In the shadows of a local digital billboard pleading “Please Don’t Make Nevada Like California,” lies a story as old as borders themselves. This reflexive rejection of newcomers, particularly Californians, has become such a predictable Nevada pastime that it deserves scrutiny rather than amplification.
The narrative is well-rehearsed: Californians flee their state’s high costs and taxes, descend upon Nevada for its affordability, tax benefits, and outdoor access, then promptly ruin it by driving up housing prices, clogging roads with their inferior driving skills, and voting for policies that will transform Nevada into the very place they abandoned.
But this convenient storyline ignores a fundamental reality: Nevada is the least “Nevadan” state in America. With only 27% of residents born within its borders and a staggering 46% that are California-born, the loudest anti-California voices often come from transplants themselves—just those who arrived earlier and pulled up the welcome mat behind them…