The goldfish-orange and blueberry blue mural glistened from reflection of the noon sun. Lunch and all of its quiet festivities burbled in the streets as the chic bars itched to open. Colorful bikes and their riders with fantastic beards and man buns populate the coffee shop and boutique filled streets. Without a doubt, this is the trendiest neighborhood of the city, with its local food culture serving as palatable affirmation. Perhaps you think the neighborhood I have just described a neighborhood nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, New York or Portland, Oregon—but you would be incorrect. Reno, Nevada’s MidTown District is quickly climbing the ranks of America’s coolest and quirkiest neighborhoods. Upon striking up a casual conversation with a man in San Francisco while on holiday, my Reno resident became a point of interest. I was astonished when the man commented, “I hear Reno’s becoming a foodie town,” instead of the response I have been conditioned to anticipate: “Oh Reno, you mean depressingly rundown Las Vegas?” In addition to Reno’s growing prominence as a food lover’s paradise, the city’s culture is expanding and diversifying with the MidTown District at its center. Once a rundown appendage to downtown Reno, the MidTown District is writing a new history for Reno that extends beyond its antiquated era of sin and divorce.
Reno has a long standing reputation for being a sleazy town, known as the “Sin City” and a mecca for gamblers long before Las Vegas came to prominence. Images of questionable brothels, cocktails waitresses with varicose veins, and dive bars were common associations of Reno. The city’s efforts to reinvent itself have been challenged by pervasive stereotypes that continue to this day. When asked, “What is the worst place you can ever imagine being for a weekend?” comedian Amy Schumer responded, “Reno, Nevada. Because it’s a dump,” failing to pronounce the state’s name properly (“Amy Schumer’s”). The city of Reno has also found it Kilgore-Gomez 2 difficult to shake the politically incorrect views of the Comedy Central television series Reno 911!. Despite Reno’s steadily improving lifestyle and opportunities, the progress and image of the city has not always been quick to change. Reno’s New Era Cities that depend on one industry to provide their tourism, employment, and economic development will find themselves at an impasse, forced to choose from the following: diversify their economic and cultural emphasis or continue on a crippling path. This is the precise situation the City of Reno confronted in the 1980’s. The nation was facing stagnation, and people had less expendable income. General tourism in Reno declined sharply in the beginning of the 1980’s (Steinmann 15). Depending solely on the gaming industry would eventually bring ruin for Reno as casinos started popping up on reservations just across the California border. Reno could no longer survive with gaming and seasonal skiing as its only attractions. The City of Reno recognized its stark predicament and by the mid 1990’s, the downtown area began steady revitalization efforts (Downtown). The golden question of their efforts came to be: In which sectors should the city spend money to attract people to the area? By effectively drawing attention to Nevada’s landscape and history, the first revitalization project was the Raymond I. Smith Truckee River Walk, which featured original sculptures of native wildlife. The current residents of Reno were outraged that funds were being spent in the most rundown area of town (Downtown). However, the investment in the River Walk provided a boost to the image of the city while simultaneously starting a chain reaction of revitalization projects. The River Walk gave rise to the Riverside Artist Lofts, and the Riverside movie theatre. New businesses and developers moved into downtown at the same time as casinos were closing their doors, preventing the demise of Reno. The city was on a steady path towards reinventing itself.
As Reno became a more diverse city in terms of businesses and people, a center of creativity and collaboration emerged. Defined by area encompassed by South Virginia Street to Holcomb Avenue and Liberty Street to Mt. Rose Street, the Midtown district was officially branded and recognized as a distinct area of the city in 2008 (Moreno 180). These “boundaries” were based on a regional transit plan—The Virginia Street Corridor (Watson). In 2013, the MidTown District Board worked with the City of Reno to do a zoning overlay to allow for denser population and mixed use for commercial properties. Owner of Black Hole Body Piercing and member of the Board of Directors for MidTown District Reno, Angela Watson has witnessed the growth and transformation of the area firsthand. The MidTown District used the zoning overlay to create distinct parameters for the area. (Watson). However, as the population and interest in the District grew, so did the boundaries.
