Thinking about relocating to Reno area

[dogmom327]

We are seriously considering relocating both our home and business to somewhere outside of Reno. At this point we are considering Fallon, Fernley, Dayton, etc. We'd be moving in about 10 months.

I currently live in crunchy-ville   It's great here, we don't vax, extended BF, AP, homebirths, good food, we are getting ready to home school and all that and I have a fantastic support system. But it's very cold here, it has an unfavorable tax structure (which is critical when self-employed) and housing is expensive. 

What is life like in Reno and the surrounding area? I'm assuming it's less crunchy but are there support systems?

Are there ND's or MD's who are okay with no-vax? Homebirth midwives, food buying clubs? 

Thoughts on the area in general?

[TahoeMama3]

Im not in reno but I am 40-60 away.. (not sure how many for sure lol) in Tahoe. In tahoe itself there are a feeeew "crunchy" families but i feel lost in the search for them! We also delay OR DONT vax (i delayed and selct. vaxed the first 2.. my youngest is 27m and still no vax d/t health issues) We cloth diaper (i know NO ONE who has even thought about it before..) we ERF and i try to tell as many people about it I can (and actually I went to a carseat safety thing here in douglas co. and they recommend and advocate it.. EXCITING!) I plan to EBF this baby and wish so much that i had the support from people in my area.. I know very few who even BF... 

the living costs in this area (not tahoe but the reno/carson area) are decent i think.. there are natural food stores (we actually have to drive to carson/reno to get to ANY) and you could be bound to find a Medical dr who supports your right and desire to delay/selct vax..i dont think NV is on the list of states that allow you to choose for personal reasons buuuut i could be wrong! If you choose to HS tho i bet that doesnt reeeally matter but who knows!

GOOD luck mama.. if you do or when u do move to the area and you want someone semi crunchy (were working on it lol) to talk to IM HERE!!!

jessica

[francesca'smom]

HI dogmom I'm curious what your definition of cold is, because I live south of Reno and  it's pretty cold here in the winter. We can get snow on Memorial day.

Anyway, that said, Reno will be nothing like Portland in terms of crunchiness, but it's not bad. I live 50 miles south in Douglas County but I drive to Reno or Carson for some activities , such as Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement classes, and buddhist meditation, that can't be found in my conservative area. Even though I live in a conservative area, my friends and I all EBF'd (nine years ago) and noone seemed scandalized or anything. I took my daughter to a state funded infant/ toddler playgroup/parent education group and they were very much stressing and supportive of AP. With the state of Nevada's economy I'm not sure those programs exist any more. I know of several people in my county who had homebirths, and a few more who have done delayed or no vax,. Not the norm, but they're out there, and there are homebirth midwives. There is a food coop in Reno, http://www.greatbasinfood.coop/  as well as whole foods and farmers markets in summer. I think there is one farmers market indoors through the winter.

I have connected with a few people through River School that are more on the crunchy side: http://www.riverschool.info/ Walking around Reno you might think it was all mainstream but it just depends on where you look I guess. Fallon I know nothing about, but being so close to the Naval air base/ Top Gun  it looks much more conservative to me, but maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

Nevada is the top state for foreclosures so I'm sure you could find some reasonably priced housing. In my neighborhood, prices have droppped by about half. Not great for us, but for anyone coming in to the area it would probably be pretty good.

I really like it here a lot, mostly I love how it is so wide open and spacious, but I do miss some of the crunchiness from where I gew up in the San Francisco area. I go back there to really get my fill when I feel too out of place here.

[dogmom327]

Thank you both for your responses! I'm headed down there next weekend to check it out. I do have some strong reservations, particularly related to weather. I do fear it will still be too cold (although I suppose you guys still get more sun than we do here) and I have concerns about the lack of rainfall and what that ultimately means for living off-grid, etc.

So much to think about. We are looking at Texas too (that would take care of the cold problem for sure!) but it's so far away. Moving to Reno seems so much more doable.

[francesca'smom]

We do get a lot of sun - 300 days or more. It's nice to have bright sun in the house in winter, even if it's cold outside.

Water is definitely scarcer than in Oregon, but it's not necessarily a problem. I could go on and on about water as I used to work in the water industry, so I'll just leave it at that  for now except to say check it out carefully before you buy anything.       

Have fun on your trip and good luck with the decision.:)

Janet

[Viola]

There are homebirth midwives in the Reno area:

http://www.renomidwifery.com/

http://www.sierramidwifery.com/Sierra_Midwifery/Home.html

http://sacredhoopmidwifery.com/

also Lennie Sue Tinseth, although I'm not sure if she has a website

I'm not sure about food buying clubs.  I mean I know they are around, and I used to be in one, but anymore I just get stuff from the Great Basin Food Coop.  There are CSAs and farms and I know at least one of them where you can do some work for your produce, but I'm not sure which one it is.  I'll post some links to the various farms:

http://www.girlfarm.org/

http://www.albaughranch.com/

http://hungrymotherorganics.com/

http://www.ag.unr.edu/WPM/

http://www.riseandshinefarms.com/

http://www.lattinfarms.com/index.html

You can find more links at the GBFC site and the Nevada Grown site: http://nevadagrown.com/

You can get produce delivered from Basket Case Organics.  http://www.basketcaseorganics.com/  They buy from the big places like United Natural Foods and Azure Standard--the same places the Great Basin Food Coop orders from, although the food coop also carries produce from various local farmers depending on what they end up getting.

The growing season is short here, and with cold springs, it can be difficult at times.  I know some of the farms have had that issue.  But, yes, there is a lot of sun and we had a cool summer and warm fall this year, so I have gotten to grow my tomatoes.  It's kind of like you might not know what you'll get.  You might often get a long spate of 50+ degree sunny days in winter, and then a cold, snowy spring.

We also have a thriving La Leche League here. :)  https://www.facebook.com/pages/LLL-of-Sierra-NevadaReno/134000403283526

[dogmom327]

Wow! Thank you! This is awesome info. I really appreciate it. 

[Viola]

You're welcome!  Have a good trip, it's really cold here right now.  Well, I guess it feels so cold because it's been warm.