Reno, Nevada: The Biggest Little City in the World (Emphasis on "Little," Whisper "Biggest")

So you're thinking about visiting Reno, Nevada. Maybe you're headed to Lake Tahoe and need a layover. Maybe you lost a bet. Maybe you just got divorced and want to do it the traditional way. Whatever brought you here, welcome to the city that RoastMyTown.com recently described as "mostly pawnshops and regret." We're going to be fairer than that, but only slightly.

Reno's Vibes: A Glowing Arch Writing Checks the Sidewalk Can't Cash

Reno sits along the Nevada–California border, in the Truckee River valley, about 23 miles northeast of Lake Tahoe. With 264,165 people at the 2020 census, it's the third most populous city in Nevada, which is a bit like being the third-tallest member of a family of hobbits.

Then there's downtown. Locals say it feels like a bomb went off, and one lifelong resident admitted he used to brag about downtown and now brags about the kayaks. That's the civic equivalent of praising your ex's dog. Virginia Street delivers a parade of payday lenders, pawn shops, and gamblers lying horizontally outside corner stores, all under a glowing arch.

Credit where it's due, though: that arch has stamina. The first Reno Arch went up in 1926 for the Nevada Transcontinental Highways Exposition. A century of promising a good time is more than most of us can say for our own promises.

The kayaking, to be fair, is legitimately great. The Truckee River runs right through downtown and has a whitewater park, which is more than Las Vegas can say unless you count the Bellagio fountains and a very bad decision.

A Poor Man's Vegas With Better Divorce Lore

Reno's history is genuinely fascinating, which makes the present-day pawnshop situation all the funnier. The city was founded in 1868 during construction of the Central Pacific Railroad and named after Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer. He never actually visited the city that bears his name. Smart man. He had the right idea.

Then came the divorce boom. For more than sixty years, Reno was the divorce capital of the world. The legal engine was a short residency requirement: Nevada cut it from six months to three in 1927, and four years later shortened it to six weeks. The results were staggering. Thousands of divorces were granted in Washoe County in the 1930s, when Reno's population was about 18,000. Rita Hayworth, Norman Rockwell and Gen. Douglas MacArthur were among those who got divorced here.

The famous ring-tossing off the Virginia Street Bridge may be mostly PR. State archivist Guy Rocha called the tale exaggerated, civic-booster hype, and he found evidence that 1930s divorcees would buy dime-store rings at Woolworth's to toss. Even the heartbreak was a knockoff. Poor Man's Vegas indeed.

Gambling was legalized statewide in 1931, and William Harrah opened operations in 1937, so Reno pivoted from ending marriages to ending bank accounts. Diversification!

Your Personality Is Your High School (and Other Small-Town Energy)

In Reno, the first question isn't "What do you do?" It's "Where'd you go to high school?" "Valleys kid" counts as a personality here, locals still get misty about Roller Kingdom like it was Studio 54, and everyone has to explain that Reno is nowhere near Las Vegas. (It's about 440 miles away. Please stop asking.)

You will run into someone you know, always, usually when wearing sweatpants. The city is a hot tub of the same 264,000 people.

Reno's resilience is real, and it deserves a respectful nod amid the jokes.

Midtown Cocktails, Shea's Tavern, and the Gentrification Tax

Here's the renaissance: a craft cocktail bar and a gastropub in the Bungalow District. Midtown is where $16 old fashioneds live, roughly two blocks from a motel awaiting demolition. It's the most Reno thing imaginable: artisanal bitters with a side of "is that building still standing?"

Locals meme about the prices, the legal edibles that leave them too high to find their own car, and the all-nighter at Shea's Tavern that became their entire twenties. Reno has also always had a taste for the weird. Local news this week features everything from a Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween performance at The Selden to a city workshop on massage parlor regulations. Never change, Reno.

The Verdict

Reno is a place with a real past, a beautiful river, Tahoe on its doorstep, and a downtown that's still looking for its second act. Visit for the kayaking, the arch, and the history. Bring a designated driver for the edibles.

Think we were too nice? See the full roast on RoastMyTown.com.