Ok so this
is an analysis of the casino district and the neighborhoods around them. I
checked it out on my bike when I rode to Reno Bike Project today. Don't worry
Will I rode slow so I could take everything in and I took an alternate route
venturing around some areas I wouldn't necessarily go.
The last
boundary in my mind between Reno's casino district and campus is the sororities
on Sierra St. Campus is pretty nice all the way up until there. The grass is
green and well kept and there really not any homeless people near campus. There
is such a drastic district as I cross this boundary. Things become run down and
sort of dreary. The casinos leave that impression because they are kind of
sleazy. They make an awful attempt to be classy, but when they are just filled
with old people who are overweight and 40 year old women dressed like 20 year
olds, they are in fact the opposite of classy. Buildings are run down and need
a new paint job giving the streets a grim back drop. Homeless people are at every
other corner. They make for amazing photographs even though they dirty up the
streets. The raw emotion looks amazing from the lens of a camera. My favorite
photo that I ever took was of a homeless man in Reno this summer.
The values
there seem low. Gambling is a very negative thing in my mind. The whole culture
that surrounds that is scummy. I guess people who visit occasionally are ok,
but if a person frequents the casinos they have a problem. Actually two
problems: 1. They have a gambling problem and 2. They are contributing in a
negative way to a culture that needs to be revitalized. How to revitalize it? I
don't really know. I'd start by getting rid of the odor of cigarettes and
cleaning up the streets.
The fact
the casino district was once off limits to students doesn't surprise me at all.
In fact, it is still kind of closed off today. Students really don't go there.
The college environment is in its own world, unique from any others. This is
why people get sucked in and spend years in college. The real world is scary.
In this case if the casino district was the real world I wouldn't blame people
for staying in college. Luckily Reno has some nicer real world areas just not
quite in the same proximity as the Casinos to campus.
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