Reno is moving - rapidly - from being the place in Northern Nevada to gamble and get divorced to a place for high-tech companies to set up shop. Tesla is building its Giga factory in the Biggest Little City and Amazon, Google, and others have either established a space or are planning on it.
That change has brought a lot of new people to the Reno area. Reno was the 9th most popular moving destination in 2016. So what do the newcomers need to know? Reporter Mike Higdon wrote an article for the Reno Gazette-Journal to help guide the recently arrived on getting around and getting along in Reno.
"We were kind of reacting to another article in Bloomberg that was calling us Silicon Valley," Higdon told KNPR's State of Nevada, "I kind of wanted to take back a little bit of the grittiness for the locals because it was a bit of an overstatement for us."
Higdon noted in his article that housing prices are skyrocketing and the cost of living is higher than people may realize.
"Compared to Las Vegas, the cost of living here is much, much higher," he said, "And that's not something I've ever been able to figure out why because Las Vegas has 2.2 million people and we have maybe 350,000 people. So, it's really bizarre to me that it's so expensive."
For example, Higdon said the median price for a home in Reno is now $380,000 but the median income is $48,000 for a family.
His article also pointed out the strong libertarian streak that runs through Nevada. An attitude he referred to as the "get off my lawn, but come and have a beer later" sensibility.
Dana Nollsch is a reporter for the website thisisreno.com. He said now that the gaming industry is fading away the city is changing.
"Now, we're redefining what is Reno," Nollsch said, "We have the beautiful scenery. A great place to do sports, great place for bicycling, mountain climbing. We have Tahoe half an hour away. Plus, we're looking at bringing in more arts and culture."
Nollsch said Reno is home to a thriving theater scene that is expanding all the time.
But he said those changes are coming at a cost.
"Of course, with that comes some growing pains," he said, "We still have the things that big cities have. We have a homeless issue. We have panhandlers... Traffic issues. When Hot August Nights comes to town, one of my favorite events, it gets hard to get anywhere downtown."
Mike Higdon, reporter, Reno Gazette-Journal; Dana Nollsch, photojournalist, and reporter, thisisreno.com