Community: True, locals shun downtown, but they still care
By Sumita Louis, Outpost staff
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Divided over redevelopment |
Reno residents are "lucky to have such a flashy, colorful, 24-hour downtown to hang out, gamble and indulge their various appetites in," he says.
Many out-of-towners share Keller's view. More than 5 million tourists visited the city in 1996 alone. The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority expects a 7.5 percent increase this year in the number of visitors. After all, Reno is still one of the favorite tourist destinations this side of the West.
But it's not a favorite destination of locals. For many of the more than 300,000 Washoe County residents, the thought of going downtown rarely crosses their minds.
"The average Reno resident is happy with the weather, the plethora of outdoor activities and the area's proximity to California," says University of Nevada professor Warren Lerude, a Reno native and former publisher of the Reno Gazette-Journal. "These are aspects of Reno that attract prospective residents to this city. The hometown resident may live, work, or have retired here and goes downtown only for a specific reason."
Lerude says there are two Renos: The "tourist" Reno and the other "hometown" Reno. Lerude says he seldom goes downtown except to visit restaurants or special attractions such as a Rotary lunch or a really good show.
Many locals say they don't go downtown because they identify the area with bad elements, tourists, gambling, parking and traffic problems. Those bad elements also include the presence of homeless people and transients, says Michael Klos, a retired schoolteacher who has lived in Reno for the last 20 years.
"There is nothing to attract anyone downtown," Klos says. "The area around the river is a dead-zone. There is one coffee house and that is about it. Wingfield Park used to be a popular place for us local folk to watch concerts and hang out. But the park suffered a lot of damage from the floods. Not too many events are held there today. Another problem is that of the homeless children and the transients that hang around the river and sleep in the park."
Jeanne Richardson, an ophthalmic technician in Washoe County, equates downtown with gambling. "I think gambling is a waste of time and money. Downtown is full of casinos and nothing else, so I never go there unless I have some work or some errands to run."
Still others complain about the lack of parking and chaotic traffic on the one-way streets that run through much of downtown. Cyndi Kirklin, a University of Nevada, Reno, student majoring in education, has had to cope with tourists and traffic in downtown Reno most of her life.
"I don't like downtown, it's always very crowded," Kirklin says. "There are too many tourists and too many casinos. I don't gamble, so it's boring. Most of all driving around in downtown is the pits--too many damn one-way streets and pesky tourist pedestrians who never follow the walk signs."
And if residents don't subscribe to any of these opinions, they agree with Earl Briggs, a draftsman for the state of Nevada. After more than 25 years in this city, Briggs has come to the conclusion that "there's nothing to go downtown for." He prefers to go to the trails and hike in the mountains.
"My buddies and I still go hunting in the hills, fish, go hiking and camping," he says. "I love living in Reno because of its natural habitat and the variety of sports and outdoor activities one can do here. But downtown is not the place for me."
But a few residents and die-hard devotees of downtown say the perception that locals don't go downtown is misleading.
"As a resident of Reno, I do go downtown, but not to the casinos," says Scott Nebesky, regional associate planner at the Truckee-Meadows Regional Planning Agency says. "The common perception one has of downtown is that of casinos and gambling. But in my opinion, downtown is much more. There are trails. Wingfield Park is a great place to go to when there are concerts and events held. I often visit the courthouse, and there are also some good restaurants."
Shelley Warne the owner of Java Jungle, a downtown coffeeshop, agrees with Nebesky.
"I live and work downtown, so I have a different viewpoint," she says. "The coffee shop is near the Truckee River where it flows through downtown. It 's a beautiful sight on any day. Most people don't realize that."
Warne's and Nebesky's views are the exception, say many longtime residents. But however much residents differ on their perception of downtown, the locals stand united on the need for redevelopment -- a solidarity that is leading toward a face-lift for the area.
copyright 11/15/97 Nevada Outpost
http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost
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Reno (Official site) Play in Reno Wingfield Park |
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