Grillin’ with the Homeless—Now for Taxpayers Too?

Well folks, it seems summer is officially here—and the new hot spot in Washoe County is none other than the bike path along the Truckee River. Forget parks, backyards, or permits. A reader recently sent us a video showing homeless folks with a barbecue setup, turning the riverside into Reno’s unofficial open-air smokehouse.

Naturally, this raises a few questions. Chief among them: can the rest of us join in?

If you're a taxpaying resident of Washoe County, maybe it's time to dust off that Weber grill, throw it in the back of the Subaru, and head on down to the river for your own impromptu cookout. Why reserve those ribs and hot dogs for the Fourth of July when you could be living your best life—midweek, riverfront, no permit required?

Don’t worry about fire restrictions, public use ordinances, or those pesky “rules” the rest of us used to follow. Apparently, we’re playing a new game now: open flame, open access.

And look—we get it. Life on the streets is rough. People gotta eat. But when one group is free to fire up the coals on public land while another gets threatened with fines for cracking open a beer in a city park, it does make you wonder: are we enforcing rules, or just vibes?

Because if we're tossing the rulebook in the river, let us know. Washoe’s responsible residents are long overdue for some riverside revelry. Let’s get grandma down there with her potato salad, crank up the Bluetooth speaker, and turn the bike path into a block party.

Of course, if someone does get cited for doing exactly that, we’ll be waiting patiently for the city's explanation. Spoiler alert: “It's complicated” isn’t going to cut it.

Until then, cheers to barbecue equality. See you by the river—just follow the smoke.