Letter: South Tahoe on path to being ghost town
To the community,
Recently I reread Wallace Stegner’s “Where the Bluebird Sings to Lemonade Springs.” It’s about living and writing in the West.
Also, I read Irving Stone’s “Men to Match my Mountains.” It’s a big book about the winning of the far West.
Bill Crawford
Both books are in part about the periods of boom and bust in the far West, the gold and silver strikes. And when the strikes petered out, many towns died and were ghost towns. The books are about more than that. But the theme of boom and bust fits South Lake Tahoe.
I thought of the casinos across the state line. For me they are comparable to gold and silver strikes in the their boom times. Over time millions came here to gamble, strike it rich at the dice and card tables. But now the casinos are in major decline. The boom is dead. The bust is here. On the California side of the state line the casino bust is deeply felt. So are we becoming a far West ghost town? When I look around, it seems we are going down that rocky road.
Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe
Bill, SLT was known as the “trashy” end of the Lake when I moved there in ’71. In large part because of the Casinos and the type of clientele they drew to our mountains and our lake. About the only thing the city’s ever done to correct that image was put the power lines underground.
If the casinos were to go, it would still be trashy. But like the old joke about 500 lawyers chained to the bottom of the ocean, it would be a start.
I love both books you mentioned, but, like you, I’ve reached the age where Stegner’s “Angle of Repose” is more my story.
Well that letter was certainly hyperbolic and hollow.
Time for you old people to step aside, retire, and let the younger generation run things.
We will never be a ghost town because of the lake. But visitors are doing everything they can to avoid our run down businesses and the worse they get the more they are shunned
I agree with Tahoe time, the lake and wilderness is what has always been the main attraction, casinos can be found everywhere now days, you certainly don’t have to drive all the way up here!
One thing I just thought of, is many of us (myself included), have been thinking of our town as dirty, dumpy, and dingy lately, but I just thought, I really didn’t feel that way this summer. I felt we made some great strides with improvement this past summer, with the Commons getting completed, and holding concerts, and all the sidewalks that got put in, so is it just winter that is weighing on us? giving us a negative view of things? Is it all the sand and dirt everywhere from past snow sandings? Is it the fact that the snow is not white anymore?, but dirty, and impedes our way in many cases. There is more litter on the ground, it seems, maybe because clean up is not scheduled in winter, wind blows things around more. I think a good coat of fresh snow would make things look beautiful again, not perfect, but beautiful.
Folks that visit our BEAUTIFUL (and I think we live in one of the most beautiful settings on the planet) may not be greeted with the most up to date buildings and facilities, but I think many comments on these threads about our town are missing the boat. Buildings (even the most beautiful ones) don’t interact personally with the visitors that spend good money to get and stay here. WE DO! The residents and the businesses (and the employees of those businesses), and our town in general would be best served by focusing MORE on being inviting to our guests and strive to deliver a guest experience that is over the top and cannot be duplicated anywhere else. THAT is what the new millennium traveler is looking for, and will continue to return if they were to receive it. We need to stop the “I’m local, you’re not” mentality, as it does nothing but put a dividing line between us and those that would keep us afloat economically.
The opportunity for SLT to try new more effective approaches to developing a healthy tourism based economy through marketing and event development has died. Government (County and City) and the non-profit agencies groups that control the south shore economy squashed it. Slowly the visionaries of private enterprise moved on to better locations.
If you want to fix SLT problems than you need to cut out the cancer that caused it. Hold the government individuals and the crony developers and consultants accountable. Get rid of the non-profit mentality and return to a free enterprise foundation.
Before I get the typical liberal response – free enterprise does not mean no rules. It means the rules apply to everyone. EVERYONE! Freedom enables innovation, within the rules. I am an environmentalist – we need the environmental protections. Government should be there to enforce the rules EQUALLY. It is not there to run the economy.
Government overstepped its bounds and this is the result.
Nice history lesson Bill. Did you want to be on the City Council of a ghost town when you applied? Are these the “sour grapes” comments of one who didn’t achieve their goals? Everything changes. Read Darwin. This town needs people without defeatist attitudes that will set a course towards the future. Bring in jobs that will allow people to raise families. Make that priority one. I for one am not ready to throw the dirt on top of this community and bury it like a Dodge City.
