Throughout the book "Northline" by Willy Vlautin, even though it is not exactly prevalent, the bus station is Allison's gateway to a new beginning and her turning point. She had encountered numerous downfalls and copious dangerous situations in Las Vegas and the bus was her token to getting away. To starting a life without Jimmy, to keep her secrets of her baby to herself, to get a new job, and to hope that she would receive a better future. As the book described Reno and where Allison traveled, the only images it kept putting in my head were images of a run down Reno that was sketchy to be in. After driving around, Reno was not what I assumed it to be. Some new buildings were built to keep up with demand and expand Reno, and old buildings are still present to show people a little bit of old Reno and its history. I came across the bus station and to be honest, it was not as I thought it would be. It was actually pretty nice, a lot nicer than some of the ones in Vegas. Although, this station did happen to be near Fourth Street which houses a large majority of the poor community. It even has a homeless food kitchen.
Returning to my previous thoughts, the book detailed the bus station as old and run down but my impression was that due to the large population of people who ride the bus, regardless of their social status, the bus stations are nicer than depicted. I imagine it costed a little bit of money to make an airborne bus sitting in front of the station. One thing the book and the actual location did have in common though, was the fact that bright lights could be seen from afar and if there were no busy streets at the time I had gone, I imagine the river could have been heard as well. Sounds like a peaceful start to a new life.
And with that.. Onto the next location
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