At Reno’s River West Resort on west Second Street, resident Donna Austin cheerfully showed off her immaculate RV. She and her husband William and puppy dog Lucy made the move to RV life 6 years ago. As Donna told us, "You know, it’s less cleaning and less work. Things are smaller. So we enjoy it."
Moving from Wisconsin to Reno, they decided to make River West their permanent home. With the housing prices in town now…it's cheaper. As she told us, “Lower utilities, cheaper to live for rent, housing payment…everything like that. So yeah, it is quite cheaper."
Donna is certainly not alone. About 350 people have made the RV park their home, living on wheels instead of bricks. Spaces have never been at such a premium. At many RV parks in Reno, they're all sold out. River West Resort owner Kari Galgon told me, “There are no openings right now." Has she ever seen it like this before? "No! I haven't."
At Rivers West, spaces are $750 a month. With Reno's median home price now at $400,000 and sky-high rents, spaces at local RV parks are getting hard to find. Kari gets lots of calls: "A lot of people that can't afford a single family home in Reno, and they're looking at an RV and they're going, 'Well I can afford that.' That's what they're going for."
And what used to be retirees and seniors, is now anyone who finds the home market unaffordable. Donna says her street is all “Little kids on their bicycle...middle-aged, older people. It’s a variety of people who live in an RV park." Families and now buying, and setting up things like their tiny houses at the park. Kari says, "I get a lot of people that are taking advantage of the situation and selling their homes and downsizing."
And with higher demand for permanent housing, River West upgraded everything, getting rid of the old homes that populated the resort, and sprucing up the community area right along the Truckee River. As she told me, “This, for their pocketbook, is a great alternative.”
It sure is…if you can find the space.
