Burke: It’s not that Vegas doesn’t like you, they just can’t relate

Las Vegas doesn’t like you. Well, maybe that’s not fair. A recent study found that most residents of Las Vegas never venture out to the rural areas. Therefore, Las Vegas doesn’t know you even exist.

Our state mimics the national map with regard to politics. This past election our population centers of Reno and Las Vegas were solidly blue and the rural areas solidly red. It didn’t used to be that way. For a long time, the rural counties led our Legislature sessions with strong leadership and a focus on state issues. The more densely populated areas of our state have become increasingly disconnected with rural Nevada.

That change can be directly attributed to the influx of new residents moving from out of state. Reno has had rapid growth in warehousing, manufacturing, and technology companies. Many of the new companies bring jobs with good wages and a need for well-trained employees. They have had to bring new residents in from out of the area to meet their needs. Many of those new hires are coming from northern California, Sacramento and the Bay Area.

Reno has always had a northern California influence. For years, the casinos relied on tourists from California to make the two-to-four hour trek to Reno over Donner Summit on Interstate 80. With the growth of Indian gaming Reno has had to diversify its tourist base and is emphasizing outdoor recreation and special events to attract visitors. The downtown corridor of Reno is evolving to reflect the influence of new residents with more urban businesses and residences being built. Older buildings are being renovated into hip new shops, restaurants, galleries, and bars. Urban millennials are fueling Reno’s growth and influencing its politics.

Las Vegas has long relied on a strong tourist base from Southern California. During major weekend events and holidays, Interstate 15 resembles a parking lot more than a freeway between Las Vegas and LA. Las Vegas continues to grow both in population and in its tourist base. Long a world-renowned international gambling destination, Las Vegas is now attracting professional sports franchises, further increasing its stature as a major U.S. city. Las Vegas has depended on a labor pool from Southern California and a portion of Las Vegas residents are transient or seasonal.

The growth of our two largest cities also brings a host of problems. Housing in Reno has skyrocketed, putting affordable housing out of reach for many of its longtime residents. In Las Vegas, where affordable housing has been a benefit, prices are again on the rise. Traffic, smog, gangs, drug problems, road rage, and even murders are a common occurrence in Las Vegas. There are some great neighborhoods and things to do in Las Vegas but take away the Strip and Fremont Street and you might see a suburb of Los Angeles with all the problems of a big city.

Those problems bring a need for more regulations to those areas to maintain an orderly city. But there is spillover into our rural counties by legislators that only have Reno or Las Vegas constituents to satisfy. They don’t seem to understand or care that rural Nevada neither needs nor wants more regulations and rules. Part of the attraction of living in rural Nevada is more personal freedoms and lack of “big brother” watching over us.

Another phenomenon is city residents from California that make the move to rural Nevada to escape to a more open and less restricted lifestyle. Unfortunately though, those new residents find that they miss some rules and regulations that they had in their past city life. They then want to impose those rules and regulations on Nevada’s rural residents. These actions have spawned an often-seen bumper sticker in rural Nevada, “I don’t care how you did it in California, you live in Nevada now”.

Will this year’s State Legislature mimic our national election and impose more rules and regulations affecting our rural areas? Will the Legislature continue its recent trend of taking from rural Nevada and giving to our two populated areas? The majority of the legislators reside in the urban areas so the odds are likely that they will. We need to keep a close eye on the legislators from Reno and Las Vegas, they will be the culprits in creating more regulations for the rural areas.

Tim Burke is a businessman, philanthropist, educator and Pahrump resident. Contact him at timstakenv@gmail.com