The creation MidTown was the work of local business owners and property owners alike. In fact, the goal of the MidTown District Board and the Creative Coalition of Midtown has been to create a distinct community that thrives off of local-mindedness and creativity (Moon 1). The diversity of the businesses is akin to that of colorful murals that decorate the district. The artists and small businesses of MidTown take pride in the community they built by supporting local businesses, coordinating events, and giving back to local charities. Amber Solorzano, artist and co-founder of the Creative Coalition of MidTown said: “We saw a hole, with MidTown growing so fast and it became a place where people want to be, where people want to live, where people want to come to hang out” (Moon 2). Today, MidTown is a favorite area for students of the University of Nevada, Reno and community members alike.
As Reno’s MidTown district grew, the nation began to take notice. Because MidTown is forging a reputation as the coolest area of a former casino town, widespread attention has been Kilgore-Gomez 4 piqued. Online forums and magazines such as AAA-Via Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, The San Francisco Examiner and many more have written pieces that have featured Reno’s fastest growing and most popular area. In an article published in the New York Times in 2013, the shift away from dive bar culture to diversified local cuisine is discussed. Finally, the city’s shifting dynamics are being acknowledged “Reno is now a city of sustenance as well as indulgence” (Moon 3). The MidTown District’s birth symbolized the dawn of a new Reno.
From entertainment venues, to beauty and wellness, the district is so much more than the dining and shopping it is most regarded for. MidTown’s landmark stores include Junkee Clothing Exchange, Recycled Records, and the Sundance Bookstore that coexist with the newer boutiques such as The Melting Pot Emporium and Happy Happy Joy Joy, a counter culture and toy store respectively. Reno residents enjoy the local eats of Süp, Great Full Gardens, Silver Peak Restaurant and Brewery and the like. As far as entertainment venues go, the Holland Project and the Nevada Museum of Art host the vast majority of performances, both musical and visual (MidTown). In fact, the Nevada Museum of Art, founded in 1931, is the oldest cultural establishment in the state (Marcus). The Museum’s younger counterpart, The Holland Project, is an artistic hub that features art installations, hosting musical groups from near and far, offering artistic workshops in a variety of artistic mediums, and engaging in different large projects within the community. The Holland Project is a popular venue for artists to book, as the space comes to no cost to them and allows for exposure in a new city.
Art and MidTown Art itself is an integral piece of MidTown’s identity. Many of the small businesses are owned and operated by artists. This creative dynamic contributes greatly to the District’s culture. Kilgore-Gomez 5 Many businesses feature local art work in order to promote Reno’s artistic community. Whether one finds themselves in a clothing boutique or a coffee shop, it is not uncommon to find a picturesque watercolor of nearby Lake Tahoe or an intricately beaded cow skull adorning the walls of businesses available for purchase. In addition to supporting Reno’s artists, MidTown is known for its large concentration of murals. The area has more than 60 murals painted by local, national, and international artists (Downtown). In order to promote the increasingly popular visual medium, Artspot Reno hosts a monthly mural walk to feature the artwork that has beautified and enriched the culture of Reno.
The MidTown District also has strong ties to other artistic aspects of Reno’s community. Every July, MidTown works closely with Artown, a month long summer arts festival that highlights the best performers of northern Nevada at little to no cost to the public. Artown and Midtown collaborate continuously throughout the year to bring Reno performing arts events. The events of Artown primarily take place during the month of July, using Wingfield Park, just a short walking distance from the District, as their main event venue. The multidisciplinary arts festival began in 1996 and is now regarded as one of the most comprehensive showing of the arts in the country by the National Endowment for the Arts (MidTown). Also during the month of July, The Living Stones Church, a congregation based out of the heart of the District also hosts the yearly MidTown Art Walk. The event pairs featured artists with local merchants, which further strengthens the relationship between art and MidTown.