Did you forget the environmental wackos who would dearly love the Tahoe basin to be a ghost town. “Save the lake”, the heck with humans is the mantra of the lawsuit happy devolvers. Too much of south shore would require a bulldozer as the only way to make things better. Too many regulations, too many self-serving and self-rightous groups and individuals, and a total lack of common sense are dooming a once reasonably prosperous community. Population is down about 25% or 5000 people in SLT alone, to about 18 or 19 thousand residents (update your road signs to reflect this truth, city manager.) El Dorado county is down about 3000 people in the basin. Though Harrah’s recently helped bring in a 100 or so high earners (along with their children) to clean their rooms as they couldn’t find any workers in high unemployment SLT. Those children are just great for the school system to enhance their payroll with more bilingual special ed teachers. Not a word said by our local politicians about this travesty. As Tahoe goes, so goes CA and the nation. Just look around.
Importing poverty and exporting jobs is the way to prosperity, is it not.
Parking meters are another great way to make visitors appreciate the beauty of Tahoe.
Bill, I appreciate you effort to point out the obvious to our nearsighted leaders.
Now you uberlibs bring on the venom.
thingfish – I agree we need more young council members, state representatives, members of Congress. It’s never going to happen if the younger generations are always waiting “for you old people to step aside.”
Max – High-paying room cleaning jobs were available and locals didn’t snap them up? They must have been out of town picking up some quick big bucks in the central valley rice fields. Are you actually a liberal, using sarcasm to highlight the follies of tea party thinking? If that’s the case, very well done!
Bill, thanks for poking at people to make them think. You might not always be right but you always create the environment of generating ideas.
Boom and Bust. I think this is a cycle which Tahoe has gone through a few times. We boomed starting in the 1800s and then slowed down. We boomed starting in the 1940s and then slowed down in the 1970s. We boomed in the 1990s and retreated to our lower level today.
My suggestion is to build our “brand” on the constants throughout history and emphasize this. Instead of people coming for the gambling, we need to create other events to draw people where the gambling is a feature of being here rather than the reason.
Reno seems to do an excellant job of this “branding” as they have events throughout the year to draw people to the “biggest little city in the world”.
LET’S STRESS OUR HISTORY as well as our outdoor features. Get the Visitor’s Authority to become more like Reno’s to attract more people. Contact them with ideas you’d like to see happen here, not in Reno. If they brush you off and tell you it can’t be done, work with the City Council to find out why.
Support the local Historical Society to create information which draws people to Tahoe and keeps them excited once they are here. Websites, historical signs through out South Tahoe describing the history of a neighborhood, walking tour brochures available to tourists, etc. Virgina City does a good job of this and we should learn from them.
Let’s ourselves become more engaged in the community and where we see things we wouldn’t want to look at on our own vacation, work to correct them. Contact building owners to clean up or dress up their property. Use the City’s Neighborhood Service Teams to create change. Don’t just sit back and complain.
Defeatist seems about right to me, if reading these boards is any indication.
Who keeps voting in these old crony codgers over and over who caused problems like the Hole in the first place? Get some younger folks with energy and ideas on the city council. Scott Valentine was right. And I’m not exactly a youngster anymore myself. Austin Sass, another one with ideas, energy, smarts, and motivation. Next in line from the voters. Did the fossilized Council pick him? NOOOOOO. At least the City Manager seems to be fairly capable.
WHY have I been reading for years that sign regulations are going to be enforced, then each time I visit SLT the same dumpy burned out shells of signs and some buildings are STILL THERE? It’s incredible. Here’s an idea: enforce the friggin’ regs. If necessary, give 3 months notice then tear down those horrid signs.
That will light a fire under the violators to do what they’re supposed to. If you don’t clean it up, it will continue to present the same image. Too bad if you think it’s government interference – it’s called enforcing the code, which is there for a good reason. Use the city’s surplus to provide short term loans to the sign violators for replacements if necessary.
But it’s not all bad, as some would have you think. Much of the Ski Run to Stateline is appealing, and the natural setting is unmatched, with better access for side trips to Emerald Bay, Desolation wilderness, Spooner summit, Hope Valley, Kirkwood, Yosemite, and the Eastern Sierra than found from the north or west shore. Focus on outdoor recreation, and spinoffs that support that and other visitors who can enjoy the outdoors and weather.
