We, citizens of Reno and the greater Truckee Meadows area have had enough with the changes. We do understand that progress is a good thing; growth is a good thing. But like most things, too much of a good thing can lead to terrible consequences.

Property prices have skyrocketed, pushing many citizens out of our beautiful city into poverty and homelessness. The over-crowding is causing congestion on our roadways. Probably most concerning to us citizens is the water situation. Those of us who have lived here a long time know the struggle to maintain water in this city especially when any minor growth occurs, but we have been pushed beyond capacity and are still luring in new large tech companies to continue “progress”. While we admire the drive of Mayor Schieve, it’s hurting us, the citizens, badly in ways that affect us daily. We ask the following;

1. Create and/or widen roads BEFORE building any new structures, housing, or multi-family housing units. If the city of Reno is unable or unwilling to do this, require that the builder/contractor build throughways to main streets before building structures.
Example: Virginia foothills at Geiger Grade roundabout. There are three apartment complexes and multiple new homes being built near the roundabout and zero new roads going in to ease the already congested roundabout and the 2-lane road. We do not wish to be like Spanish Springs where we will have a much longer commute to and from home each day due to insupportable roads. Throughways can easily be built directly from Virginia into said apartments without utilizing said roundabout, therefore not contributing to an already congested area. 

2. Build dams. We live in the desert (steppe) which means we are a drought ridden area. Years ago we limited the amount of growth here because we looked to the future and realized that our water is a precious resource and we have got to be careful with how much is used. We need to stop throwing caution to the wind and just “spending” water when we don’t have any extra to “spend”.
 
3. Rent caps. We understand this is a capitalist society and we LOVE that about America. However rents have almost doubled in the last 2 years. The average renter in Reno cannot pay the rents that are being demanded and low income housing is being torn down to build luxury homes that citizens of Reno can’t afford. Something needs to give. Please begin capping or demanding that rents not be raised more than a reasonable cost of living increase every 5 years. It’s not ok that some folks' rent has increased by nearly $1,000 in less than a year. It is forcing people into poverty and forcing those already in poverty so deep they are becoming homeless. We do not agree with government overreach, however in this instance something needs to happen. We need to make housing affordable and accessible to all current citizens of Northern Nevada. 
 
4. Stop giving out tax breaks to big companies. No more luring companies with big tax breaks only to see them fall back on their promises and hire out of towners, not contribute to community programs or infrastructure, etc. we already give businesses a much better tax deal than California does. We don’t need to give extra incentives unless they are promising (and following through with) incredible things for our community. 
 
5. Invest in our schools. Our schools are overflowing way past capacity. As with roads, schools MUST be built BEFORE we try and lure new companies or allow for new building of housing, apts, etc. We understand that a couple new schools are being built, and that’s great! However, it isn’t enough to resolve the overcrowding issue and keep up with any additional growth. On top of overcrowding, our schools are in terrible shape and our teachers are drastically underpaid. Where is the cannabis tax money that was meant to go to improving our schools? Why are we struggling to keep school infrastructure up and and not building the amount of schools we need? Nobody on the school board or in administration should be receiving any type of raise until our overcrowding issue has been resolved.
 
Please begin looking at all possible problems concerning this great city of ours before trying to add new huge tech companies that may increase the population. Foresight is a great thing to have. 

Also please note we are all active VOTERS. Most have children and most live in the areas that are being affected. Also renters outnumber landlords in this area. Just something to keep in mind. 

This city and the people in it are amazing and we just want it to stay amazing. Please help us to do so. 
Thank you, 
Residents of the city of Reno.