Reno, Nevada
Reno is the
county seat of
Washoe County,
Nevada,
United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 180,480, making it the second largest city in Nevada, after
Las Vegas. Current estimates place the population of the city proper at 207,000, which would make Reno the third most populous city, after
Henderson. Reno lies 26 miles (42 km) north of the
Nevada state capital,
Carson City, and 22 miles (35 km) north-east of
Lake Tahoe in the high desert. Reno shares its eastern border with the city of
Sparks. Reno, known as
The Biggest Little City in the World, is famous for its
casinos, and is the birthplace of the gaming corporation
Harrah's Entertainment.
Reno is the corporate headquarters for
International Game Technology, which manufactures most of the world's slot machines.
As early as the 1850s a few pioneers settled in the Truckee Meadows, a relatively fertile valley through which the
Truckee River made its way from
Lake Tahoe to
Pyramid Lake. In addition to subsistence farming, these early residents could pick up a bit of business from travellers along the
California Trail, which followed the Truckee westward, before branching off towards
Donner Lake, where the formidable obstacle of the Sierras began.
Gold had been discovered in the vicinity of
Virginia City in
1850 and a modest mining community developed, but the discovery of
silver in
1859 led to one of the greatest mining bonanzas of all time as the
Comstock Lode spewed forth treasure. The Comstock's closest connection to the outside world lay in the Truckee Meadows.
To provide the necessary connection between Virginia City and the California Trail, Charles Fuller built a log toll bridge across the Truckee River in 1859. A small community to service travellers soon grew up near the bridge. After two years, Fuller sold the bridge to Myron Lake, who continued to develop the community with the addition of a grist mill, kiln, and livery stable to the hotel and eating house. The tiny community acquired the name Lake's Crossing.
 |
Reno as it appeared during the late 1980s and early 1990s |
In 1868, the
Central Pacific Railroad, building tracks across the west to connect with the Union Pacific, built from the east to form the
first transcontinental railroad. Myron Lake, realizing what a rail connection would mean for business, deeded land to the Central Pacific in exchange for its promise to build a depot at Lake's Crossing. Once the railroad station was established, the town of Reno officially came into being on
May 13,
1868. The new town was named in honor of Major General
Jesse L. Reno, a Union officer killed in the
American Civil War. (Had Jesse Reno not changed the spelling of his name early in life, presumably the biggest little city would today be Renault, Nevada.)
The extension of the
Virginia and Truckee Railroad to Reno in
1872 provided another big boost to the new city's economy. In the following decades, Reno continued to grow and prosper as a business and agricultural center and became the principal settlement on the transcontinental railroad between
Sacramento and
Salt Lake City. However, political power in Nevada remained with the mining communities, first Virginia City and later
Tonopah and
Goldfield. As the mining boom waned early in the twentieth century, Nevada's centers of political and business activity shifted to the non-mining communities, especially Reno and Las Vegas, and today the former mining metropolises stand as little more than ghost towns. Despite this, Nevada still accounts for over 11% of world
gold production.
It was in Reno in 1871 that
Jacob Davis, a tailor, started reinforcing his canvas pants with copper rivets. Davis later patented his idea with
Levi Strauss, his canvas supplier to create the product now known as
Levi's.
Nevada's legalization of casino gambling in
1931 and the passage of liberal
divorce laws created another boom for Reno. The divorce business eventually died as the other states fell in line by passing their own laws easing the requirements for divorce, but gambling continued as a major Reno industry.
In more recent years, Reno has experienced rapid growth as a strong economy and a cost of living less than most of California has resulted in a housing boom. New construction is widespread emanating from all sides of the city and into the surrounding valleys. A direct result of such rapid growth has been a dramatic increase in housing prices in the area, with Reno-Sparks being named one of the most overvalued housing markets in the nation in 2006. On
March 15,
2006, a new upscale shopping center, The Summit Sierra, opened in the southern suburbs of Reno.
Reno is situated in high desert valley of approximately 4,400 feet (1300 m) above sea level. There are four distinct seasons, all of moderate intensity. Winters see some snowfall, however typically it is light. Most precipitation occurs in winter and spring, with summer and fall being extremely dry, much like neighboring California. Mid-summer highs typically top out in the low to mid 90s (degrees Fahrenheit, 30s in degrees Celsius), however temperatures of 100°F (38°C) and above do occur regularly. The low humidity and high elevation generally make even the hottest and coldest days quite bearable. July high and low temperatures average at 92°F (33°C) and 51°F (11°C), respectively, while in January this falls to 45°F (7°C) and 22°F (-6°C).