Mix in some luxury development (like Marriott and Edgewood) with more affordable options in botique hotels and inns. Tie it all together with walking, biking, and skiing trails. Provide better information on activities and a workforce that actively cares about the visitors, without going overboard. Focus on providing better quality but affordable dining.
The ideas have been rehashed endlessly. In spite of the critics, I love coming there. I’ve spent plenty of time on the West and North shore, but prefer South Shore. But the nagging naysayers annoy the hell out of me. It’s your town. Where are the real leaders?
Bill, You have a firm grasp of the obvious. I have been here 30 years and have witnesses the slow decline of the South Shore. I am not optimistic. Looking at the current makeup of the City Counsel I see little in the way of new solutions to the same problems we have been dealing with for decades. There is a lot of focus on the tourist and their experience, I say let’s make this town great for us locals and the tourists will certainly reap the benefits of happy locals.
SLT: Sleepy Little Town. . .As a ‘veteran’ of the Boom years, it is past time to recognize that just TWO individuals (Bill Harrah & Harvey Gross) did a pretty good job of creating a flourishing local economy w/o any ‘smokestack’ industry, versus, for example Lake Baikal (our Russian ‘sister lake’), at least 15 X’s bigger than us.
Baikal has pulp mills on their ‘shoreline’, and little ‘tourist’ auto traffic, even with a 1,000 mile circumference – more or less the exact opposite of a Tahoe situation.
Casinos long since owned by other than their Founders have made a policy of exporting themselves and the jobs that were once here as a ‘shrewd’ ploy – “if they don’t actually come to Tahoe (or Reno), then we can just build a casino wherever they are” philosophy. . . now overbuilt & under-patronized. That can be a blessing now, looked at properly.
Whatever passes for leadership is still needing to be inspired by Tahoe’s sheer beauty & potential, as a new beginning & socioeconomic ally, which they’re having difficulty with because they don’t even look at existing defaults: “what does TRPA think about (anything) ?” & “we better appease the casino corridor; they’re our largest employee base”.
This is the path to ‘bust’ we’re currently on, as neither of those ‘defaults’ have any experience with the entrepreneurial spirit to build “from the ground up”, as will be necessary from where we are now.
Just satisfying “thresholds” that haven’t yet been met since their inception is not enough to allow for the type of sustainable communities that are vital, viable, & ‘resilient’ – for Tahoe, we also need to be consilient (unifying our natural systems) to optimize our potential, as that’s all we really have. . .’silos’ won’t do it.
“Policies equal to the scenery” can be accomplished with “True North” sustainability, not a ‘Band-Aid’ that appeases the need to say we’re for “progress” to merely qualify for grants. . .those are not revenue streams that accumulate growth capital. . .they only cover current payroll, and “perpetuations”.
Dancing to others’ tunes will not allow us to compose & orchestrate what could be an optimized Lake Tahoe future. . . with a little help from our friends !!
Boom or Bust, indeed ! . . .it’s here now.
Gary—Please suggest some things which might be done.
You’ve presented a good analysis of the past and present. Share your ideas for an optimized Lake Tahoe so others might give a little help.
We have a tv crew covering events at Vail Resorts for a foreign audience of destination travelers who spend up to 2 months on ski holidays. With respect, your tourism bodies need a kick up the bum.
Bill, can’t argue with what you have said. The bust is here and will continue because of one simple but very challenging word. Leadership!
Quite simply, there is none. Bill, the reason there is none is because the people don’t want it. Their voting record makes that clear.
To the non-city individuals who complain that you have no say, well Santiago is part of the problem as well. What has she done to heal our economic woes? Also, how many of you non-city residents have campaigned for change over the past 12 years? Personally, I think the city voters are ignorant of the issues and selfish. Next election if you want the likes of Valentine and Sass as Not Born on the Bayou does, get out and help them by knocking on doors.
To Max Planck, I think your numbers are still high. Maybe we are closer to 16,000 residents full-time residents.
No one wants to invest in a town with NO PITY!
The Corporate machines have squeezed ever bit opportunity out what was Great with the old names of being there or being square,Frank & Rat Pack,Glenn Campbell,Dolly,Rogers,this list was great,plus we had, GET THIS!!!…5-Stars on the doors,dinner shows,free drinks,plenty business,it wasn’t the lake that brought them here with money falling out their pockets,it was the chance to WIN,go home with few bucks,plus these playing cards REWARDS IDEAS ARE BS, really good for nothing.You could get burger,fries if you lost 100 bucks,1000 lost got you a room,show, and a invite back.
