It's in the Signs

Absolutely Mike - I don't know if there is a sign ordinance, but there should be. I had to jump through a bunch of hoops just to put a sign in from of my business (near but not in downtown). People's perceptions can be more important than reality - tattered vinyl signs and poor facades definitely detract. Please make some noise about this so the council, newspaper, etc. are aware...

You'd think a heavily tourist-oriented area would have made some kind of signage standard ordinances a long time ago; at least in the 5 or so blocks around the arch. But the locals would say it is "communist /restricts freedom" and it would be shot down. So the downtown core looks like a patchwork of tackiness and eyesores. Which is what we got.

City Code Enforcement primarily works on complaints. Call Reno Direct at 334-info and make a stink.

Sign Ordinance based on size of building(space)and type of illumination, not really content or design based. Chapter 18.16 of code. DRRC may have further modifications but nothing that pops into my mind right now. Chapter 18.08.405 of code.

Regulate, regulate, regulate, regulate. In our misguided effort to fix society, we create more and more regulations and rules thinking, if everyone follows more regulations and rules the world would be a better place. We often forget, most all problems are created by these regulations and rules. Consider that government intervention and zoning rules created urban sprawl and heavy tax subsidies allowed people to build further and further out without paying for the extra roadwork, municipal services, and utilities that were built further and further out. This is why most all urban centers died in America, and even Manhattan was on the brink of self-destruction in the 70's. There is now a great urban renaissance as people are tiring of the ugly, box store, Disneyland suburbs and exurbs and want walkable, dense, cosmopolitan downtown living. So what do they do? They b**** about everything they see and want government to step in once again and regulate, subsidize, regulate, subsidize, regulate, subsidize, etc. Just brilliant right. Government and regulations creates the mess, so what's the answer? Free market? No, more government intervention and regulations. Give me an f n break! You noted supply and demand. That's the free market. If downtown stores realize they're getting more demand and higher end customers, they will naturally improve their signage to maintain and attract more customers and higher end customers. Let the free market work please! Government is the problem not the answer. When it becomes more expensive to build a brand new home out in Galena or Spanish Springs than a nice condo downtown, people will move downtown and by their numbers alone draw new, more upscale business.

And furthermore, you want to see free market cosmopolitan renaissance in Reno, don't look downtown, look at Midtown. It's undergoing a wonderful, indie, free market face lift with NO government bs subsidies and regulations. There's even a big fat weekly hotel and strip club in the middle of it all and nobody seems too worries about that. Everyone in midtown lives together happily, poor, rich, young, old, immigrant, yuppie, whatever. Midtown is what happens when you don't have multi-million dollar baseball stadiums, bowling stadiums and convention centers. Midtown is beautiful bc indie entrepreneurs built it without government handouts and regulations. If you don't like downtown, move to Midtown. There's plenty of cheesy, vinyl signs there too and nobody seems to cry about it either.

Blake are you serious? Do you even spend time in Reno? There is a liquor store on every block in Midtown and now another one is about to be built in Midtown 150 feet from a school which over 80 nearby businesses and residents wrote to the council opposing yet its being built anyway. Every other store in Midtown sells crack pipes and 40 ouncers. Ooh yeah such culture and renaissance. Your theory about free market assumes that these business owners downtown give a crap about their appearance or that people won't patron them if they have bad looking storefronts. We're talking about liquor stores and tattoo parlors, not high end restaurants. The people who frequent tattoo shop and bars could care less what the place looks like on the outside. So the rest of us are supposed to suffer because of that? The owners don't care, or else they would bother to hang their signs straight at least. You argument is invalid, because the only businesses downtown that have signs like Mike pointed out are liquor stores and tattoo shops. Look for yourself. I live in Arlington Towers, and don't feel my neighborhood should suffer because business owners don't bother to hang signs evenly and use cheap vinyl signs that get torn in the first wind storm. If they can't have that much respect for their neighborhood, then yeah they should be regulated because thousands of tourists visit downtown, our primary tourist district.

I agree with Devin on this one Blake. If you feel businesses in a primary tourism district should be free to put up signs that present downtown as a dump to tourists then you would be in the minority I'm afraid. He is correct, some businesses downtown don't care about their self esteem or presence. I receive more emails and complaints that downtown is a wasteland and received emails from tourists complaining specifically about 2nd Street.

Free market works. All you residents downtown complaining about how it looks, well guess what, if you bought recently, you got a heck of a bargain because demand was low. When demand is low, businesses deteriorate. We're in a Depression folks (due to factors beyond Reno i.e., deregulated financial markets and very unfree market Fed Reserve). You're basically asking to put lipstick on a pig. When the economy rebounds, not only will your condo prices go up, but you'll start to notice more high-income neighbors buying those more expensive condos. And they will start spending money downtown, and new businesses will come in, and soon many cheap bars or tattoo parlors won't be able to keep up with the higher prop taxes or leases. That's how the free market works. But you can't wait, just like all of America. You want gov't to step in once again, the very people who caused the problem and force people to paint lipstick on pigs. Midtown, even with liquor stores and smoke shops, still looks and feels ten times nicer than downtown and they did it with virtually NO gov't interference and subsidies. Will you guys just trust the market for once??? You got your cheap condo's bc of the free market. If you don't like downtown, why did you move there??? And people do care about the outside of bars and tattoos, why do you think they advertise on the outside? If you're cheap, you care about ads for $2 beer, and if you're rich, you care about ads for gourmet cheese served at the wine bar. You sound like snobs. Just be happy you're not in downtown SF and walking over homeless, human fecal matter, urine puddles, needles, aggressive panhandlers, crackheads, thugs, gangs, and massage parlors. Jeez louise downtown Reno is Disneyland, and yes, I've been there many times as well as all around the world.