Universities and Colleges
*The
University of Nevada, Reno is the oldest university in the state of Nevada and Nevada System of Higher Education. In 1886, the state university, previously only a college preparatory school, moved from
Elko in remote northeastern Nevada to a site north of downtown Reno, where it became a full-fledged state college. The university's first building, Morill Hall, still stands on the historic quad at the campus' southern end. The university grew slowly over the decades, but began to expand rapidly along with the rest of the state and currently has an enrollment of approximately 15,000, with most students hailing from within Nevada. Among its specialties are
mining engineering,
agriculture,
journalism, and one of only two
Basque Studies programs in the nation. It also houses the only judicial college in the United States.
*
Truckee Meadows Community College is a regionally accredited, two year institution which is part of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The college has an enrollment of approximately 13,000 students attending classes at a primary campus and four satellite centers. The college offers a wide range of academic and university transfer programs, occupational training, career enhancement workshops, and classes just for fun. Courses are conducted daytime and evening in the classroom, by cablecast, and on the
Internet. TMCC offers associate of arts, associate of science, associate of applied science or associate of general studies degrees, one-year certificates, or certificates of completion in more than 50 career fields, including architecture, auto/diesel mechanics, criminal justice, dental hygiene, graphic design, nursing, and welding.
*The
Nevada School of Law at Old College located in Reno was the first law school established in the state of Nevada. Its doors were open from 1981-1988.
Public schools
Public education is provided by the
Washoe County School District.
*Reno has eleven public high schools: Damonte Ranch High School, Galena High School, Hug High School, I Can Do Anything Charter High School,
Robert McQueen High School, North Valleys High School, Regional Technical Institute High School,
Reno High School, Truckee Meadows Community College High School, Washoe High School, and
Earl Wooster High School.
*There are also three public high schools in neighboring Sparks, attended by many students who live in Reno:
Edward C. Reed High School, Spanish Springs High School, and Sparks High School.
*Reno-Sparks has 16 middle schools: Billinghurst, Clayton, Damonte Ranch, Dilworth, Gerlach, Incline, Mendive, O'Brien, Pine, Shaw, Spanish Springs, Sparks, Swope, Traner, Vaughn, and Washoe.
*Reno-Sparks's elementary schools are Allen, Anderson, Beasley, Jesse Beck, Bennett, Booth, Brown, Cannan, Caughlin Ranch, Corbett, Desert Heights, Diedrichsen, Dodson, Donner Springs, Double Diamond, Drake, Duncan, Dunn, Elmcrest, Gomes, Roy Gomm, Greenbrae, Hidden Valley, Huffaker, Hunsberger, Hunter Lake, Johnson, Juniper, Lemmon Valley, Elizabeth Lenz, Lincoln Park, Loder, Mathews, Maxwell, Melton, Mitchell, Moss, Mount Rose, Natchez, Palmer, Peavine, Picollo Special Education School, Pleasant Valley, Risley, Sepulveda, Sierra Vista, Silver Lake, Alice Smith, Kate Smith, Smithridge, Spanish Springs, Stead, Sun Valley, Taylor, Towles, Van Gorder, Verdi, Veterans Memorial, Warner, Westergard, Whitehead, and Winnemucca.
Private schools
Reno has several private high schools, the largest of which is
Bishop Manogue High School. The only college preparatory school in Reno is
Sage Ridge School.
|
Downtown Reno, including the city's famous arch over Virginia St. |
Before the 1960s, Reno was the gambling capital of the world, but Las Vegas' rapid rise,
American Airlines' buyout of
Reno Air and the growth of
Indian gaming in California have seriously reduced its business, though not that of Las Vegas. Smaller casinos like the Comstock and the Sundowner closed, while the larger casinos experience slow days during the week, epecially during winter. Only during weekends, holidays and special events does Reno see an increase in business.
In an effort to bring more tourism to the area, Reno holds several events throughout the year, all of which have been extremely successful. They include
Hot August Nights (a classic car convention and rally),
Street Vibrations (a motorcycle fan gathering and rally),
The Great Reno Balloon Race, the
Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off (held in Sparks), a
Cinco de Mayo celebration,
bowling tournaments and the
Reno Air Races.
The closure of many downtown casinos has sparked a surprising movement to turn these empty buildings into
condominiums. Out-of-state developers have purchased the Comstock and the Sundowner, amongst others, in hopes of turning them into upscale condos. In addition to converting old properties, these developers are building new structures on once-vacant lots.
