Reno’s Housing Crisis

“Reno is growing up from a big town into a city that’s emerging as a world player,” Lehmann said. “Reno is changing and becoming a different type of city and it needs to step up to that challenge.” Lehmann was the key speaker at a luncheon held by EDAWN.

For nearly a century, Reno took pride in being the Biggest Little City in the World. As a growth spurt brings in skyrocketing housing costs and a host of other challenges, however, some say it’s time for Reno to start thinking, well, big. Lemann who founded the Future Cities Leadership Lab and serves as the director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Architecture says Reno’s problems are nothing new. We know the problems but finding a cure it much tougher. “One of the top issues is housing,” said Mike Kazmierski, president and CEO of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Although Reno still has the advantage of short commutes compared to Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, space for new housing remains a problem, EDAWN’s Kazmierski said. To figure out why, one only needs to stand anywhere in Reno and look around. “We’ve got mountains all around and most of the easy, available land has already been built on,” Kazmierski said. “We also have a lot of BLM land around us so it’s not like we have a bunch of land nearby that we can just expand into.”

Lehmann agreed and also points to insufficient housing supply, worsening housing affordability, congestion at the Spaghetti Bowl which can be traced back to a shift in community development several decades ago.
Expanding farther away from the city center also comes with added costs, according to Lehmann. That’s because doing so comes with the need to build new sewer lines, utility connections and other infrastructure while also providing additional public services such as police and fire stations. Single-family housing also typically costs more per dwelling than multi-unit projects, resulting in pricier homes.  Some of the solution Lehmann suggests are, focusing less on sprawling single-family developments and doing more infill projects to increase housing density. Examples include multi-unit housing projects such as duplexes, bungalow courts and townhouses. Such units are part of what’s called the “missing middle,” residences that range from two to 50 units that increase housing density and are geared toward urban living.
By mixing such developments with retail and office spaces, Lehmann says you can create more synergistic communities that are not only more walkable but easier and cheaper to connect with via public transport.

Claudia Hanson who is the planning and Housing manager for the city of Reno said changes have been made in the last decade to increase housing density in several key areas. The changes include mixed zoning districts in the downtown core as well as key transportation hubs such as the transit corridor from Meadowood Mall to the University of Nevada, Reno. In addition to essentially allowing unlimited housing density in those sections, the changes eliminated a lot of the requirements that were slowing down projects, Hanson said. This made it possible for certain projects to go straight to permitting without having to go through the public meeting process. “The goal was to revitalize the downtown core … and also help slow down development on the fringes of the city so we can get higher density in the transit corridors,” Hanson said. Hanson, however, says it is also important to apply high-density zoning selectively and appropriately. Although the city is exploring mixed zoning options to increase density — albeit to a lesser extent than downtown — in some areas in northwest and southwest Reno, it does not believe it is a good idea to have unlimited density right next to single-family residential zoning.

“Every city that grows has a housing challenge, it’s not unique to Reno,” Lehmann said. “Now is the moment to act and get it right. I’m talking about quality density, not that nasty density gone wrong in the past that everybody hates. You don’t want to wait until it’s too late and the situation has changed.” At the same time, EDAWN’s Kazmierski admits that growth is a touchy subject. There are people, for example, who like the small-town feel of the Reno that they grew up in. Residents who already have homes also might not be able to relate to the challenges faced by people who are having difficulty finding housing right now. Add politics and the logistical challenges that come with addressing growth and you end up with complicated problems that can’t be solved easily Kazmierski said.

Hanson from the city of Reno agreed. “It’s a balancing act.”