Nevada’s fifth largest city and growing fast, the City of Sparks makes the most of its marvelous high desert climate and its status as Reno’s twin city. Enjoying all the excitement of casinos and nightlife, it has world-class ski fields and golf courses, and some of the nation’s most spectacular scenery and best and most varied outdoor recreation opportunities on its doorstep. Acclaimed as one of the top five cities in America to retire in, this vibrant town of 82,000 residents has a lot to offer.
Location
The City of Sparks is located between the Carson and Virginia mountain ranges in the Truckee Meadows of Northern Nevada. Although originally a separate city, over the years the boundary between Sparks and neighboring Reno has become a purely political demarcation and the two cities are often referred to as a twin city (i.e. "Reno-Sparks").
Geography/Terrain
Sparks is situated at an elevation of 4,410 feet in the high desert of Nevada.
Distance to 3 Closest Major Cities
Sparks is 6 miles from Reno, 137 miles from Sacramento, and 390 miles from Los Angeles.
Jobs
Part of the larger Reno urban area, Sparks has enjoyed steady growth in recent years, with a vibrant economy and low unemployment. Major employers are the casino and related tourism industries, distribution, construction, and education and health services. A recent survey of 50 technology, information and health service companies in Washoe County indicated continued job growth and expansion with the creation of 1,648 new jobs by 2010.
Housing
Sparks is currently experiencing a housing boom, partly fueled by steady migration from California and other states, with developments such as Wingfield Springs, the Foothills at Wingfield Springs and D'Andrea increasing the value of the housing market. There are plenty of homes available, including single family, condos, gated communities, and luxury mansions, with prices ranging from below $300,000 to over $2 million.
Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
Sparks’ location in Northern Nevada, close to Reno and Lake Tahoe gives its residents access to many wonderful parks and an almost limitless range of recreation.
In Sparks itself the fantastic Sparks Marina Park offers boating, swimming, trout fishing, volleyball, lighted trails, picnic facilities and a large playground, and there are even plans for scuba facilities. Nearby Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America and among the most spectacular lakes in the world, with stunning peaks and forests all around and a marvelous range of outdoor activities for all ages and interests, including some of the best skiing and snow sports facilities in the world. Just 35 miles north of Sparks, the ancient Pyramid Lake with its glorious desert setting is also famous for its fishing, and for the thousands of white pelicans that inhabit the lake and its many picturesque islands.
And of course no account of Sparks’ attractions is complete without mention of the area’s famous nightlife! From headliner shows, world class dining, and sensational nightclubs to all the best in classic and state-of-the-art casino games, there is something to get everyone’s pulse racing.
For golfers the Sparks area offers access to some of the nation’s best courses. Superb public courses like the two 18-hole courses at Red Hawk Golf Club, one designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr, or the 27 holes at the Wildcreek course, are only minutes from the city center, while the award-winning Montreux Golf and Country Club boasts a Jack Nicklaus-designed 18 hole course and a 60 tee driving range.
Special Attractions/Events
Boasting a reputation as Northern Nevada’s premiere special events venue, Sparks attracts vast numbers of visitors to a wide range of events in the city’s Victorian Square. During the summer months the weekly Hometown Farmers Market offers the best in local produce as well as live music and other entertainment. The Big Easy is a three-day event that brings the food, music, and atmosphere of New Orleans to town, while Hot August Nights features classic cars, food, and music for the whole family. And the world famous Nugget Best in the West Rib Cook-off attracts over 400,000 people to enjoy the competition, the live music and other free entertainment, and to sample some of the 150,000lbs of prime rib on offer.
For sheer excitement it is hard to beat the annual Reno Rodeo. The third largest event of its kind in the country, it features riders competing for over $1 million in prize money in what has become known as the "Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West”. With bronco riding, barrel racing, cutting, craft exhibits, food, and a fabulous Midway carnival, this is an event not to be missed.
The Reno-Sparks twin cities enjoy an enviable reputation as a center of the arts, and the annual Uptown Downtown ARTown event shows that the area has much to offer in addition to casinos and gambling. Each year more than 100,000 visitors flock to attend over 200 events in Reno’s parks, and galleries and on its sidewalks. This event’s fine art exhibitions, opera, ballet, symphony and storytelling events- most of them free- have won for the city the coveted U.S. Conference of Mayors "Outstanding Achievement Award for City Livability".
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Indigenous people- most recently the Washoe- have lived in the Sparks area for thousands of years, and it was not until the early 1850’s that the first Europeans began to settle there. Most found ways to survive and prosper by providing services to California-bound emigrants. Cattle ranching became common, with local ranchers buying emaciated stock from west-bound travelers and fattening them up to sell to future wagon trains.
Named after the Nevada Governor of the time, Sparks itself only came into being in the first few years of the 20th Century, when the Southern Pacific Railroad moved its roundhouse and maintenance yards- and many of its employees and their families- from nearby Wadsworth. The railroad company offered its employees title to a tract of land in Sparks for $1, an offer eagerly taken up by 67 families, whose houses in Wadsworth were then dismantled and shipped free of charge to be reassembled in the new town.
The town remained a quiet backwater until the 1950’s, when a housing boom developed in Sparks as newcomers arrived in response to Reno’s rapid economic growth. Since then the town has seen steady, and at times spectacular growth, with the development of warehousing and light industry in the 1970’s and the spread of casinos and gaming from Reno in the 1980’s.
Nowadays the city’s heritage is maintained in numerous historical buildings, including the former Washoe County Sparks Justice Court/Library and Hale's Drugstore buildings, which together house the Sparks Heritage Museum, where artifacts illustrating the history of Sparks and the wider Truckee Meadows area are on display.
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