Reno - What is it like to live there? (Sparks: houses, neighborhood)

[mimi2007]

Thanks Jes...that's what I want to know...whether or not there is any negotiating room. Sounds like you got a deal! How do you like it so far? What do you think of the recreation center?

[renoguy]

Mimi, if you like the village type communities check out this website. http://www.tndwest.com/ It's not a developer's site but a site that is more about building villages. There are links and photos to various developments throughout the west. I really like what's being built in Chico, CA as well as some coastal Oregon communities. It's a fun site if you have the time to peruse it.

[mimi2007]

Renoguy, thanks so much for the link. Aren't those villages great? I had a link to some different ones, but I don't know if I kept it. If I come across it I will post it.

Humidity was 76 here today -- my lungs were really struggling. I saw yours was 12. Oh, I hope we like your town.

[renoguy]

Mimi, have you ever been to Bend Oregon? Not to dissuade you from Reno or anything but I really think Bend is a great town. It's located in central Oregon. The prices are more reasonable than Reno and there is a large population of retirees living there. The climate is similar to Reno and has as many outdoor activities.

[mimi2007]

Thanks renoguy. I love Oregon and, yes, we've been to Bend and Medford and several other towns in the southern part of Oregon. We could have been living in Oregon for the past 30 years but that's another story. One of the reasons we thought we might rent in Reno for a year is so we could spend that time exploring other areas to see if there was a place we preferred, like Bend. I don't know if my allergies could take all of the pollen in Oregon -- but, gosh, it is such a beautiful place that I can see why you'd recommend it. Are you originally from Oregon?

[den]

Thanks so much for opinions all have shared.
It was really interesting to read them.
And I have a question: tell me please, is it expensive to live in Reno?

[Tressa]

I guess it would depend on what your idea of expensive is, I found in our travels to Reno that it's no more expensive than other places we traveled to. Eating out seems to be much more reasonable than others along with the entertainment, I found that renting is cheaper than buying for now but you still aren't building your portfolio paying somebody else house bill.

[renoguy]

Mimi, I'm not from Oregon. I'm actually from San Francisco but my family moved to Reno when I was a teenager. I have relatives that live near Hood River and drive through Bend, a lot. I love the old part of town down near the river.

Den, I thought Reno was more expensive than other places but now I don't think so. Yes real estate is more here but other than that things seem to even out. Gas is a bit more but our property taxes are lower than a lot of other places. We don't have state income taxes but our jobs tend to pay less. You get the picture.

[LWPmeg]

Originally Posted by henry2481

My wife and I are looking to get out of Southern California to a slower town, close to the mountains/great outdoors (but with some big city amenities). Reno is on top of the list (outdoors, Mountains and no state income tax), but we have questions.

Here they are:

- I hear different stories about the wind. Some realtors have told me that it's important which way the house is facing. What is it REALLY like? In particluar, what it is like in Sommersett or Arrowcreek? Execissive wind would be an excessive bummer for us

- What is your overall experience of living in Reno?

- Is it a good town to raise children? We have two preschoolers.

- Is there a bad drug problem? I have seen some things about meth

- What are the values generally? Conservative or liberal?

- We are Christians and a church community is very important to us. What are your suggestions for a good church in town?

- A random question.....Are any of you boaters? If so, what's Pyramid Lake like? I heard it has a high salt content.

Any comments are welcome. Thanks for your time.

I know this was a long time ago, but i recently moved from Reno to San Diego and i thought i could give some good input on this topic.

Yes, the wind is bad. I certainly don't miss the wind. I know that it's not every day, but it seems like it never stops. I grew up just below Caughlin Ranch and lived in the Northwest off Mae Anne and Ambassador for a year. And the wind is COLD.

My overall impression of Reno is nostalgic. I really wanted to move, but not because Reno is a horrible place, but because i really wanted to get back to SD (i went to college in SD and missed it terribly) For me, it was a great place to grow up. I went to Hunter Lake Elementary, Swope Middle and Reno High. I was very involved in music in high school and Reno High was a good place for me. In fact, i would recommend living in a place zoned for Reno High. My favorite neighborhood of Reno is the old Southwest.

I would say it is a good place to raise children. It's different than when i grew up (and i'm only 25, it has indeed changed a lot!) but when you're a kid you don't realize that there isn't much to do around town because you're probably so involved with school and extracurricular activities. That's the biggest drawback to Reno: compared to other cities, there just isn't much to do.

I don't know a whole lot about the drug problem, because that was not the crowd i hung out with. In fact, i've never been close to anyone who did anything worse than smoked weed. You can get away from it, that's for sure. Pick a group of friends that aren't into that kind of stuff. In my experience, those groups of friends were mostly faith-based.

There's a growing liberalism in Reno. Mostly the rural areas around Reno are conservative.

I heard once that Washoe County is the second most unchurched county in the nation. Storey County (Virginia City) is the first. Those figures may have changed, but regardless, there is a lot of work to do in Reno. I have served at Reno Christian Fellowship for their college group but i would not recommend it. They have taken away a lot of their youth programs and i personally don't agree with that. I also think their new pastor is not as good as the old one. Someone recommended Grace, which is a good church. Before we moved, i served with my husband at Hope Community. It was a church plant in south Reno and has grown quite a bit. There's good people there.

I'm not a boater, can't help you there!

Here's some of the things i like about Reno:
The old Southwest neighborhood
Taking trips to Tahoe in the summer
Casino buffets
There are a FAIR amount of good shows for people who like punk and indie (pales in comparison to SD, but you gotta take what you can get)
People are REAL and down to earth
People are very FRIENDLY
Crime is low, unless you go looking for trouble
Downtown by the Riverwalk (that should have been my first, i LOVE it)
Artown, especially the movies in the park
Great hiking/biking trails (even right outside your house)
UNR basketball

Here's what i dislike about Reno:
Living on a hill when it SNOWS and it's not Saturday morning
The wind, it never stops
The bone-chilling cold in the winter and lack of any humidity (which can be a positive too, because the lack of humidity means that your hair will stay wherever you put it)
Lack of genuine culture and diversity
Staying inside half the year (there are two seasons in Reno, summer and winter)

I guess i mostly dislike the winter in Reno. The scenery is beautiful for sure, but during wintertime, you'll find it difficult to leave unless you want to have an accident getting over the hill in the snow.

[bigdave01]

Great post, I am considering a move to Reno and it really helped. I have some questions:

I am glad to see that there are some good indie and punk shows, where are they?
I see there is no independent movie theatre, does the century theatre on the river show any indie films?
I also love downtown and the river-walk, but do many citizens really hang out there? Is it more tourists?
What is artown?
I am highly considering going to UNR(currently a hs senior) but I won't have a car. Will I be completely isolated?

Also, is UNR mainly a commuter school? Is there much of an off-campus life in the surrounding neighborhoods?

Thanks in advance