Reno, NV (Tell me all about it)

[ThomasRZ]

It seems that there could be an off-chance an opportunity may take me to Reno, NV.

Seems great for the cycling, hiking, and skiing thing. I have zero interest in gambling, so there's that. The reasonable distance to the Bay Area is a huge plus. Does anyone else have the skinny on what life is like there? Best walkable neighborhoods? Best restaurants/bars/bookstores/bikeshops? Anything cool about the place or is it a dump? I trust y'alls opinion.

Thanks in advance.

[maunahaole]

Ping taylorj - Pretty sure that she lives there and can give you an accurate portrait. Downtown Reno is pretty dismal, though. Right outside is very nice is you want to do outdoorsy stuff - close to tahoe skiing, which in the springtime is incomparable, good riding, hiking, kayaking, et. al.

The distance to the bay area can be tricky - best to think of that as a function of road conditions and traffic than one of miles. It is not unheard of for the trip to take upwards of 12 hours when the conditions align in the right way.

[xjoex]

I never lived there, but a spent a long time there for a conference (SuperComputer 2007). I really liked it.

Trails were everywhere, a short drive to Truckee and Lake Tahoe.


Good luck!
-Joe

[maunahaole]

...........

[taylorj]

Ping me for sure! I have been here for 4.5 years, and haven't been a casino once! The riding, while not as diverse as the options around the SFBay area (where I am from) is fantastic and you can pretty much ride year around. Geiger Grade is open all year. Mt. Rose is another nice climb. 350 days of sunshine (no gray skies), although I opt for running most of the winter and can run outside 365 days a year! There are tons of trails and they are all legal for Mt. Biking. Additionally they just opened the tallest indoor climbing wall in the world downtown. I love it here---and can be in the Bay area in about 3 hours. Send me any questions you might have at jonim@well.com.

[taylorj]

Everything mentioned here is true. the 3 hour drive is in the summer-time with no snow but the road construction can be a pain and cause delays...course you have the gold country (Auburn/Folsom) which is closer and very doable in less than 2 hours).

Tahoe is amazing year around for everything. And they do most of the shoveling. In Reno almost everyday you can ride by the afternoon.

And no state taxes, and nice affordable housing. You can ride your bike right to the airport...Markleeville is a bit more than an hour away with some of the best riding anywhere...

Ping taylorj - Pretty sure that she lives there and can give you an accurate portrait. Downtown Reno is pretty dismal, though. Right outside is very nice is you want to do outdoorsy stuff - close to tahoe skiing, which in the springtime is incomparable, good riding, hiking, kayaking, et. al.

The distance to the bay area can be tricky - best to think of that as a function of road conditions and traffic than one of miles. It is not unheard of for the trip to take upwards of 12 hours when the conditions align in the right way.

[ThomasRZ]

This is awesome. Look for a more detailed e-mail from me today.

Thanks, everyone!

[Gradient]

I have not lived there but been quite often because a close friend moved there. The bad - gambling boom/bust culture. Many areas suffer from western cheap land sprawl, leaving downtown half dead, but the last boom cleaned up large areas of downtown. The bust is not as bad as Vegas, but Nevada is hurtin big time. With the gambling culture you get a lot of trouble mostly in the downtown area. There is a regional professional crowd with medical centers and UNR and a lot of sports-minded AWD types interspersed with the 4x4 truck crowd.

Recreation starts in town with the Truckee river running through it, flyfish and kayak before blackjack. There are bike paths and canal roads to get you out of town. Within a half hour is the Sierras and Mr. Rose, a medium-sized ski area that would get more press if is wasn't overshadowed by Heavenly, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows. Let's not forget Rolland della Santa...

My friend lives in what is called the Old Southwest portion of down which has home mostly built between '30s-'70s, with many of the older Mansions found in town and many renovated homes, beautiful neighborhood. There are some great restaurants and bars but you have to cast far and wide between them.

Apologies if this frequent flyer description is overly generalized or harsh. I like it enough to have been there a half dozen times in the last few years.

[Gradient]

Could not use the edit button, but wanted to add that many people don't realize that Reno is almost at a mile-high elevation. Makes for cooler nights and colder winters and in the rainshadow of the Sierras so a lot like high-desert.