The spirit and longevity of MidTown is largely dependent upon the members who comprise its community. With MidTown’s goal of instilling pride for their city in members of the community, the district has the chance to change the face of the formerly neglected neighborhood. The hodgepodge of tattoo parlors, craft breweries, specialty boutiques, locally sourced restaurants, and nightlife all contributes to a feel of MidTown sharply that contrasts Reno’s iconic casinos. The MidTown district offers residents and tourists alike a new outlook on the western town with a reputation for the diviest of dives. MidTown represents an area devoted to the community-centered ideas and people.
Millennials and the Reurbanization of Cities In addition to providing a new cultural aspect to the community, the MidTown District offered an alluring business proposal—cheap rent. With the objective of attracting business owners to a cultural mecca, rental properties within MidTown were low cost (Moreno 180). However, this is no longer the case. “People love MidTown, which is a big part of the success of MidTown and the rapid growth. Now rents are higher as more businesses and residents move to the area” (Watson).
The new businesses that moved into MidTown district, despite their services or products, all had one thing in common—their amenities strongly appealed to young people. In addition to being a creative and diverse community within Reno’s center, it is also largely geared towards and run largely by millennials. The development of the MidTown district represents a greater national trend in which young people want to repurpose and live within the bustling centers of cities. The millennial population, currently aged 19-34, are projected to peak in 2036 at 81.1 million (Fry). The millennial generation is accelerating the demographic shift away from white picket fences of the suburbs and seeking a life in the city (Moon 2). This phenomenon can be seen in Reno’s first-time home buyers search for preexisting options instead of opting for the stereotypical move to the suburbs. Economic and generational differences are igniting a change in lifestyle for millennials in contrast to their predecessors. The idea of living, working, and playing all in the comfort of one neighborhood is an appealing lifestyle to millennials. City centers have long carried a stigma for containing all of a city’s low-income housing; this notion is soon to change. The ideal neighborhood for this young demographic is a mixture of housing, retail, entertainment, green spaces, and public transit, what experts call “urban-burbs” (“Millennials” 1). In fact, Millennials may be the new brightest lights, big city generation in history. This demographic shift comes as millennials look for commodities embedded right in their neighborhoods with a short or nonexistent commute despite the higher cost of living compared to suburban life. Professor of urban growth and population growth at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Robert Lang says, “We are seeing a multigenerational pattern of young adults preferring more expensive urban areas over lower-cost rural ones because the lifestyles and opportunities of such places make the extra burden of cost worth it” (Moon 3). Housing demographics prove this trend as millennials move to the city because of the higher probability of finding a job. As a whole, it is clear that an idealistic millennial urban setting has inspired a trend of national movement that has begun to shape the neighborhoods of cities like Reno.
The development of so called “urban-burbs” has much to do with the viewpoint young people hold on the subjects of homeownership and lifestyle. Undoubtedly choosing different life patterns than generations before then, millennials are taking a new approach. “Some speculate that urban lifestyle, largely rental, is merely an outgrowth of the Great Recession’s impact on employment opportunities and higher down payment requirements for home ownership. Millennials marrying and having children later in life has been an influence as well” (“Millennials” 4). From an economic standpoint, this change is also the effect of a generation saddled with massive student loan debt and tighter overall credit (“Millennials” 3).
In addition to monetary aspect of location, there are other factors that are changing real estate trends among young people. “…[MidTown] has something missing out in the burbs; character and soul” (Downtown). Moreover, the stereotypically quaint suburban life is no longer satisfactory for the current generation of younger adults. With small towns struggling to reinvent their identity, it is difficult to replicate the proximity of live music venues, bars, gyms, and theaters that the urban core already provides. It is theorized that centralization of work and amenities afforded by good public transportation will make re-urbanization of the city more long lasting (“Millennials” 2). Young people are single-handedly affecting the revitalization of long-dormant big city urban areas as well as playing an integral role in in the rapid urbanization of smaller—but growing—cities such as Reno. Given the fact that urban sprawl is a demographic norm with the city construct, for the first time in over 100 years, in 2011, urban growth outpaced suburban growth (“Millennials” 1). This begs the questions: Will Millennials make the city their permanent home or is the movement simply a phase? In the coming years, more Millennials will be buying properties, thereby establishing real estate trends. We will know for certain if Millennials’ preference for urban will continue to be a pervasive real estate trend by the year 2022 (“Millennials” 4). Regardless of eventual settlement of this generation, they have already made a lasting impact on the housing industry by beginning the transforming of city centers into urban-burbs.
