Life on the Frontier of a Megaregion

After immigrating from Italy as a child, the majority of my childhood was spent in Reno, Nevada, where my parents decided to settle down due in large part to my father’s love for the concept of the “American Wild West”. When I was given the opportunity to examine one place I have lived on an urban scale, I realized that returning to “where I am coming from” meant returning to the city I longed to leave as a teenager and that I carry a deep nostalgia for now.

Life on the Frontier of a Megaregion explores Reno, Nevada and its role in the emerging Northern California Megaregion through its surrounding geography and ecology, past, present, and future, and existing social scenes. It argues that Reno’s future role as a manufacturing hub for the western United States is a direct result of its unique environment and the continuation of zoning precedents established in historical metropolitan urban planning. It concludes with the hope that Reno can set a new precedent in the manufacturing industry’s relationship with surrounding ecosystems and lead the way to more sustainable industrial practice in the Anthropocene.