Carson City Visit - Post Mortem (Reno: houses, established neighborhood, schools)

[Mikala43]

We visited Carson City area as a possible retirement location, stayed for 6 days. We spent time in Genoa, Carson City, Tahoe and drove through the area at the base of the mountains between Reno and Carson City.

We loved it. We concentrated on Carson City, as it would probably be the town we spent the most time in. While not a "foodie" city, they are trying and we had some tasty creative food, emphasizing local farm meat and produce. We visited two cigar bars and had a good time. The city tries to have something going on all through summer (Wine tasting, first Fridays, that type of thing). I was surprised that it wasn't more country, and had a kind of hipster / country boy hybrid thing going on, and that observation offended no one in the bar.

Speaking of which..... the people were super nice. Most were friendly and helpful, and polite in traffic.

We visited supermarkets, outdoor stores, RV lots, and furniture stores to get an idea of prices.

We drove through some subdivisions to get a feel, and fell in love with the new Montana homes between Genoa and Carson (I have a bad sense of direction, that's where I think they are.) We really like the whole area at the base of the mountains.

We love how close Lake Tahoe is and did a couple of day trips (due to bad air quality in Carson from Cali fires), love having Reno near for anything that is needed. We hung out at Washoe Lake on our way to the airport and nature watched, and went to Virginia City.

We plan on visiting again around January to see how it is in winter. We give two thumbs up as our retirement location. We have moved up our move date to 3 years.

Now that we have zeroed in on the Carson area, feel free to chime in with what you love, and hate, about the area!!!

[utsci]

I'm not a big fan of Carson City itself, but it sounds like you have found all of the nice places nearby. I think the big box shopping in Carson is much better that Reno with bigger and nicer stores. Gas is much cheaper in Carson than Reno. Housing in Reno is going over the top in prices again however Carson seems to be less expensive.

There is always something to do here. Whether you like to be outdoors or not, you can find something you like. The fires in CA have been putting a bit of smoke in the air making it uncomfortable to be outside late afternoon to early evening. This happens most years for a few days to a few weeks. But it seems to be clearing out by dark, and we have still been able to open the windows and enjoy the cool breeze overnight. Laying in the hammock or enjoying some time on the patio with neighbors in the evenings, without mosquitoes, is really nice. Light up the firepit to make s'mores and pour a few drinks!

The rest of July we will have Artown in Reno and then Hot August Nights all over the area, but the big events are in Reno. There is a PGA golf event in early August. Most years we try to get to the Greek Festival at St Anthony's in Reno. We always enjoy watching the Perseid meteor showers in August. And now we'll have the eclipse too. Every week there is Food Truck Friday in Reno. Jazz music in Carson in August. September really gets going with the outdoor events as the weather cools. There's the Rib Cookoff, camel races, balloon races, air races, wine walk, horse show, dog show, Genoa Candy Dance, (not a dance but you can look it up). October is the Italian and Celtic festivals. And of course Nevada Day!

What I don't like after 30+ years here? Development without infrastructure. We don't have kids anymore but the only funding the schools get is from the meager property tax. The schools here are busting at the seams but they keep building more houses. Same with the roads. They build narrow connector roads and then wonder why there are problems. As long as you don't need to commute during peak hours you might not even notice. Fire and police are stretched very thin. We are in an older, established neighborhood where everyone knows each other. But in the new developments where the houses are on top of one another, there seems to be less community involvement, you probably don't know any neighbors, and there seems to be more petty problems like bikes disappearing off the porch at night, stuff stolen out of unlocked cars in the driveways, vandalism of property.

This isn't the cheapest place to retire, but it's not bad. And I love the amenities here!

[blktoptrvl]

To me, the best thing about CC is that it is about 3 hours from the Tioga gate of Yosemite.