Reno’s transformation into an urban-burb is not without support; the residents are not alone in their efforts to breathe new life into their city. “As part of their effort to revitalize a declining urban core, the City of Reno and the Reno Redevelopment Agency have pursued an aggressive strategy to encourage new retail development throughout Reno’s urban core” Steinmann 14). Reno’s downtown area, not unlike other medium and large cities, suffered as more and more residents relocated to surrounding suburban areas. Due to Reno’s sharp decrease in tourism at the start of the 1980’s, the Reno City Council created the Reno Redevelopment Agency in 1983 that is responsible, under law, for the revitalization of Reno’s entire downtown area (Steinmann 15). The primary approach both the City and the Agency are pursuing to develop the downtown area is supporting the commercial retail of local businesses. The Agency is able to provide funds to project through incremental tax revenues across the downtown redevelopment project area, for property acquisition, demolition, and abatement for existing structures (Steinmann 21). This approach includes supporting new businesses as they introduce their brand to the public, via marketing assistance, business planning, as well as direct and indirect financial support to ensure that businesses can flourish in the community.
The Reno Redevelopment Agency has outlined specific goals outside of retail that will foster the rejuvenation of downtown Reno. The Agency hopes to increase tourism, attract residents back to the downtown area, increase the number of new permanent residents living within the downtown urban core, and create new employment, in addition to tourism-related jobs. As suggested by “The Use of Retail,” “…downtown Reno has to find a way, through new commercial-retail development, to appeal to a wider variety of tourists, area residents, new potential downtown residents and employees” (Steinmann 16). MidTown District’s proximity to St. Mary’s Hospital and the University of Nevada, Reno—two major employers—makes MidTown an ideal concentration of restaurants, nightclubs, and taverns designed to attract people from all walks of life. MidTown and adjacent areas have increased the building of condominiums and townhouses to attract people back to the urban core.
In addition to city action to reconnect Reno residents to downtown, the University of Nevada, Reno is also making efforts to strengthen its ties to the District. UNR’s Campus Master Plan for the years 2015-2024, proposes greater connectivity and transportation along Virginia Street in Midtown up to the University. The project will give people more transportation options as they visit campus and MidTown for performances, exhibits, and events, all while improving safety. The University’s efforts to turn Reno into a college town are furthered by their ties to the most culturally diverse and popular area of the city.
Reno’s MidTown district has made tremendous progress from its beginnings as a forgotten runoff of a city in trouble. The city started as a place of vice, proudly flashing the gambling, sin, and divorce that established Reno’s name. Now, the city has a chance at a new history. While the MidTown district popularity began with its low rents and vacant buildings of Virginia street, it has grown to attract residents and tourists to experience the budding locally sourced cuisine and the vibrant art community. MidTown’s impact on the community is evident in its growing popularity as a residential area among young people and its integral role in turning Reno into a college town. As a lifetime resident and lover of Reno, I have long enjoyed the quirky neighborhood and friendly atmosphere, but I can now appreciate the district and its business owners for its much needed revitalization of the city. I have a much richer appreciation for the effort and planning that goes into transforming a city, not to mention the energy to disprove outdated stereotypes that plague a truly wonderful and unique place. Whenever I travel, I represent Reno as an artistically rich community that demands to be noticed. MidTown has given Reno a new chance at evolving from its unsavory past, effectively proving that it is actually, one of the best places to spend the weekend.
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