The
Reno Trench Project (ReTRAC) hopes to solve
noise pollution and traffic congestion on Virginia Street by lowering the train tracks below the street level. This would also add to the city's efforts to make the downtown area friendlier to tourists. The trench was completed on
November 22,
2005.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 180,480 people, 73,904 households, and 41,681 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,008.3/km² (2,611.4/mi²). There were 79,453 housing units at an average density of 443.9/km² (1,149.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.46%
White, 2.58%
African American, 1.26%
Native American, 5.29%
Asian, 0.56%
Pacific Islander, 9.26% from
other races, and 3.60% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 19.18% of the population.
There were 73,904 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were
married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,530, and the median income for a family was $49,582. Males had a median income of $33,204 versus $26,763 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $22,520. About 8.3% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 16.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
The
Truckee River runs through town, as does the
Union Pacific Railroad,
Interstate 80 (east-west) and
US 395 (north-south).
Reno has an extensive bus system called
RTC RIDE, which is provided by the
Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County. The bus system has its main terminal in downtown Reno and secondary terminals in Sparks and at Meadowood Mall in south Reno. The RTC also has a service called
RTC ACCESS that provides transport for handicapped people.
RTC INTERCITY buses link Reno to Carson City.
The city also provides a free bus service up and down Virginia Street called
RTC SIERRA SPIRIT, whose bright yellow buses are easily recognizible. This regular service is free of charge.
Amtrak also serves the city of Reno. Amtrak train 5, the westbound California Zephyr, departs Reno every morning and serves the cities of Truckee, Colfax, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, Emeryville, and Sacramento. Amtrak train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, departs Reno every afternoon and serves the cities of Sparks, Winnemucca, Elko, Salt Lake, Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Galesburg, and Chicago. Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoaches also arrive and depart Reno four times daily in each direction connecting to and from the Coast Starlight, Capitol Corridor, and San Joaquin trains at Sacramento, California.
The city is served by
Reno/Tahoe International Airport, with general aviation traffic also handled by
Reno Stead Airport.
The Reno-Sparks wastewater treatment plant discharges secondary treated effluent to the
Truckee River. In the 1990s this capacity was increased from 20 to 30 million gallons (70 to 110 million liters) per day. While treated, the effluent nevertheless contains suspended solids,
nitrogen and
phosphorus. aggravating water quality concerns of the river and its receiving waters of
Pyramid Lake. Local agencies working with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have developed a number of watershed management strategies to accommodate this expanded effluent discharge; to accomplish this successful outcome, the
DSSAM Model was developed and calibrated for the Truckee River in order to analyze the most cost effective available management strategy set. The resulting management strategies included a package of measures such as
land use controls in the
Lake Tahoe basin, urban
runoff controls in Reno and Sparks and
best management practices for
wastewater discharge.
*
National Automobile Museum*
Nevada Shakespeare Company*
Nevada Museum of Art*
University of Nevada, Reno Arboretum*
Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Garden*
Reno Pops OrchestraReno has four
sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
*
Udonthani,
Thailand*
Hatzor,
Israel*
Wanganui,
New Zealand*
Taichung,
Taiwan*Reno (as New Reno) is a location in the
computer role-playing game Fallout 2.
*The Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition was working on a plan to host the
2014 Winter Olympics, but the
United States Olympic Committee decided not to submit a host city for that year's games. Reno will continue to work towards hosting the 2018 or 2022 games.
*Reno is the setting of the
Comedy Central show
Reno 911!, although the show is not filmed there.
*The
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony is located in central Reno.
* Movies filmed in Reno include
The Cooler,
Magnolia, Hard Eight, Charley Varrick, The Wizard,
The Misfits, Kingpin, Blind Fury, Pink Cadillac, Diamonds, Sister Act and, of course, Waking Up In Reno.
*Famous people to have come from Reno include
Thomas K. Dye, the creator of the
webcomic Newshounds , actress such as
Mädchen Amick of '
Joey (TV series)',
Terri Ivens who plays Simone Torres on '
All My Children' and
Shannyn Sossamon of '
A Knight's Tale' and '40 days and 40 nights'. Also,
Walter Van Tilburg Clark, author of
The Ox-Bow Incident.
*
City of Reno*
Reno Sparks Chamber of Commerce*
Reno Gazette-Journal Newspaper*
Reno Gazette-Journal Visitor's Guide*
Directory of Reno area businesses*
Visitors Guide to Reno*
Hot August Nights*
Reno-Tahoe -- America's Adventure Place*
Reno Film Festival*
Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival*
Experience Reno - Visitor Guide*
Reno Real Estate*
Reno Weather*
Lake Tahoe Tourism Area
