Carson gets no respect, needs slogan

Here's your quiz for today: What's Carson City's motto?

No fair if you work in City Hall or drive one of the city's trucks, although I suspect even if you look at the city's official seal every day, the phrase may not stick in your mind.

Anybody who gets a water bill sees Carson City's motto every month. But all you're looking at is the bottom line, right? How much do you owe?

You never bother to look at the seal and the motto.

OK, time's up. Here's the answer: "Proud of its Past ... Confident of its Future."

It's fine. I think it's accurate. But it's not catchy.

Lots of towns are proud of their past and confident of their future. So our slogan doesn't exactly set us apart. It doesn't make people think, "Gee, that would be a great place to visit."

I was thinking about this the other day while I was reading an article about a book called "Cities Ranked & Rated" that put Carson City near the bottom of small, emerging cities.

In fact, authors Bert Sperling and Peter Sander listed Carson City in 40th place out of 45, faulting the capital for its "ugly mix of second-tier casinos and urban sprawl."

The natural reaction is to get defensive about such things, especially in Nevada, where we're known for ranking at the bottom of good lists and the top of bad lists. But the same book also listed Reno at No. 9 among 331 metropolitan areas in the country.

So they love Reno, hate Carson City. (Las Vegas was 129th, by the way.)

It's a pretty subjective thing to rank cities because everybody has their own priorities. I did a little checking and had no trouble finding Carson City listed among "dream towns" in a Demographics Daily ranking, and another rating guide to "Life in America's Small Cities" put Carson City at No. 19 in the country.

So somebody loves us.

Still, we want everybody to like us. We want everybody to visit us. We don't necessarily want everybody to move here, but it's OK if they stop and spend money.

Reno has the whole "Biggest Little City" phrase going for it, and it has a TV show, "Reno 911," even if the show makes its cops look stupid.

Las Vegas is its own motto, but they've also come up with "What happens here, stays here," playing up the naughty side. Also, as far as I can tell every third TV show in America is set in Las Vegas, has characters on their way to Las Vegas or characters who just left Las Vegas.

In the meantime, poor ol' Carson City is getting disrespected simply for being proud of our past and confident in our future.

Is there a catchy motto out there? (And if you have one in mind, other than Cartoon City, send it to editor@nevadaappeal.com)

Well, I was watching a movie the other night, and the sign at the city limits said "A Decent Town." I think this was meant to be a joke, so I wouldn't suggest it.

There's also an entire province in Japan that has taken up the motto, "We don't make an effort in Iwate." It started out as something of a joke, too, but people like it. Their laid-back, rural lifestyle is in such contrast to the hustle and bustle of much of Japan, they're proud of it.

Somehow, I don't think that's going to fly for Carson City, though. "Carson City. We don't even try" just doesn't convey the right image. Besides, I think the Legislature already has dibs on it.

I was thinking perhaps something Mark Twain-related, like "Roughing it in Carson City" might be a possibility, but then I remembered the last time we tried something like that we got a nasty letter from the people who already are making money off Mark Twain's name.

So I've been trying to think of some Carson City slogans that would be both accurate and catchy.

Carson City. Stop here on the road to Lake Tahoe. (Probably several times.)

The biggest little capital in the world.

West of Dayton. North of Genoa. South of Reno. East of Heaven. (No, I don't mean East California.)

Where the sagebrush meets the Sierra.

Home of the Nevada Supreme Court. Really.

Carson City: A long way from Pahrump.

As you can see, I didn't do very well on the slogans, so next I'll go to work on a TV show that could be set in Carson City.

How about "Bonanza, The Next Century"?

Barry Smith is editor of the Nevada Appeal. Contact him at 881-1221 or editor@nevadaappeal.com