Portlanders Aren’t the Only Ones Paranoid About Californians. Reno is Starting to Resent Its New Transplants, Too.

The city says its homelessness crisis, traffic congestion and rent surges have all worsened as Californians move in. Those complaints sound familiar?

Photo via IIP Photo Archive on Flickr

Transplants from California, of which there are many, often get the blame for causing Portland's growing pains: massive rent spikes, a housing crisis and a growing houseless population.

But it turns out Portland isn't the only city reluctant to welcome former Californians with open arms.

As the New York Times recently reported, residents of Reno, Nev. are pushing back against new developments being built to house California businesses and residents.

Reno, four hours by car from Silicon Valley, less than a decade ago was one of the nation's foreclosure capitals. With a new Tesla Gigafactory, Google data center and cryptocurrency company planning to develop in the little Las Vegas, median home prices have more than doubled and rents spiked by 30 percent in just five years.

"A common thread," the New York Times writes, "in Reno; Austin, Tex.; Boise, Idaho; Denver; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle […] is that each of these cities faces a growing housing crisis that, while not as severe as California's, is setting off many of the same debates."

One of those debates, the report notes, is over how to accommodate the city's growing homeless population. It's a conundrum Portland, which has in the past few months has seen multiple protests break out over proposed new homeless shelters, is all too familiar with.

Related: Meeting Over Southeast Portland Homeless Shelter Turns Ugly: "We Have a Meth and Theft Problem"

As rents rise, a Reno tenant-advocacy group is pushing its elected officials to include subsidized housing plans in new developments.

Portland, the fourth most common destination for people fleeing Silicon Valley, has been struggling to address its own affordable housing crisis for a few years. And some argue that City Council's recent overruling of a new, large apartment building design will scare developers away from planning projects here.

Related: Pearl District Residents Are Divided and Fractious Over Portland City Hall Blocking Apartment Construction

Amidst city's struggles to keep pace with rapid, California-induced growth, the sentiments of a young Tesla engineer, Brian Quon, who bought a home in Reno last year for a third of the price of what his San Jose, California home is worth, are some of the most telling.

He tells the New York Times that he's not really that aware of the Reno's growing pains because he doesn't work with anyone from Nevada.

"As the kids grow up and go to school," Quon told the New York Times, "I'm sure we'll be more involved in the community."

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