By Alicia Barber, PhD
Reno City Council returns this Wednesday, July 26th with some major decisions related to downtown revitalization. Now, I know that downtown is not a chief concern of all local residents, who may have felt alienated by it for years, maybe decades. Relative newcomers may have spent little if any time there, with the exception of a festival or parade. But the City has decided to devote some serious attention (and funds) to the former casino core with the intent of luring back not just tourists of various types, but residents, too. And they’re spending a lot of public money to do it.
What that means is that all residents should be helping to evaluate whether the decisions and funding being proposed are in the public interest. Do they truly represent steps that will accelerate the desired revitalization? Would the actions being contemplated by our City leaders help lure YOU downtown? Let them know!
Something that I’ve learned through studying Reno for 20+ years is that its downtown is like no other. Yes, of course, all cities have similarities. But the waxing and waning of downtown’s casinos has given it some unique challenges. Its gaming footprint has shrunk but consolidated. And we haven’t yet figured out how to integrate what remains of it into a thriving, walkable urban ecosystem. What other businesses can succeed in a space where major chunks of property are devoted to inward-facing casino resorts? What other endeavors are compatible with the environment they have created and perpetuate?
Strategies imported from other cities can be promising, but some don’t make sense applied to this specific context. That’s why it’s important not just to follow “best practices” but to closely examine how each would play out in this particular space.
Looking at some of this week’s agenda items, I have two overarching concerns: one is whether the Council has all the information it needs to make informed decisions. And the other is whether some of the initiatives being proposed constitute the most responsible use of public funds as opposed to potentially more effective alternatives. Revitalizing the core is going to take a lot of coordinated, incremental steps, and it’s essential that each step is carefully calibrated to get things moving in the right direction, in the proper order. So I’d like to offer some thoughts to help Council and the rest of us think through some of these consequential decisions.
Read more at The Barber Brief
The Barber Brief is an independent e-newsletter and blog written by Dr. Alicia Barber on the Substack platform. It is reposted by This Is Reno with her permission.