[taylorj]

I live at 5300' in Northwest Reno! I am closer to the California Stateline than I am to downtown. Very much the high-desert. My gas/electric bill averages $50-60 a month because no matter how hot or cold it gets, there is 15% humidity so always cools down at night and the lack of clouds cover in the winter means the radiant sunshine comes through the windows warming things up. (in the fall and spring, my gas/electric can be next to nothing.)

The "news on how bad Nevada is doing" is 90% from Las Vegas but the gambling boom dying is actually true here---but like I said, I don't do the casino thing. For an outdoors person, Reno is pretty darn nice. Lots of Northern Californians are here in Reno, so I feel right at home! You will feel the elevation for about a month and then you feel like Superman when riding/racing and for sure running at Sea-level!

Could not use the edit button, but wanted to add that many people don't realize that Reno is almost at a mile-high elevation. Makes for cooler nights and colder winters and in the rainshadow of the Sierras so a lot like high-desert.

[MarkC]

I'd move there just to eat breakfast at the Squeeze-In each morning. But I'm easy.

[taylorj]

Squeeze-In and Peg's Glorified Eggs both RULE! (So does "all-you-can-eat-sushi"! We have some of the best sushi places and even our friends from the Bay Area say our sushi rules and it is all you can eat. After a day climbing the Death Ride Passes in markleeville, there is nothing like a sushi feast! Not sure where you are coming from...I mean we don't have the culture and diversity of NYC. New England, etc., but it is an easy place to live a nice quality of life if you like the great outdoors. If you like the culture and nightlife of the cities..you will find it lacking, but if you like to be outdoors and being away from people...it's great. No traffic (our commute rush hour is in one place at the 395/80 interchange and lasts for 5 minutes. Should be noted: I like boring places and I only care if I can ride and run and not drive and have a lot of food to eat! (-:

I'd move there just to eat breakfast at the Squeeze-In each morning. But I'm easy.

[VeloRyan]

+1 on the Squeeze In breakfast's (just was there on sunday)

If you're outdoorsy (i.e. ski, bike, hike, kayak, rock climb) you'll love it. It's all about the access to Lake Tahoe also. You can do epic mountain bike rides (if you're in to that whole dirt thing) and road rides too.

Can do a three sport day if you're motivated (I have surfed, skied and biked all in the same day........long day, with some driving thrown in, but nevertheless it can be done).

If you head this way feel free to contact me as well.

Good luck on the decision.

[Gradient]

I went to the NW Squeeze-In and it was good but unfortuately I had already been introduced to the downtown Peg's Glorified Ham n Eggs, none of the other locations had the same greasy spoon atmosphere of the downtown location.

[MarkC]

Squeeze-In and Peg's Glorified Eggs both RULE!

We get to Reno regularly for the big bowling tournaments at the NBS (the building across from the old bus stop with the geodesic dome shaped thing on the front). We don't "do" casinos though so when we visit Reno we often stay in Truckee. We like the small Scandinavia inspired hotel that is a mile or so out of Truckee going toward the airport. On the right just past the park with the ice rink....

Got hooked on the Squeeze-In up there. In March we were out for a tournament and stayed downtown and were very excited to find the "new" Reno Squeeze location. We brought about 15 friends to breakfast and they were all hooked instantly.

Will try Peg's next time.

Only place I can compare to Squeeze is the Potato Shack in Encinitas. Big fan of breakfast spots.... :-)

Should be noted: I like boring places and I only care if I can ride and run and not drive and have a lot of food to eat! (-:

+1 !!!!


How is the skiing and mtn biking in the Mount Rose area? Looks like one could live out toward the bottom of 431 or 430 and have great access to dirt and road (if you like climbing) and not have to deal with "downtown".

[taylorj]

I do love Truckee...the home of the first "Squeeze IN" and if you are a breakfast guy, Peg's is awesome and was opened by this guy from NYC - Queen's and so he infused NYCity with California Hippee and created an amazing breakfast joint. The line is out the door and only open from I think 8am-2pm.

We get to Reno regularly for the big bowling tournaments at the NBS (the building across from the old bus stop with the geodesic dome shaped thing on the front). We don't "do" casinos though so when we visit Reno we often stay in Truckee. We like the small Scandinavia inspired hotel that is a mile or so out of Truckee going toward the airport. On the right just past the park with the ice rink....

