I grew up in a neighborhood quite close to Oddie Blvd. Aside from the street my house was actually on, it was the only other street I had memorized as a child and knew where it was located. I always thought if I ever got lost I could find my way back home as long as I could find Oddie.
In my head, Oddie is associated with summer. Whenever I could escape on my bike claiming I was simply going around the block I would ride to the 7-11 on Oddie and Sutro. I would go to buy some ice cream to cool off or simply to stash a snack for later since my mother prohibited junk food. Sometimes I would walk my dogs with my sister and cousin. Each one of us had a leash in hand for the three dogs. I was always afraid to tie my pup outside while I went into the store for fear of someone stealing him.
I suppose it was the fear my parents instilled in me of the area being dangerous. Especially since the notorious Pat Baker Park was around, which before its renovation was a hotspot for crime. Or the shady gas station across the street on Sutro which was constantly changing for some reason even now. I guess it’s called GoMart now, it was a Sinclair before.
Across the street from the 7-11 was the Livestock Event Center, where the rodeo was held. I never went as a child but I could always hear the cheering and the fireworks all the way from my house. This was another reason Oddie reminded me of summer. The 7-11 there would put out the same rodeo horse mannequin around rodeo season.
Continuing down Oddie you’ll run into a plaza with stores called Silverada plaza. There’s a Dollar store which I have the faintest memory of it being a 99 Cent Store sometime as a child. There’s a Goodwill, Goodwill bins, a McDonald’s and the empty warehouse that used to be my Dad’s favorite store; Lowe’s. After sitting abandoned for a while it is now the Oddie District.
Growing up pretty low-income my family had a lot of business to conduct there. I used to be so embarrassed to thrift but now it’s so trendy and people’s opinions changed about it. Later as a teenager, I got my second job working as a cashier for Goodwill. I can for sure remember telling people a thousand times we were located on Oddie and Silverada. Back then it was the only Goodwill in Reno.
While Oddie still extends quite a lot longer going towards Sparks, my Oddie Blvd ended at Teglia’s Paradise park and Paradise Plaza. I have the faintest memory of when the water was clean when I was in preschool and playing in it believe it or not. I believe this was around spring for my preschool graduation. My stronger memories of course are associated with summer. Where we would park in the parking lot for free to get into the Rancho Swap Meet on the weekends since my Dad didn’t want to pay for all of us. Within time, the park became what it is now a park filled with geese and geese poop and murky waters.
However, it was ever so present even into my adolescence when my middle school High Desert Montessori would take us to do PE since the school didn’t have its own gym or a suitable space to do PE. We would take the infamous Oddie bridge which has recently been destroyed to get to the park safely.
Meanwhile, every August fairs would be set up in the empty space in the Paradise Plaza. You knew the fair was in town when you would drive down Oddie and see the rides from far away. Since the rodeo was a no-go in my family this was one of the only summer activities to look forward to.
My parents are still in the area and it looks like they don’t plan to go anywhere soon. So I still visit Oddie every day. It’s an area I have memorized like the back of my hand. The surrounding streets were the first streets I learned to drive in. So yeah of course I’m comfortable around them. Even now that Oddie is changing, I’ll hopefully be around to witness another one of its evolutions.