Nevada is different -- that's all there is to it.
I mean, how many other places are there where residents will threaten the life of someone if they mispronounce the name? It's not Ne-VAH-da, and if you say Ne-VAH-da, you may find yourself at the bottom of the Sparks Marina Park, got it?
But it's not only pronunciation fetishes that make the state of Nevada -- compared to many other states -- wacky. It's not only the weather, or the amount of growth, or even Aaron Russo. The thing that makes Nevada unmistakably unique -- like it or not -- is gaming.
I really learned this when I went away to -- gasp! -- California for college (I would have stayed and went to the University of Nevada, Reno, but I decided I wanted to be tens of thousands of dollars in debt). I noticed right away that something was terribly wrong with the supermarkets there; however, I could not put my finger on what it was until I was nearly through my freshman year. Then, it hit me like an atomic bomb test -- there were no video poker machines at the store. I am serious -- being a life-long Nevadan, I had never really been around a supermarket without the poker machines. It was weird.
It was soon after this that I got yet another reminder about how strange the Silver State is. A bunch of dormmates and I somehow got into a conversation about high school hangouts. I mentioned that my friends and I often went to the Purple Parrot restaurant at the (then) Clarion Hotel-Casino. My dormmates just looked at me like I had lost it; it was like I'd just told them it was their God-given right to own a car or something.
Anyway, my point is that Nevada and gaming are unseparable. That's why I've taken some interest in the fact that some people have started questioning whether Reno-Sparks should abandon ship on gaming and look for other ways to find economic growth.
This topic was even the topic of a lengthy series in the Reno Gazette-Journal several months back. The series, quite poorly, tried to answer the question: Does gaming have a future in Reno? It came to few conclusions, and was really a poor piece of journalism (the Gazette-Journal can do good things when it wants, but was clearly out to lunch at Harrah's on this series).
The answer to the question about whether gaming has a future in the area, however, is not hard to answer. I realized this about a week ago. I was having a serious pan roast craving, and a friend and I embarked to John's Oyster Bar at the Nugget. I had circle the parking garage several times to get a space (this because valet parking was full), take several detours to get through the crowded casino and wait a half-hour to get into the restaurant.
Does this sound like a dying casino industry? The same can be said for places like Baldini's, the Atlantis, and the Peppermill -- they're always busy. Boomtown is making an enormous expansion. Heck, the Nugget, the Atlantis and the Peppermill were tripping over themselves to see who could grow faster recently -- and rumors are always flying about the next expansions. (Although if the Nugget does expand, rumor has it the new tower will be somewhere in Verdi, as apparently John does not like the towers to be too close).
The people who think gaming is dying apparently are looking only at downtown Reno. It, in a word, sucks. The Mapes has seemingly been closed as long as it was open, and half the rest of the buildings are seemingly closed. The city is finally taking some action -- the Riverside is being taken care of, and a theater is going in (sound familiar?) -- but the damage is obviously done.
The problem is not gaming; the problem is most locals do not go downtown. There is no reason to put up with the narrow streets, the pedestrian problems, the homeless, Topsy the Circus Circus clown or the Reno City Council; except for several theaters (like Bruka and the Pioneer) and a bowling stadium its taxpayer owners can rarely use, there is nothing there locals can't get elsewhere.
So, don't give up on gaming. Casinos are alive and well in Northern Nevada. Besides, without gaming, Nevada would not be Nevada -- it would be California East. And that's no fun; everybody pronounces California just fine. What would we use the Helms Sparks Marina Pit for then, anyway?
Jimmy Boegle, a fifth-generation Nevadan, does not think it's right for the Silver Legacy to say it was established in 1895 -- he encourages the Caranos to take a history class. Jimmy's column appears here Tuesdays.