You try find a good deal down the street on the Gold miners side the line ,they still rape you with non earthy pressured society rat race attitudes to buy crap no one needs or appreciates or wants to remember!
You want see a sight,walk down by Edge-wood on 50 ,look back at the casino drive through toward ca.,looks like a dust storm in the setting sun almost every evening.
They can’t even keep the dirt off the highway through town cleaned up,pretty simple to do if someone just do it.
I know there’s lots people who keep pumping up the lake as a Cash Machine,to lots people on earth there’s plenty lakes,beaches,snow covered places all over the planet,when you seen one, you more less seen them ALL.
People now days are looking for special excitement,people are couch potatoes more than ever,they don’t give a rats about bike trails,swimming,camping,skiing,driving all the way up to Hooters ville when there’s no good hooters to Look At.
People should understand this like in comparing the Good Old traveling Circus shows that where big draws once upon a time,died with the things people wanted to do, where to spend money,what you really get from for time invested.The circus was the place to go so men could see good looking women in tight beautiful costumes,cleavage,while the females,kids, attention were on animals of a different nature.
I’ve talked with plenty out town people ,both from the states ,Across the pond,they say there’s this cloud dust that hangs over this town,it lost its Mojo!
Kinda like those see the monster signs in the middle the desert,largest rat on earth,mummy in stone,anyone THATS driven across this country sees this stuff.Then you stop and the fleas,ticks,blood sucking prices makes you get back in haul butt down the road ,never wanting to return.
This what happened here,more people stay down where there’s first class treatment,affordable prices,less regulation,better options of what you want do.
Bay area people know this just a cut throat town they casually come up to visit but don’t want stay long.
Not Big Deal.
Few summer rock concerts at the trashy Harvey’s casino out door fair grounds,cheap no names noise at the commons,over priced farmers market,tons craft fairs, hot rod car shows isn’t a must see invitation to people now days to spend the time effort to come see whats been going on for years,it got Boring.
No one wants keep reading the same old book ,over, over, over.
People here in town need to reinvent the wheel, so what goes around ,comes around, with a little Mystery.
On top the whole thing,road works,and all these EPA projects shoot holes in the boat that’s damn near taking on water with nothing in the hull.
peace
Mr. Crawford, and to all the others that commented on his piece about SLT becoming a ghost town.
Bill , sure this town has had its ups and downs.
What I’d like to hear is some creative ideas from LTN readers, what can be done to make things better here on South Shore?
Clean up the place, promote it, along with upgrades to our infrastructure. Encourage business rather than discourage.
Recreation is a big deal here and should be expanded upon. Lots of room for work on that front!
I don’t want to sound like a broken record so I won’t repeat my other suggestions from previous posts.
Ideas! That’s what what we need,Ideas and jobs! OLS
I keep saying this…why are we looking to government to fix this problem? Property owners: fix up your places. Business owners: provide over the top service that will keep people coming back. Locals: be nice and welcoming, don’t flip off drivers and be rude on the roads and in the stores.
We have a beautiful place to call home. We have had keepers to make sure it stays beautiful. But how can we truly be beautiful on the outside when we’re not so pretty on the inside?
Nothing is beyond fixing. Can’t blame the “hole” on the condition of the rest of the town.
Here is my new idea: Swiss Chalet is for sale. Scusa is across the street and doing very well. You have pizza, burgers, vegan and sushi all within 2 blocks. Why not be more pedestrian friendly and encourage people to walk to and from these businesses? Make it a fun and attractive thing to do. Wouldn’t it be great if a good owner came in, spruced up the Swiss corner, brought in some new tenants that could add to this foodie center? Instead of competition it would be a benefit to all, and plenty of parking around there. Just a thought :)
Hang ups,
You brilliant, rambling, no holds barred savant. Your post made my day! Cocktail Grannies.
Suggestion, drive up to Tahoe City and see how they do it. Full county funding without the unnecessary expense and duplicity of a municipality.
Listen to/evaluate the prosperity center. Might get a better idea about what the change possibly will be.
30yrlocal,
Very well put, couldn’t agree more. With a little “elbow grease” and a better attitude from business owners and their employees this town will turn around.
Over the years my folks owned several businesses in town. Often they were somewhat run down upon purchase but through hard work and a ittle investment, we cleaned those places up and turned them into several profitable businesses. Nice looking properties when we were done fixin’ em’up. We were always busy with a steady clientele.
