Metro Reno Wonders if Housing Boom Is 'Too Much Too Soon'

As more people and companies move out of California and into Reno, the city's residents are grappling with doubling median home prices and rising homelessness. 

According to Zillow, the average rent in Reno is slightly lower than $1,700 per month, and the median home price stands at roughly $340,000. Rents have increased approximately 30 percent since 2013, and the inventory of for-sale homes dropped 22 percent from February 2017 to February 2018. Additionally, homes sold 24 days faster in that period, The New York Times reports. One result of the rising prices has been an increase in Reno's homeless population.

On a recent evening, Chance Reading, an electrician who has lived in the area for 15 years, went to the City Council chambers to speak against a proposed development near his home in Verdi, on Reno’s outskirts. He was part of a standing-room crowd ... Neighbor after neighbor [complained] about clogged roads, overcrowded schools, and a creeping sense that residents were being overwhelmed by development. “Our big message tonight is really about the pace of growth and trying to have a sustainable growth pattern versus a cycle of boom and bust,” Mr. Reading said.

Read more