Local Infrastructure and Development Concerns
A series on "what's that construction project" brings about nostalgia and an early wish list for the next CEO of EDAWN.
A series we’ve recently started called What’s that Construction Project? has brought about a surprising amount of comments and concerns for a rapidly changing Reno.
From presenting a project staggeringly close to the highway to the now demolished Oddie pedestrian bridge to a new Marmot property between Wells and Midtown, our social media channels have been filled with reactions, many pining for the old days of unobstructed scenic views, riding bikes with friends without the fear of getting hit by cars and not being priced out in areas close to the center of town.
When asked what residents would like to see in a new CEO of the regional private/public economic development authority EDAWN, now that Tesla enabling Mike Kazmierski is stepping down, our followers on Instagram were quick to reply.
“Someone who cares about quality over quantity,” one wrote. Another: “Someone who focuses on community issues such as housing, affordability, wages, not just growth for the sake of growing.” And a third comment: “I’d like to see a new CEO that fights to keep the local companies thriving instead of huge corporations … OR bring in companies that are here to make a difference in our community not to just make a dollar off our community.”
If only our top officials listened and took heed.
Our Reporting Highlights This Week
In the spirit of infrastructure, we looked into roundabouts as part of our Ideas for Progress series and asked if Reno should have more of them. Answers on social media were mixed. Some liked the concept if done well but not where we’ve recently added them.
Here’s part of a comment from the ourtownreno Reddit channel: “Good roundabout: Kietzke/Neil. Bad roundabout: Midtown at S. Virginia/Mary/Center/Holcomb/Burns. What's the difference? The one at Kietzke is great because it's engineered correctly, placed at a good location, meant to create a non-stop bend at a junction between two heavy collector roads, serving as a gateway between it and the surrounding business park and rural residential zoning. It causes no problems. It solves them. The one in Midtown was placed as a band-aid for an unfixable problem as part of a failed RTC re-engineering project.”
We looked into a bizarre lawyers against lawyers case pitting famous divorce attorney Marilyn York against an employee of Hutchison and Steffen. That law firm (for which at large councilman Devon Reese is a partner) is also representing former Sparks’ Fire Chief Mark Lawson with his own headline grabbing lawsuit, making this a divisive time among our Reno legal elite.
We bid farewell to former reporter Kingkini Sengupta who remains in Reno as a grad student but is now working on other projects. She gave behind the scenes insights on what it’s like to be a reporter for Our Town Reno.