Be polite, respectful and courteous to our guests and visitors and you’ll have a repeat customer at the store, resturaunt, gas station or the second homeowner that comes up a few times a year and is actually glad to see you for their short time staying here.
It’s really not that hard. Just treat people as you want to be treated when you are on vacation or if you yourself are just out shopping locally. (You are shopping locally, right?) Take Care , Old Long Skiis
So, you think SLT is destined to be a ghost town? See no redeaming value in what remains today. Then please, vote with your car, and leave. We don’t need folks here who hate the place. There are plenty of us who love it that can fill your shoes.
Personally, I think, what kind of a joke is this? To me SLT is at it’s prime. It is giving me more of what I came for than ever. Oh shucks, I didn’t make millions off of a share in the casino business. Boo hoo. I could care less. I find the scene at the casinos just very sad 9 out of 10 days. Oh, when the celebrity golfers come to town, and all of their followers, the sights indoors do perk up a bit. But Tahoe requires big casinos about as much as does Aspen, Hawaii, Vale, or would New York or SF.
I am a semi-local, one who gets to enjoy his vacation home about 20% of the time. Heavenly, the Rim Trail, miriad other hikes, swimming and windsurfing in the freshest water in the world, simply gorgeous environment when all you wish is to sit on your a$$, … Please, remind me again what is wrong with this place?
You having trouble making a living up here? Why don’t you try coming up with a skill that’s needed here? Why don’t you work where you can, and come back when you can? Need huge crowds to fill the rooms and every redundant tourist shop like yours? Fine for you, but as much as I like people, I hate crowds. That’s largely why I think things are so nice now, why I snowboard weekdays only, never have to fight for a seat in a bar or restaurant, etc.
I’m not terribly happy that my home here is valued at half of what I paid for it, but I am confident that its value will return, as soon as the doomsday and outdated Vegas attitudes move out and let those with a fresh and adoring attitude towards Lake Tahoe and all of its surroundings move in. The world is in a sick funk in many ways. How can anyone be surprised that the discretionary spending that vacations are don’t hurt a town like this disproportionately. And that when that funk drags on and on, so is our turnaround slow? When depressed in other ways, sadly it is much harder to see the beauty in a pretty lake, trees, or fresh fallen snow. But that beauty doesn’t change. Just the eyes of the beholder. And we all have some choice in that matter.
Casinos are meant for desserts that have no other value. If you think Tahoe needs a casino as much as a barren sandscape does, you’ve truly gone blind.
“Government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem.”
That just about sums it up for South Lake Tahoe.
“No offense to females,on top this our town casino workers are **** ugly,”
Hang ups you are a raging —hole.
You should try kayaking during a lake wind advisory.
To those that live here and don’t like it, I say leave! Move on! Go live somewhere that you DO like.
If I lived in a place that I thought was trashy, junky, dumpy and run down, I’d move away,simple as that.
I could sit here in SLT and ridicule Carson city or Gardnerville, but I don’t. Nice little towns where some old friends live. I respect them and their chioce to live there. I just prefer to live here.
For those that don’t live here but still seem to enjoy putting it down, why bother? What’s the point?
Maybe So.Shore will be perfect someday, like all the other towns in ‘merica. You know, gangs, shootngs, drugs,old buildings, high unemployment…Hey wait a minute we’re almost on par with every town in the country, maybe even a notch or two above!
SLT,love it or leave it. Old Long Skiis
Old Long Skiis,
“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” seems to be an inherent trait in some folks. Even way back in the supposed Garden of Eden. Me? I personally don’t think there is a better place to live on the planet than South Lake Tahoe! And am quite proud to call this my and my family’s home.
Digital Content largely said it! But I’ll just add I wish our Council, instead of being solely concerned and focused on how our bloated bureacracy can maintain its excessive pay/benefit package (I refer you the dumb parking meter plan!), would put forth some ideas on how to revitalize our private sector!
And Councilman Crawford, I don’t recall your putting forth any ideas on that front either?
Old Long Skis,
Respectfuly,
SLT is the epicentre for the illicit drug trade. With that comes gangs and crime. Where have you been living? The illicit drug epidemic in this community surpasses the places where your friends live. Why would they want to live here?