[Nn2036]

Originally Posted by Mikala43

We visited Carson City area as a possible retirement location, stayed for 6 days. We spent time in Genoa, Carson City, Tahoe and drove through the area at the base of the mountains between Reno and Carson City.

We loved it. We concentrated on Carson City, as it would probably be the town we spent the most time in. While not a "foodie" city, they are trying and we had some tasty creative food, emphasizing local farm meat and produce. We visited two cigar bars and had a good time. The city tries to have something going on all through summer (Wine tasting, first Fridays, that type of thing). I was surprised that it wasn't more country, and had a kind of hipster / country boy hybrid thing going on, and that observation offended no one in the bar.

Speaking of which..... the people were super nice. Most were friendly and helpful, and polite in traffic.

We visited supermarkets, outdoor stores, RV lots, and furniture stores to get an idea of prices.

We drove through some subdivisions to get a feel, and fell in love with the new Montana homes between Genoa and Carson (I have a bad sense of direction, that's where I think they are.) We really like the whole area at the base of the mountains.

We love how close Lake Tahoe is and did a couple of day trips (due to bad air quality in Carson from Cali fires), love having Reno near for anything that is needed. We hung out at Washoe Lake on our way to the airport and nature watched, and went to Virginia City.

We plan on visiting again around January to see how it is in winter. We give two thumbs up as our retirement location. We have moved up our move date to 3 years.

Now that we have zeroed in on the Carson area, feel free to chime in with what you love, and hate, about the area!!!

Glad you like the area. You were here during the worst time with the smoke from the Yosemite fire. The air is much cleaner at other time.

I did post pictures from the Montana neighborhood in the Pictures thread if anybody is curious.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/47929278-post60.html

Btw, Reno also has tons of free outdoor concertseating during July's Artown.

[Mikala43]

Montana was something we considered, and it IS beautiful!!! When it is not under snow......

[Nn2036]

Originally Posted by Mikala43

Montana was something we considered, and it IS beautiful!!! When it is not under snow......

It looks even better with snow! I like winter in Northern Nevada. The snow-capped mountain looks magical.

[NevadaRE]

The Genoa Candy Dance is actually a dance, but most people just go to the craft fair during the day and not the dance at night.

Carson City has some very pretty areas, many beautiful historic buildings, and enough shopping that you wouldn't need to go to Reno unless you wanted. The west side tends to be wetter and greener than the east side. Much of the historic district is on the west side near downtown.

The new freeway bypass is about to open. On Saturday there was the opportunity to walk the freeway before it opens. Like Reno, if you just take the freeway you will miss the scenery. For anyone touring Carson City I recommend they take the old route (Carson Street) to see a glimpse of town as well as the capitol building.

In my opinion the best events in CC are Nevada Day (October) and Taste of Downtown (June/July). Here's a video promoting The Taste of Downtown. In it you can see some scenes of downtown Carson City.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_z7CMS9ma4

[Vic Romano]

They need to open that bypass! We were there Friday on our way home and it was tantalizingly complete!!!

Congratulations on your decision. Don't forget to visit the hole-in-the-wall Lady Tamales as well as the Villa Basque Cafe...

We preferred the bigger city to the north (probably because I've lived in So. Cal.) but Carson is a nice place with MUCH cheaper gasoline (about 40-50 cents per gallon right now).

[Mikala43]

Nn2036 I was having a senior moment.... I was like "why are they posting pics of Montana....?"

So I glanced at one and commented. Didn't realize that whole area is called Montana.

We went through the golf course and liked the area, and a newer subdivision up the road (which we really liked).

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by Mikala43

Speaking of which..... the people were super nice. Most were friendly and helpful, and polite in traffic.

Then it must not be completely overrun by Californians yet. I liked Carson City quite a bit; have been there a number of times but not recently.

If I were looking to make this move from another state, I'd be concerned about fleeing Californians. They drive badly and they're flush with cash from selling their million-dollar-plus houses, sending local prices soaring. In 3 years a lot could change.