The Detroit of the West

Because of lousy, inept, and corrupt politicians who failed to exploit the good points about northern Nevada, Reno is truly in danger of becoming a ghost town.

Relying on gaming and cheap-assed warehouse work hasn't done a whole lot of good; nothing is changing the fact the economy there is continually in the ditch.

There was a lot I liked about Reno, especially the access to hiking trails, Lake Tahoe, and other outdoor activities and the many special events in the area. Low cost or free events like Artown and Hot August Nights were great. Contrast that to here in southern Oregon, where you have to pay through the nose for just about everything. Unfortunately, the idiot elected officials in Reno, despite all of the talk about redevelopment--at least for about thirty years they were talking about diversification of the economy--have run the Biggest Little City into the ditch, making it almost impossible for the city to recover.

Comparisons to Detroit are apt:

But city officials and businesspeople say that only new jobs downtown will attract locals. In recent years, they say, most casinos that were converted into condominiums have done poorly because of the housing crisis and a lack of incentives for living downtown.

Andrew Clinger, the city manager, said Apple would help. Besides a data storage center on the city’s outskirts, Apple will open an office downtown in a new building that may house other technology companies the city is wooing. Critics have said that overly generous tax breaks were given to attract Apple, but Mr. Clinger said the benefits could extend beyond future revenues and jobs by changing Reno’s image.

“Attracting an international icon to Reno puts us on the map,” Mr. Clinger said, adding that the new building would also help change downtown’s landscape by replacing “seedy motels” that are there now.

But others say it will take more than Apple to change downtown, much less Reno. “The recent announcement by Apple is a positive sign,” said Mark Nichols, the acting chairman of the economics department at the University of Nevada, Reno. “But, frankly, it’s not really obvious what Reno’s new direction will be.”

As long as idiots run the city council and other governmental entities there, nothing is going to revive a city which used to have a lot going for it.