The leadership that jumped on the bandwagon in an effort to get a piece of that marijuana pie is the same leadership that took it away once they realized the negative impacts it had on the community. However, it was a little too late. Their liberal/ignorant stance on marijuana helped push many families out.
The town is built upon businesses where an education is not required. Thus attracting a bunch of pot heads with no skill, work ethic or integrity. Ask any employer how difficult it is to find hardworking, loyal, dedicated employees.
On the flip side, what professional is going to relocate to an area where they can’t utilize their education? Local businesses can’t or don’t offer sustainable full time hours, wages and benefits.
Many of the business owners haven’t a clue how to run a business in the first place. Anyone can rent a space. A lack of customer service and product leads to a lack of business. This adds to the impact it has overall. I mean, who doesn’t know that it’s cheaper to shop off the hill? Who wants to spend their hard earned money on bad/rude service? I don’t. And please, stop using the excuse that it costs more to transport goods up here.
As for electing new leaders…pffft, why do so many people think that baing a Tahoe Native is essential to providing anything to this community? If anything, that homegrown ignorance is what is helping to keep the City of South Lake Tahoe in a state of peril. How can you possibly think outside the box, which is critical, when you haven’t been any farther than Sacramento for Christmas shopping?
This town is built and based on who you know, not what you know. Personal favors and bias affiliations are the key elements that run operations.
I was born and raised here. I am a true Tahoe Native and I can see that nothing has changed. Same old garb, different day and the same ‘ole people constantly asking the same ‘ole question. “what can we do?”.
If I’m not mistaken, there are a couple of visitors who have taken the time to chime in but I see that nobody bothered to listen to them or engage in the conversation. Yet, everyone continues to pizz and moan like a broken record.
I didn’t like it here and I moved. I wont be back. Go ahead and dwell in this cesspool of drugs and poverty disguised as something sustainable.
This town is so incredibly negative, political and infamous for black balling people and businesses that twirk the wrong person or persons.
You conmpare our crime to other communities Old LS? We most certainly do have crime here, but it’s not reported. There has always been a long standing practice of hiding things from the media or the media working alongside the City to hide things from the tourists.
Before you all slam me, yes, I know my post is entirely negative and counter-productive but to be honest, it’s the fall out from having lived here too long, and seeing and dealing with one negative issue after another. It’s a constant fight and struggle to maintain a home and business here. It really is and it is not the case in other areas across the U.S.
Rather than tell me to get out if I don’t like it, try being open minded to my complaints and developing solutions for residents like me. Now there’s an idea.
Aaron,
With all respect due,
I hear Texas is lovely this time of year and that Gov. Perry has a Big ‘Ol “Lone Brain Cell State” Welcome for Y’all! I hear that it’s a tax whiner paradise too! By all means all my unhappy fellow citizens… Move On.
Aaron, I do feel that vibe around town, there is a perky upside to town, people that like to get outdoors, be active, but there also is a huge dark side to town, people that just live in a stupor, minimal drive, just enough to barely get by.
I think this is going on all across America right now, but I would believe that the % of addicts in our town is larger.
For those talking local stats – South Lake Tahoe is located in a rural vacation resort area of 21,403 residents. Approximately 23% of the real estate sold is owner occupied by full time residents. As of the 2010 Census there were 15,087 housing units of which 8918 were occupied and 6169 vacant. 61.1% of the occupied housing units were rentals. I’m sure those resident numbers have declined since 2010. For what it’s worth I hope this info is of interest to some. If you find more accurate data I’d be interested in knowing. Go Tahoe!
Whoa! Yes, folks, this town is in a bust cycle. It is time to re-structure our offerings and, along with this, our image.
Terminate the old city council members. Ban the corporate box stores, who export their earnings to other places.
Raze the Horizon. Back-fill the “HOLE” – make these open space parks. One casino is plenty. Convert the others into high-end HOTELS, not dumpy economy motels.
There is too much competition in every industry with not enough friendly, service-oriented individuals either to own and operate a business or be employed by one of the very few remaining locally-owned, caring small businesses. The Colorado centrally controlled Heavenly-Vail Associates could be a positive factor for change. We will see just how “community” oriented they truly are through their actions upcoming.
This here is a tall order. But, I do agree with Mr. Crawford. This town is dying and the vacation home owners, who seem to think it is at its peak and someday will return to its great value, are part of the problem, not the solution.
