Not really a little city, Reno has a population of over 220,000 and is the biggest City in Nevada outside of Vegas. Reno is famous for its casino's and was the birthplace of Harrah's Entertainment, a large gaming corporation.
Reno was conceived in the late mid 1800's under a perfect storm of circumstances- the discovery of gold in the region, need for access through Reno,railroad development and a deal drawn up by a large land owner and the Central Pacific Railroad to built a rail depot in Reno. Located at the midpoint between Sacramento and Salt Lake City, it became the principal settlement on the railroad line across the US.
The iconic arch in "downtown" Reno arch/sign was originally planned to be temporary, just to mark the expansion of transcontinental highways. Reno Council held a competition to come up with a slogan for the arch if they were going to keep it as a downtown gateway and a citizen suggestion "The Biggest Little City in the World", taking home a $100 prize (which was pretty nice in 1929).
Nevada really exploded in the 30's for a few reasons- legalized gambling and very liberal divorce laws. No other state offered this at the time. Pre- 1950's, Reno was the gambling capital of the US...until Vegas exploded. After this, older casinos like the Palace Club, Harlod's Club and the Nevada Club were torn down and smaller ones shut down, remaining today as they were. To put things into perspective, here are a few real estate ads:
- 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom fixer upper in Reno. $65,000
- 800 sf, 1 bed 1 bath condo in Reno. $28,000
- 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1940 sf house on 10 acres in Reno. $130,000
A few shots from around town in Reno:
El Dorado...one of the originals
Look at that sign. "Reno's best meal deals". No wonder everyone in Reno has a huge ass.
This was cool...you could climb to the top!
National Bowling Arena. I know...one actually exists!
One of many little motels around the main casinos that is boarded up.
Reno's location continues to keep it afloat- its quite close to Lake Tahoe and draws many visitors from San Francisco and Sacramento. It seems like Reno is turning around a little, the Peppermill Hotel Casino completed a $300 million dollar restoration for example and some other investment is obvious...as is the impact of the most recent market crash. Reno does have some entertainment outside of Casino's including the AAA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Reno Aces as well as a minor-league basketball team, the Reno Bighorns. Reno is home to the Reno-Tahoe Open, northern Nevada's only PGA tour event. The United States Bowling Congress also hosts their Open Championship every 3 years at the National Bowling Stadium, just off the strip in Reno.
Despite this, a short walk around town demonstrates a few things:
- There isn't much to do outside of going to a Casino as far as dining and entertainment goes
- Pawn shops a plenty
- People don't go outside....with many of the hotels/casino's connected and not much else to do, the streets are pretty empty
So- what'd we get up to... well we went for a walk and that was pretty boring. We want back to our hotel/casino, CircusCircus and strolled around there, checking out all the carnies and hillbillies staying at the resort, which was pretty fun.
Due to the startling low selection of restaurants in town, we decided to opt for the casino buffet, which wasn't bad but wasn't good. We both feel like crap! Claire decided she wanted to try her luck at the slots....she risked 20 and at one point was up 5 bucks, but gambled it all away in 13 minutes and had enough. I felt like I'd risked enough for the evening...trying to get through the night without puking in the bed after the buffet. We have a nice room on the top floor (28th) looking east over Reno-Sparks and distant mountains. Not a bad view!
Due to the startling low selection of restaurants in town, we decided to opt for the casino buffet, which wasn't bad but wasn't good. We both feel like crap! Claire decided she wanted to try her luck at the slots....she risked 20 and at one point was up 5 bucks, but gambled it all away in 13 minutes and had enough. I felt like I'd risked enough for the evening...trying to get through the night without puking in the bed after the buffet. We have a nice room on the top floor (28th) looking east over Reno-Sparks and distant mountains. Not a bad view!
Tomorrow (now today, due to the uploading issue last night) we're not too sure what we're doing but its time to come home. We're heading Northwest from Reno on the 395 and connecting up to the I5 North at some point, likely spending the night again in Albany, which coincidentally is where this blog started!
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