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 One thing is for sure
about Nevada: you can’t say it is boring! If you can’t find
something to do there, then you really aren’t trying. You can
ski world-class runs in the morning, kayak the river through
downtown Reno in the afternoon and then take in a world-famous
show and dine at a five-star restaurant at night. Or, if that
is too active for your new, active adult life, you can take a
drive on “The Loneliest Road in America” which is along Highway
50. It is roughly the same path as the Pony Express Territory.
Then maybe you could take in one of many unique museums from the
Liberace Museum to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. Or maybe you’d
prefer to visit one of the many state and nationa l parks
including Lake Tahoe. Of course, then there is also always the
gambling, fantastic shopping and nightlife of the Las Vegas
Strip.
Nevada began as part of the Utah Territory. It separated from
them in 1861 and adopted its current name from “Sierra Nevada”,
which is Spanish for “snowy range”. That is ironic as most of
the state is desert. The separation of the two Territories was
important for two reasons. One, it was important because the
population of what is now Nevada was largely Christian settlers
while Utah was predominantly Mormon. The two groups were often
violent towards each other. Second, the separation was
important to the federal government because of the population’s
political leanings. In fact, St atehood was rushed to help
ensure Abraham Lincoln’s reelection and Republican dominance in
Congress. This was due to the fact that its mining-based
economy made them more in alliance with the more industrialized
Union.
The current governor is Republican. That position is limited to
two 4-year terms. The legislature is a bicameral body divided
into an upper house Senate and a lower house Assembly. Members
of the Senate serve for four years and members of the Assembly
serve for two. Starting in 2010, both house members will be
limited to twelve years total. There is a noticeable division
of politics between northern and southern Nevada. The north has
consistently maintained control of key positions in state
government, even though the southern part of the state has the
most population. The north sees the south as encroaching on
their water and electricity resources while the south sees the
north as old guard and keeping the state from making more
progress. However, even with that rivalry, the state is about
evenly split between the two major parties whic h makes it a
swing vote state. That is proven in that the state elected
President Clinton for both his terms and they elected President
Bush for both his terms.
The state’s economy initially revolved around silver mining,
hence its nickname “The Silver State”. In the portions of the
state outside of Vegas and Reno, mining is still a large part of
the economy. However, it is now gold that is mostly mined.
That output makes up over 8% of world gold production. Silver
is a distant second. Those portions of the state also add to
the state’s economy with agricultural outputs in cattle, hay,
alfalfa, dairy products, onions and potatoes. Other components
of the state’s economy are printing and publishing, food
processing, manufacturing of electric equipment and machinery
and the very obvious segment of tourism. To that end,
unregulated gambling was common in the early mining towns but
 was outlawed in 1909 as part of a nation-wide anti-gaming
movement. But, mining started to decline during the Great
Depression and Nevada re-legalized it as a short term fix for
budget problems. It is now the state’s primary source of
revenue. Recently, however, the housing market collapse,
declining gaming revenue due to less tourism also due to the
economy, and higher gas prices have caused over a one billion
shortfall in the budget. Nevada requires a balanced budget.
The gaming decline has even led the halt of construction of a
new casino project meant to replace the old Stardust Hotel and
Casino. Another problem facing the state is a projected water
shortage by the year 2010.
Nevada is the 7th largest state. Over 80% of the
state’s area is owned by the federal government. Much of the
northern part of the state is desert with extreme heat in the
summer and sub-freezing temperatures in the winter. The state’s
highest r ecorded temperature was 125 degrees in 1994. Above the
desert plains lie lush forests and mountain ranges, some of
which have peaks above 13,000 feet. The eastern parts of the
state have some rivers and streams that break up the desert
terrain. On occasion, moisture from Arizona monsoons will cause
summer thunderstorms, but the state overall does not receive
much precipitation.
The state’s population is about 2.6 million with 85% residing
around Las Vegas and Reno. The population is 65% White
American, 20% Hispanics, 7% African-American, and 6%
Asian-American. Between 1990 and 2000, Nevada’s population
increased over 66%. As to religion, the population is 27% Roman
Catholic, 26%
 Protestant, and 11% Mormon with various other
religions at less than 2% each.
Nevada is one of the few states with no personal income tax and
no corporate income tax. The state sales tax is 6.5%. Counties
can levy local option taxes as well making it as high as 7.75%
in some areas. State and local governments collect the 2nd
highest amount of sales taxes in the nation. Property taxes are
30th highest nationally. The state’s friendly
incorporation laws make it attractive for corporations across
the country to incorporate there. It offers great flexibility
in the formation and operation of a corporation which allows
companies to avoid many cumbersome rules found in other states.
Nevada has a lot to offer and there are many active adult
communities to look at for retirement. One thing is for sure,
you wouldn’t be bored unless you wanted to be.
Look next month for our issue on Massachusetts. I invite your
questions, comments and suggestions, as always.
Till next time,
Dee Chandler
Editor |