We need a COMMUNITY!-united in vision and action.
Whew, where do we begin to affect change on this one?
The Lake and surrounding mountains are and will always be the jewels of attraction.
Our entire world is in transition. Unity, love and positive action are required to shepherd us all through the brewing storm. Visualize it. Pray for it!
Back to the jobs, we need quality jobs, that will attract quality people. If the job scene is minimum wage level, few benefits, poor hours, and seasonal, who would even want jobs like that? the cream of the crop ie quality workers will go elsewhere, where they are more appreciated, don’t get me wrong, we do have some great people, that our area makes up for the lack of a quality job, but we also have a town full of people that are in no shape or economic position to really actively participate in the community, if they even did care.
As I travel around the country, I meet people who like traveling too. They ask where I am from and when I answer “Lake Tahoe” the reply is always “I love Tahoe”.
Seems to me the best way to appreciate what we have is to get a new perspective. Many of us who call Tahoe home love it. Many who visit love it. No place is perfect but from what I’ve seen, Tahoe is close.
Aaron,
Although I don’t want to get drawn into a long discusson of why I like living here on So. Shore, I would like to make a few points, if you don’t mind.
You wrote “SLT is is the epicentre of the illicit drug trade. With that comes gangs and crime. Where have you been living?”.Really?
We are the center for illicit drugs? News to me! I wasn’t aware that So. Shore was awash in illicit drugs.Okay in the early 70’s?, well there was LOTS of stuff goin’ on. Crazy times indeed.
Yes there is some gang activity here, but mostly it’s just high school kids hangin’ out tryin’ to look tough. Not to different from when I was a kid, though I was more with the hippie crowd. Mellow and peaceful, just a young man againt the Vietnam war and our government.
Where have I been living? On So. Shore since 1962 and I’ve seen plenty of changes, but the more it changes the more it remains the same.
Hope I didn’t ruffle your feathers or get your hackles up, just a few comments from Old Long Skiis
I love living in South Lake Tahoe and being a part of our caring community. Do we need some things fixed? Sure we do, but doesn’t everyone? We still live in a great place!
I’ve found it quite interesting reading the perspectives of different locals in this thread compared to those like myself who are regular visitors and consider this our second home. One reason I really like SLT and coming up there is that it’s a real town, with real issues and a down to earth sensibility, not just a resort catering to the wealthy.
There are a lot of things that may impact residents day to day that don’t fall on my radar so much. Some of them have been mentioned by others in these comments. My perspective falls on the one thing that I react to most other than the outdoors when I’m up there. That’s the built environment and whether that’s attractive, interesting, and comfortable to interact with when I’m visiting.
From that point of view, much of it is really cosmetic. If even just the outer shells (buildings, signs, and streetscape) are cleaned up and modernized along the entire length of Lake Tahoe Blvd., the town will present a much more impressive feel that will appeal to new and additional visitors who may react poorly to some of what they see when they spend time there.
That one thing could make a huge difference if done systematically and completely along the main drive. That stretch can’t and doesn’t all have to be the tourist core, but signs and exteriors that are clean, fresh and attractive will do wonders. With a clever approach, ways can be found to do it affordably.
Once you get and keep that upgraded reputation with visitors, many other good things will follow for all. I’ve not found people to be unfriendly or unhelpful, and don’t need to be waited on hand and foot as a visitor – sometimes that even gets annoying. But I do like to be around people who take the effort to make what they have be the best it can, and its appearance is the first impression to show that.
It is such a great place to come and spend time – it’s just up to the residents to realize what a gem it is and treat it like it deserves. Many here do – but so many seem to spend too much energy blasting it without providing any solutions. Needed improvements will involve hard work, and everyone taking initiative if the city leaders continue to languish.
No way I’m giving up on it, but the glacial pace of change and excuses and blame there baffle me, compared to what we tend to do in the Bay Area when something needs to be addressed.
Not Born on the Bayou,
Your (paraphrasing here) “Just clean your dirty little town up and everything else will just fall into place” attitude is what I expect from you “second home in Tahoe” types. This town should be more than just another tourist trap. We need better jobs. We need a sense of community. We need family values. We need to fix the gang problem. (Sorry OLS, it is not just high school kids looking tough, check the number of heroin OD’s here last year.)
