How is life in Damonte Ranch? (Reno: extended stay, salons, apartments)

[Mavericks]

We are a family with young kids looking into moving to South Reno and are particularly interested in Damonte Ranch. We know there is an excellent elementary school, but like to know a lot more. How are the people? Are the neighborhoods safe? Are they kid-friendly? Can you walk pets? Are HOA's a pain? Are there workout facilities in the communities? Any fitness centers close? How are they? How is traffic, shopping? All info welcome. Thank you.

[SoCiEtY's ReBel]

Since you said all info welcome I can help you out a little but I am a renter so I don't know much about the housing questions... Damonte Ranch looks like it is a nice area... There is a great Wal-mart super center right there and the only Blimpies in Northern Nevada is in there! There is also a ton of other places in the shopping center like Jack in the Box, Del Taco, Denny's, Qdoba, Carl's Jr., and a Kohl's department store... The surrounding apartments look very nice.

Nearby South Meadows offers even more choices with a Smith's (Kroger owned) Groceries, a Wing Stop, a Port of Subs, and a juice place... One time when we were over there, my wife and I couldn't choose whether we wanted wings from Wingstop or a fresh tasty sub sandwich from Port of Subs so we ended up ordering our wings (which were very good btw) and then we went over to Port of Subs and each had a small sub while we waited on the wings to get done... It was great!!

Also I have noticed that it doesn't seem as crowded down there and the streets are wider so traffic isnt as bad as it is up in central Reno! Everything looks like Suburban sprawl down there and it all looks very new too!

I think you would have no problem walking your pets down the side streets but I would refrain from walking down Virginia Street as the traffic moves fast down there on Virginia St. There are no restrictions on pets here, people own pit bulls like crazy in Reno and we have a pet iguana!

I would def. recommend the area from what I have seen of it, there doesn't seem to be a "bad area" down there, just newly built sub divisions and huge shopping centers!

[jwaters943]

I've lived in South Meadows/Double Diamond now for 4 years and I love it. Double Diamond borders Damonte Ranch on the North. The entire area is very new (all of the homes/buildings in the vicinity are less than 12 years old) and generally speaking, it's a very clean and safe neighborhood. It's close to the freeway and most major shopping. Downtown is 20 minutes away, the Airport is 15 minutes away, and Tahoe is 30-40 minutes away. The Summit Sierra Mall is 5-10 minutes to your South and Meadowood Mall is 10-15 minutes to the North. The entire area of Damonte Ranch & Double Diamond/South Meadows is master-planned and has miles of walking paths which are great for walking your pet/exercise. The views of Mt. Rose are beautiful! Traffic is not an issue, unless you're used to a small town, but with the projected growth in the area traffic may be a concern 5-10 years from now. The people are friendly in my experience, but not noticeably different that most other new neighborhoods in Reno. There are TONS of kids in the area and I'd say it's very family friendly. The HOA's can be a bit restrictive, but they serve their purpose (I haven't heard any horror stories FWIW). Overall, I'd say the vibe is friendly and quite suburban. The area is bustling with activity and people M-F due to the many businesses nearby, but on the weekends it's fairly sleepy/quiet, except near the Damonte Ranch Town Center (Super Wal-Mart), which isn't really close to homes in the area anyway.

Other facts/tidbits:

-There is 1 Hospital nearby, Renown Health at South Meadows
-There are 2 Urgent Care Facilities (one on South Virginia & one at Galena)
-There are 4 Fitness Centers within a 5-10 minute drive, from closest to furthest they are: Double Diamond Fitness, The Stadium, Gold's Gym & 24-Hour Fitness
-There are 3 Grocery Stores nearby, from closest to furthest they are: Super Wal-Mart, Smith's & WinCo (Trader Joe's and Whole Foods/Wild Oats are a 15 minute drive)
-There are 3 Starbucks within a 2 square mile area, but my favorite coffee shop is Moxie Java on South Meadows
-There are 3 Ice Cream Parlors (Ben & Jerry's, Marble Slab Creamery & Carvel)
-There are 3 Sports Bars with suprisingly good food (Bully's, Sierra Gold Tavern & Flowing Tide Pub)
-There are 2 Sushi Restaurants (Sushi Moto & Jazmin, which also has really good Chinese)
-There are 4 Pizza Parlors (Lampost Pizza, Round Table Pizza, Papa Johns & Dominos)
-There are tons of beauty/tanning salons, dentists/doctors, & banks nearby
-There are 4 small Hotels in the area, should you not have room for visiting family/friends (Hampton Inn, Residence Inn by Marriott, Extended Stay America & Hilton Garden Inn)

....anyway, I could go on and on, but I think I've covered most of what you were after. If you think of anything else please feel free to ask.

[Mavericks]

Thanks for your replies. Sounds like a great area. We know the setting is fantastic, we love Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada!

[weeezydeezy]

Damonte Ranch looks just like California

[schizrade]

Originally Posted by Mavericks

Thanks for your replies. Sounds like a great area. We know the setting is fantastic, we love Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada!

Reno is not in the Sierra Nevada. You can't see the Sierra Nevada from Reno. That is the Carson Range to the West, Virginia Range to the East, and the Mt. Peavine Chain to the Northwest.

The Sierra are about 20-40 miles west of here.

Just FYI.

[beidup]

Warning! Damonte Ranch High is not a very good school. The are a lot of "low life" kids there.

[Kd7788]

Can you describe to me what you mean by "low life"?

[schizrade]

Originally Posted by Kd7788

Can you describe to me what you mean by "low life"?

Thug wanna be types. They eventually breed the real thing.

That school has a lot of problems.

[jwaters943]

May I ask what are you basing this on? I've heard this said about many schools in our area, including Wooster, where I went to school approx. 15 years ago. (FWIW, I thought Wooster was a pretty good school). Sure, there is always going to be a certain segment of the school population that is disruptive, but I've not seen or heard anything that leads me to believe Damonte Ranch H.S., either the students or the faculty, is worse than other schools in our region.