Reviews & Comments
Elko, NV
Small town with big problems. -
11/10/2020Elko is like all small Nevada towns - limited in many things and the only change as far as the eye can see are over priced housing starts, drugs and crime. I really like Elko however. I'm preferential to small towns and I get by without a ton of services. We have resigned ourselves to driving back to Reno or Salt Lake for medical things. Which sucks but I end up saving money that way. Elko has really had a hard time with supply chain issues - long before Covid. The mining companies make things work out for them but they have an abundance of resources. For an average person, you will find expired and rotten food at Raley's, empty shelves at Walmart, crowded nasty people at Smiths and Albertson's. Some know when to show up after a shipment comes in and buy out as much as they can. There is some small town friendliness here. It's a great area if you like to be outdoors in the mountains or fish or hunt. However - you need to either fly fish or have a boat. Shore fishing is very tough except maybe the Spring Creek marina. You have to tolerate the LDS here also. Before the pandemic they are relentless for knocking on doors, stopping you on the street and just general pestering until you agree to let them help you or go to one of their "gatherings". They infiltrate the business structure here which is why I suspect we don't have more options in town for goods. Internet has been identified as one of the worst areas in the nation but fiber is being put in as I write this. However - I recently found out the prices and I'm not paying $200 per month for high speed internet. Frontier and Zito are super bad - ask anyone. We recently had an emergency with our dog and nobody in Elko could treat him. Not a single vet. We had to go to Reno (5 hours away) for an emergency vet hospital. For follow up care back in Elko - vets were saying they could see our dogs months from now... this is so unacceptable I don't know how to make sense of it. Elko is pretty much a very limited island. For major things and sometimes basic things - be prepared to drive to Twin Falls ID or Salt Lake City UT. Reno is 4-5 hours away but we have family there so that's where we go. But I can't afford to live there.
Reno, NV
Survival in this city is hard. -
11/10/2020I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. Not when it was "silicon valley". I had to basically flee after my son was born, 20 years ago because I was drowning financially. I have been registered Republican and Democrat and Independent. I do not align with being very progressive or conservative. Why I mention that is because Nevada is a very difficult state to find acceptance because of the strong beliefs here. Reno is now like CA at this point to me. The trendy, over priced grocery stores, horrific driving, insane rents and home prices, drugs, crime add to it all. I've sat around and watched the Reno mayor attack and troll people on social media, make personal speeches during city council meetings, invite greedy developers to come into the region and bust out ringers that cost a fortune. What I have seen now is foreign entities come in and gobble up brand new homes, turn around and rent them out well above market rate. Reno is dead last in the country for mental health and I 100% agree as I have a son with disorders. I spent 5 years scouring - calling, visiting every possible health professional and it was a waste of time. What ends up happening - doctors and mental health professionals will come into Reno, attracted by cheap UNR costs to finish their degrees or the lure of being right next to Tahoe and skiing. They quickly learn what a mistake it was and leave. ALL of my primary doctors left within 2 years of coming into their practice. My son's pediatric psychiatrist left after 1 year after the UNR medical system denied him from practicing "therapy" and only wanted him to dish out medication. This is the norm for Reno. If you aren't playing the game, in the circle, you end up suffering. Don't attempt to buy health insurance either. You will get a good package if you work for a casino because they have the insurance companies in their pocket. The town has become a mess. Older strip malls are destroyed - business owners forced out in favor of upscale, highly expensive cement cities. Traffic is a nightmare. Driving is dangerous. Forget accidents - you have a high likelihood of dying from just crossing the street. I'm not exaggerating. For reference I have lived in Dayton and Elko also. I have traveled the state and frequented Carson City and Gardnerville area a lot. All I can say in my bottom line is that you'd better have a fat pocket book to live here, and if you are coming over from CA to save on taxes, you won't much longer. Washoe county is the most highly taxes county in the state. Incoming CA residents think nothing of voting for increased taxes which they believe will do some good. What ends up happening is what always happens in Reno - money gets "lost" in the system. And people suffer. Nevada is very sad to me at this point. We are again "fleeing" this state we have called home for 20 years just to survive.