Got hooked on the Squeeze-In up there. In March we were out for a tournament and stayed downtown and were very excited to find the "new" Reno Squeeze location. We brought about 15 friends to breakfast and they were all hooked instantly.

Will try Peg's next time.
Only place I can compare to Squeeze is the Potato Shack in Encinitas. Big fan of breakfast spots.... :-)

+1 !!!!


How is the skiing and mtn biking in the Mount Rose area? Looks like one could live out toward the bottom of 431 or 430 and have great access to dirt and road (if you like climbing) and not have to deal with "downtown".

Biking in that area is awesome. But wake up early to climb Rose (traffic on the Nevada side right past Bobby Julich's house has no bike lane)...just up there yesterday and you can see the colors changing already.

[Steve-O]

Reno local thus I thought I would chime in... I moved here from Chicago in 2004

Cycling
Reno has a great local cycling scene. The Reno Wheelmen have a Tuesday night race series, MTB race series, and right now the Sagebrush cyclocross series. Its not uncommon for local pros to show up to "train" against some of the locals. Example - Ex pro downhiller Shaun Palmer just raced our local CX race. Alex Candalario is fan favorite. Paul Mach lives up at Incline Village, etc. etc. If your a racer then check search the result at the US Masters Nationals in Bend from this year. You might be surprised at the number of Reno guys that placed well (including a couple of Masters champions). As mentioned in other threads, Reno is at 4500' thus high altitude. That gives you a little more endurance when racing down in Sacramento or SF too!

As for casual riding the local Procrastinating Pedalers group does 2-3 group rides every week that are kept at a mellow pace. I'd check out their ride calendar at Pedalers.org

Outdoors
Plenty of skiing close by. Mt. Rose is a 30 minute drive for me. Last year was a good snow year thus got in 35+ days of snowboarding on the mountain. Also great backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, and XC skiing. In the summer you've got watersports at Tahoe and Donner Lake. Whitewater kayaking on the Truckee. Also great hiking and backpacking.

Weather
This summer I don't think we got a day over 100F. Plenty of sunny days. In the winter we might get a week of snow but it eventually melts. We DO get some wind here due to proximity to the mountains.

The Casino Thing
Yes, there are casinos here but at TaylorJ said, you don't need to go to them unless you work in the industry. I hit a casino restaurant a couple of times a year with friends and that is pretty much the extent of my visits.

Housing
I live south of town in the "SW Suburbs" down by Windy Hill. Our family found our home after looking at some 60+ properties around town. I tend to like Reno a little better then Sparks but base my home location close to my work location. There are many housing deals to be found due to the mortgage crisis. As for neighborhoods it depends on what you want. Old southwest is older housing stock with cute brick bungalows. Newer homes can be found in the NW and south ends of town. You get more square footage but think tile roofs and stucco walls like you'd find in Vegas, Phoenix, or LA.

Feel free to ping me offline at Domestique at gmail dot com and I'd be happy to chat. Or if you visit with your bike drop me a line and we can go for a ride!

[ThomasRZ]

Everyone, thanks for the excellent advice. I've PM'd some of y'all and I'll probably query the rest in the coming days. Anyway, I'm flying out Wednesday morning...I'm not sure of my itinerary yet, but I think I have most of Wednesday free to do as I please. Probably can't get it together to ride, but I'd be into getting a tour of the town or beer with a local Salonista.

[ThomasRZ]

Reno is awesome. I love it here.

I ended up moving into a shack near Renown, as I wanted to be within walking distance of work, though I've ridden every single day. I haven't had a chance to eat at Peg's or Squeeze-In, but I promise I will when I get paid.

VeloRyan kicked my ass going up Geiger and in severe MTB action on Peavine. Good golly, I have some work to do as a flatlander who hadn't ridden with any sort of anger in the weeks leading up to the move.

[MarkC]

Reno peoples:

Have a visit coming in March. Normally stay in one of the casinos but don't enjoy that. Any suggestions for places to stay that have a better atmosphere and which don't have slot machines clanging away? Maybe just stay up in Truckee at the Ceder House or something similar.

Tnx for the local input,

Mark