How Reno is Telling a Better Story
This article originally appeared on mabblemedia.com
I look out the window of my Westlook apartment as poolside sunbathers soak in high-altitude UV rays. It’s a hot summer day here in Reno, and this complex where I live, part of Mayor Schieve’s “Blight Busted” plan, sits on a West 4th Street site formerly occupied by dilapidated motels. Now there’s a luxury apartment complex with cabanas and shuffleboard. It’s been quite the transformation.
I’m new to Westlook, but a lifelong Renoite. I was born at St. Mary’s, and graduated from Galena HS and UNR. My junior prom dinner was takeout from Pub n’ Sub. I still occasionally call the GSR the Hilton, probably because I hit my head pretty hard on the halfpipe at the short-lived indoor skate park on Keystone in ‘96 or ‘97, I can’t remember. And my mercury levels are at near-lethal proportions from ingesting all the sushi I can eat in a city that’s 200 miles from an ocean.
Reno isn’t just my home. It’s my blood type.
But honestly, I grew up with the biggest little embarrassment about my hometown. As many of us who were raised here can attest, our city’s infamous reputation as a binge-drinking, divorce-doling, slot-cranking desert destination with discount strippers and health code-defying buffets didn’t foster a sense of civic pride. It’s no mystery why Reno 911 had eight seasons worth of material. Even The Muppets roasted us. We were such an easy target.
Yet the city has been transforming. Rapidly. And not only is Reno getting better, it’s telling a better story. This article is about that.
On a Mural Tour Through a Booming Town
I’m heading out on an assignment to follow Mabble Media’s Mural Maps. With clean, hand-drawn illustrations and background info on the artists, the maps depict routes for enjoying the public works that visually represent the transformation of Reno’s MidTown, Riverwalk, and Downtown districts.
As I walk from my apartment to my car, a Washoe Zephyr arrives, its gusts shaking the trees and ushering in a torrent of rain. A pool umbrella is launched into the sky like a hot air balloon as the formerly undisturbed Westlook sunbathers scramble for safety. They seem surprised that summer can be suddenly overthrown by fall here. They must have just relocated from the Bay Area. They’ll learn… in time.
Word that Reno is a desirable place to live is continually spreading. My new neighbors are young. They’re professionals. And they chose to move here. For the longest time, telling an outsider “I’m from Reno” would be met with either “Is that near Las Vegas?” or “I’m sorry.” It’s hard to say which response hurts worse. “I’m sorry” was completely understandable, though. This city earned a reputation for its sordid antics. I mean, there used to be a prominent local social club whose initiates had to carry a chicken around town for several days, take it from bar to bar to get it intoxicated, then, and I need you to brace yourself for what’s coming next, bite the living chicken’s head off. This is not a legend. History is written by the winners. In Reno’s case, that’s not the chickens. But the explosive economic revitalization, as well as the influx of new residents, is progressing Reno’s culture. This city is not what it once was.
I get in my car and head towards downtown for the first part of my self-guided Mural Map tour.
DOWNTOWN
“Mommy, why doesn’t Reno have a normal downtown like all the other cities?” I asked when I was a child. Mommy had no answer.
There was a time when just thinking about the urban ashtray that was downtown Reno could cause emphysema. The district used to be a mecca for stab-happy bikers and gruff geriatrics who spent their entire visit complaining that the price of Ham ‘n’ Eggs at the ‘Neva had skyrocketed from $0.99 to $1.99. Johnny Cash famously sang about shooting a man in Reno. It’s amazing he was able to stop at one.
But now, as I walk north on Virginia towards the arch, I take notice of the former Harrah’s Casino which is being renovated into a non-gaming, mixed-use property with retail, office, and living space. Across the street is Whitney Peak, a fresh, non-gaming hotel with the world’s largest artificial climbing wall running up its side. The shift from a gaming-dominated economy to a more diversified one has triggered a swift evolution of downtown. Sure, there are still some lingering blinking lights and seedy motels, but it’s remarkable how far this area has come in such a short time.
The murals contribute to downtown’s renaissance (or Reno-ssance, as chuckling dads like to say). They’re majestic in this neighborhood, especially the 15,000 sq. ft. mural called “Locomotion” which sits over the train tracks just north of the arch. My favorite piece, though, is “Go West” by Erik Burke, Nanook, and Nick Mann because, when you stand on a nearby red X on the sidewalk, the mural’s trees align with the Silver Legacy.
While it’s always going to be tourism-centered, downtown’s makeover is bringing with it a change in the quality of tourists it attracts. And, because of that, the image of downtown Reno is changing too—for the better.
RIVERWALK
I head south to follow the route depicted in the Riverwalk Mural Map, which zigzags across several bridges on the Truckee. People from the East Coast laugh that we call the Truckee a river. But we laugh at what they call mountains, so we’re even.