We need better mental health care. We need affordable shopping options. We need to fix the problems with the Lake itself. We need so many things that you out of towners take for granted each day. Then you have the gall to tell us if we just slap a coat of paint on it all are problems will be solved. Thanks! How insightful! Sorry if I sound harsh, but really, a facelift will make it all better? People will see through the “same old whore, different dress” approach very quickly.
NotBornonthBayou,
Good words! Yes Tahoe is a gem but I feel too many people take it for granted and like to point out the peeling paint on an empty store and will make a big stink about it and yet nothing gets done. Lots of belly aching but with no results. It all falls on deaf ears.
We WILL get this place fixed up, “I guarantee it” to quote that corny commercial on TV.
This old guy aint’givin’ up on our little slice of paradise! If I have to round up volunteers to help clean up the town , well so be it.
A bunch of old farts with buckets of paint, some wire brushes and sandpaper, paint brushes/rollers,brooms and rakes workin’ their way down hwy 50?
What a sight that would be! If the city of SLT won’t take care of this town , then we the people have to!
I’ve lived here far too long to stand by and watch this town slowly crumble and decay. I will not let that happen!
Please share your thoughts . Positve or negative.
Old Long Skiis, the eternal optimist
Laketoohigh,
I’m not suggesting a fresh coat of paint is a cure all, I’m just saying it’s a start to make things look better along hwy 50.
Perfect solution? Far from it. But I figure it can’t hurt to urge some of the property owners to clean it up a bit.
As far as gang violence and heroin use I don’t really know much about that other than seeing the occasional graffiti sprayed somewhere and kids walking in groups.
I just figure a little cleaning up around here could not hurt. At the very least it would be a beginning that would maybe take hold and grow.
Just a thought, can’t blame a guy for tryin’. OLS
Well Laketoohigh, I get home from work and find your screed knocking us “second home in Tahoe types”. Funny, I don’t even own a house there. But I do consider it a favorite place and second home when I visit. Good to hear you know so much about my type though, and that you think my hometown’s so free of the problems you mentioned in your’s.
So you need good jobs, family values, better mental health care, etc.? I agree, and I’m rooting for you. But do you think they’re just going to fall out of the sky? That you’re entitled? Last I checked, there aren’t a ton of firms rushing to come set that up in SLT – so it’s going to be up to the community to figure out how to make it happen.
If you have better ideas than tourism, please bring ’em on. From my standpoint, you don’t, in the short run at least, and the competition is working to snatch it away from you.
What’s wrong with a little constructive criticism that you know is true? It’s not a “dirty little town” to me, it’s a great place with some fine people. But it needs a facelift in a key part of town as a starting point to convince other visitors that you care about your town and about them too, to keep them coming and the economic benefits of that.
Who claimed a cosmetic refresh would solve all the problems? Not me. It’s a necessary start though. I’m trying to suggest a way (as many others have repeatedly) to improve your best opportunity to boost the main and maybe only big industry for now that will bring the chance for improvements for the questions you posed.
Have you looked at some of the cracked, faded beat up signs and buildings along the blvd? What does that say to you, other than that many folks don’t give a damn? That’s what it says to me. But it’s only in places – much of the town has undergone some great improvements. Why not keep going on that?
I’ll go with OLS’s viewpoint. It’s a gem that needs a little more polishing, which will put it on a path to benefit all. Or, just do nothing, your call.
Bayou
Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but if you put a dress and earrings on a pig, well, it’s still a pig. A prettier pig no doubt, but still a pig. It’s not going to make people want more bacon. Our town is unique in the fact that the lions share of the money leaves town to go to the large corporations that have a monopoly here. Where do you think the mom and pop shops that try to make it here are going to get the money to do the facelift on the buildings they rent? Do you have any idea how much of a hassle it is to put up a new sign what with the TRPA regulations and paperwork? I in no way think you a bad person for wanting to voice your opinion on what you think will help our town. I just think you have to live here year round for at least five years before you actually have the proper insight into what goes on here. You are correct that companies are not lining up to come here. For most, the weather alone would keep them away. My suggestion is for the City leaders to spend time trying to get high tech industry like the Googles and Yahoos to set up shop here. These types of industry provide stable, well paying jobs for well educated individuals and are able to produce regardless of the weather.
As for how you do things in The Bay Area, nobody here wants Tahoe to be anything like that madhouse.
Bottom line, I just think you have things backwards. Fix the underlying problems with infrastructure first. Then you can pretty things up.