moved to Northern California and immediately got a job for more than twice that.

We only moved there because my husband had a great job offer as an IT manager that he couldn't afford to turn down. If not for that I'm sure he would never have found a decent job in Reno despite having great credentials and experience.

[Hotfeet]

ScrubJayPeanuts, I agree that it's best not to move until a job is in hand....and move anywhere, for that matter. However, please take the comments from the poster above with a grain of salt. If you have read many of the other threads in this forum, you will see that she had a bad experience while living in Reno, has since moved to Sac and hasn't lived here for at least a couple of years, but still comes back to this forum often to criticize Reno every chance she gets. Why, I have no clue....for myself, I don't see any joy in perpetuating negative feelings that I've had about other places I've lived.

There are plenty of us that love Reno and are glad we made the decision to move here. The climate, the low cost of living, the vast range of outdoor activities, the friendly people, the lack of traffic congestion (for the most part), the lack of a nanny state, etc etc are all reasons why we don't regret our decision. Sure, it's not a good place for everyone, but in reality no place is. In my opinion, Reno is on an upswing. Quite a few companies have decided to relocate here in the past few months, so I don't think I'm alone in my opinion.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Hotfeet

ScrubJayPeanuts, I agree that it's best not to move until a job is in hand....and move anywhere, for that matter. However, please take the comments from the poster above with a grain of salt. If you have read many of the other threads in this forum, you will see that she had a bad experience while living in Reno, has since moved to Sac and hasn't lived here for at least a couple of years, but still comes back to this forum often to criticize Reno every chance she gets. Why, I have no clue....for myself, I don't see any joy in perpetuating negative feelings that I've had about other places I've lived.

All I said is if you think about moving to Reno make sure you get a job first. If all you need is a job that pays $9 an hour then go for it pack up and rent the u-haul, but good paying middle class jobs are NOT easy to find anywhere in Northern Nevada and even though you love Reno you should be honest enough to admit that.

[DianeV]

I think that would be true of just about any city. Just check some of the other forums.