Reno started as nothing but a bridge, and as I cross the sleekly redesigned one on Virginia Street I think of the fabled divorcees who once stood here tossing their wedding rings into the river (this legend is true and I refuse to believe otherwise). Right now, the Truckee is a late-summer trickle, crossable even without a man-made overpass. So it’s mind-blowing to think about how much water poured from it during the great flood of ‘97. Unlike the biblical deluge, our flood didn’t wipe out civilization as we know it. But it’s a perfect marker of before and after. Since the flood, Reno/Sparks has gone through urban puberty, effectively doubling in size and adding “big city” amenities like AAA baseball. And Artown, with nearby Wingfield Park as its epicenter, has seen its attendance rise from 30,000 in pre-flood 1996 to over 300,000 today. Maybe the flood was the cataclysmic catalyst of Reno’s rebirth. Maybe not. All I can say is, Reno is substantially better on the other side of it.
There are only a handful of murals in the Riverwalk district (although the cartoonish and playful pieces at West Street Market are probably my favorite in town). So I decided to take a break from walking and find a seat along the river in front of the Reno Artist Lofts. As I recline on the concrete step, I look out where the historic Mapes once stood. The Mapes was the first high-rise casino/hotel in Reno—architecturally amazing, but poorly constructed and eventually uninhabitable. There was a fight to preserve it, but in the end the real estate was too prime to be occupied by a boarded-up relic. Now it’s a park and ice skating rink. Maybe the lesson is that sometimes we have to let go of cherished pieces of our past because they weren’t built to support our future. That might be sappy, but it's a necessary truth in life. As Reno evolves, it’s finding the balance between preserving the good parts of its history while building for the next chapter.
MIDTOWN
I double back along the river, then head south towards Mabble’s office on California Street en route to follow the MidTown Mural Map.
Not that long ago, MidTown was colloquially known by locals as “Dirty Reno” because it was nothing but a row of dive bars, seedy motels, sex shops, and grosser sex shops on repeat until Vassar Street. Now, it’s home to specialty coffee, boutique merchants, trendy restaurants, and bars without Tuaca-stained shag carpets.
MidTown used to offend the eyes. Now it attracts them. This was unthinkable even twenty years ago.
In addition to MidTown’s row of hip purveyors, it’s also home to the largest number of murals in Reno, which has eclipsed triple digits. As I follow the map, I take special note of a mural by Erik Burke on the side of the Ponderosa building that depicts John Muir catching a pinecone. As I cross the street to get closer, I feel the movement of an oncoming car breaking to a sudden halt. I’m wearing a backpack and carrying a map so the driver probably thinks I’m a tourist when, in fact, I’m just dumb. And thirsty. So I use my new lease on life to grab a drink at the Bubble Tea Station Cafe, where I assume a sex shop once stood.
The Biggest Little Rebranding
At Mabble Media, we do a lot of branding (and rebranding) work. A brand is the way an audience thinks and feels about an entity—whether that’s a product, company, or, in Reno’s case, a municipality. Brands are perceptions. Reno’s urban transformation has been remarkable, for sure, but what people think and feel about Reno is influenced far more by the story it’s telling. It has taken a concerted effort to tell a new story to the world and reshape public perception of the city.
In 2017, the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority reframed Reno as a destination brand, highlighting our region's cultural transformation and endless outdoor adventure opportunities. I like to imagine the marketing meeting went something like this:
Exec #1: The cost of ham ‘n’ eggs has skyrocketed. Our slots aren’t as loose as they once were. And we need to figure out how to stop being the butt of Muppet jokes. It’s time for a new branding strategy.
Exec #2, looking out the window, over the burgeoning downtown skyline nestled beneath the majestic snow-capped Sierras which cradle the most beautiful lake in the world, illuminated by a surrealistic pastel sunset: What if we highlight *gestures broadly at everything*
Exec #1: Jackpot.
In reality, effective rebranding involves far more of a sophisticated analysis. It requires a deep assessment of your core identity—who you are, what your strengths/weaknesses are, and what you stand for—to tell a better story about why you exist. In 2016, Reno officials hired the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to audit Reno’s Virginia St. corridor, from UNR to Virginia Lake, and offer strategies for the future. ULI’s vision for the future of Reno’s brand was built on three pillars:
Outdoor lifestyle
Arts and culture
Science and technology
Reno already offered these attractive features. It’s not like Tahoe was discovered in 2016. But the rebranding process enabled the city to see that it had specific strengths to lean into, which would help it tell a better story to the world. In other words, Reno was rebranded aspirationally, focusing on what we are becoming rather than what it is. And we are continually living into this new Reno brand in authentically Reno ways.
Today, Reno is consistently featured on lists of good places to live and visit, including being ranked by U.S. News & Review at #9 in quality of life. Sure, these lists don’t carry any objective authority, but it’s nice to get public praise rather than be fodder for Fozzie Bear. Reno’s rebranding is telling the story of a prospering outdoor gateway with a thriving culture, rather than a cheap Vegas alternative, and it’s changing the way the world sees us.
I used to be embarrassed to be from here. But I’m not anymore. Reno is not only getting better, it’s finally telling a better story.
