I was a relatively naive 21 year old working downtown in 1991 for the Fitzgeralds group for the Slot Operations president - or whatever his title. “Indian” gaming and its impact was discussed all the time as well as keeping Reno relevant. Like you I have lived through 30 years of “new ideas”. Peter Wilday and the design of the river walk with the purple theme color!!! Cracks me up to hear Devon Reese poo poo that color now - mostly because he is a pompous jerk in general. It is an affliction of getting older how annoying younger people are thinking they know better than people before. And then they just follow down the same old path drinking the kool aid of the latest con person. J Resorts Jeff Jacobs, Gordon Garrett. The whole warehouse industry “diversification” tag team Kazmierski, GOED, city and county, etc. And Reno itself is now generally a ….shit hole to live in.
It’s like they don’t want to take risks, but look at how popular Whitney Peak continues to be! Modern, trendy, focused on gourmet food and the rock climbing wall and the wedding venue over gaming. And it works! The Renaissance is also a really cool place that focuses on the food and atmosphere over drinking and gaming.
I’m in my 30s but have lived here for 20+ years. It feels like when I was in high school and college from 2005-2013 that there was so much more to do downtown. Big bands and comedians played the event center regularly, we had tattoo conventions around the casinos, there were organized bar crawls once a month, and several local events as well. We came downtown regularly as college kids. Now it seems like no one besides D-listers play downtown, there’s no good events, or the events are poorly organized. A lot of local restaurants and shops we used to go to have since closed down or moved out of the area. The only reason I even go downtown anymore is to go to a show at the Pioneer. It’s sad.
I selfishly hope GSR does get to build their big new stadium and will therefore attract more sports, bands, comedians, shows, and conventions both so I have stuff to go to in town again and so the city and casinos in downtown wise up. I’m tired of having to drive to Sacramento at minimum to see a musician I like, let alone going all the way to Vegas or the Bay Area in many cases. (Frankly if they tore down the bowling stadium and event center to build a massive arena that could hold crowds for bigger bands and theater performances we might actually get them to book here!)
Reno has been home for over 30 years now and, while I love the area around Reno, I cannot love a city that cannot do and just doesn't. It does seem that the casino folk like what they have and care not about what the city center is as long as their floors are filled with enough gamblers to lose enough to make owners rich. Downtown Reno is a nothing, nothing to attractive, highly unattractive, concrete canyons as described above. Over the past 30 years downtown has become a dead zone outside. And there is nothing to do for those who do not want to gamble. The response to the NYT's article is pathetic as has been every effort to revitalize, in good part because the powers that be, gaming interests mostly, really do not care about what is beyond casino walls so that what is beyond always looks like shit.
I was a relatively naive 21 year old working downtown in 1991 for the Fitzgeralds group for the Slot Operations president - or whatever his title. “Indian” gaming and its impact was discussed all the time as well as keeping Reno relevant. Like you I have lived through 30 years of “new ideas”. Peter Wilday and the design of the river walk with the purple theme color!!! Cracks me up to hear Devon Reese poo poo that color now - mostly because he is a pompous jerk in general. It is an affliction of getting older how annoying younger people are thinking they know better than people before. And then they just follow down the same old path drinking the kool aid of the latest con person. J Resorts Jeff Jacobs, Gordon Garrett. The whole warehouse industry “diversification” tag team Kazmierski, GOED, city and county, etc. And Reno itself is now generally a ….shit hole to live in.
It’s like they don’t want to take risks, but look at how popular Whitney Peak continues to be! Modern, trendy, focused on gourmet food and the rock climbing wall and the wedding venue over gaming. And it works! The Renaissance is also a really cool place that focuses on the food and atmosphere over drinking and gaming.
I’m in my 30s but have lived here for 20+ years. It feels like when I was in high school and college from 2005-2013 that there was so much more to do downtown. Big bands and comedians played the event center regularly, we had tattoo conventions around the casinos, there were organized bar crawls once a month, and several local events as well. We came downtown regularly as college kids. Now it seems like no one besides D-listers play downtown, there’s no good events, or the events are poorly organized. A lot of local restaurants and shops we used to go to have since closed down or moved out of the area. The only reason I even go downtown anymore is to go to a show at the Pioneer. It’s sad.
I selfishly hope GSR does get to build their big new stadium and will therefore attract more sports, bands, comedians, shows, and conventions both so I have stuff to go to in town again and so the city and casinos in downtown wise up. I’m tired of having to drive to Sacramento at minimum to see a musician I like, let alone going all the way to Vegas or the Bay Area in many cases. (Frankly if they tore down the bowling stadium and event center to build a massive arena that could hold crowds for bigger bands and theater performances we might actually get them to book here!)
Reno has been home for over 30 years now and, while I love the area around Reno, I cannot love a city that cannot do and just doesn't. It does seem that the casino folk like what they have and care not about what the city center is as long as their floors are filled with enough gamblers to lose enough to make owners rich. Downtown Reno is a nothing, nothing to attractive, highly unattractive, concrete canyons as described above. Over the past 30 years downtown has become a dead zone outside. And there is nothing to do for those who do not want to gamble. The response to the NYT's article is pathetic as has been every effort to revitalize, in good part because the powers that be, gaming interests mostly, really do not care about what is beyond casino walls so that what is beyond always looks like shit.