Life in South Lake Tahoe? (San Diego, Sacramento: ski resort, real estate, sex offenders)

[earthwatersunwind]

I have a friend who is moving there next year, and my husband and I are growing tired of Southern California for many reasons. He's said it's beautiful, quiet, safe, and best of all, affordable. A good place to raise a family. Is this true? I've looked at some home prices, and they are certainly better than anything down here--so what's the catch? Is it a really small town? How many major grocery stores do you have, where's the nearest mall, hospital, movie theatre? Any help and opinions would be great.

[NewToCA]

It is very pretty, no malls though (go to Reno or Sacramento for malls). Decent amount of shopping though for a smaller city.

South Lake Tahoe, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

[inpd]

Originally Posted by earthwatersunwind

and best of all, affordable.

When an area has an average home price of:

South Lake Tahoe $404,100


and its deemed affordable, then you know CA is out of whack!

[Tim Currie]

Yes it is a very small town, about 25,000 pop. and yes it is beautiful, quiet, safe, and good for families. It's almost the complete opposite of San Diego, no smog, traffic, congestion, or really crime to speak of.

Have you not been there? Take a weekend trip and check it out.

Grocery stores? Plenty, and one 24hr Safeway (Von's).
Shopping? Um, nope. Any major shopping and you'll be heading to Sac or Carson City or Reno.
Small local hospital in town.
Decent theater in one of the casinos at Stateline (forget which one).

Outdoor activities? About anything and everything you can think of.

It's a great town, I grew up there. You have to want to be in a small isolated town though. It is a huge change of pace and scenery from San Diego. If that sounds interesting...take a weekend trip up there a get a feel for it.

Need any specific answers, just ask.

[earthwatersunwind]

Thanks for the opinions. Actually, the reason we are looking is that we hate San Diego. We moved here for family, but it's too much--too busy, too crowded, too expensive, etc. We're both from smaller towns, although not quite that small, and miss it.
As for home prices, an average of 400,000 takes into account the million-dollar homes, too--so I'm sure we could afford a nice little house. Never here.
What are the winters usually like? We are southern CA born and raised. Do you ever get snowed in, where you can't get to town, or get out of your house? Do you lose power and services frequently? I have no idea how to live in snow, though I've always wanted to.
Thanks for the help!
as

[earthwatersunwind]

And...what about the surrounding areas and little communities within a 10-15 mile radius, on the California side? Anyplace to stay away from, anyplace you'd recommend?

[DMenscha]

While the idea of living in snow country is certainly romantic, the actual day to day part of it can get to be annoying at best. I lived in a sierra ski resort town for 12 years and you haven't lived til you've dug your car out of the snow a dozen times in as many days.

If you really need to live close to your friends, I'd suggest the western side of the sierras from maybe Camino to Pollock Pines on highway 50. You'll still get some snow, but it wont dictate your life, and you'll also find housing prices better than SLT. Maybe you could also look at the Minden / Garderville area in NV.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by DMenscha

While the idea of living in snow country is certainly romantic, the actual day to day part of it can get to be annoying at best..

Agreed!

I lived in upstate New York (Albany) for 5 years.

1st year, snow was pretty, we would actually take walks
when it was snowing and it was beautiful. By the fifth year
we had sick of all the snow.

Also, remember that snowing curtails outdoor activities severely.
Golf courses typically close the first sign of snow so in Albany the
golf season was April until November.

It can be quite depressing since your stuck indoors all day
(either the home or mall). You need to take up skiing or snow-shoeing
or something otherwise it will get to you.

[Tim Currie]

Ahh, the snow is fun....if you want it to be. You'll never know though unless you try it out. Definitely a change from San Diego weather.

Yes you will get snowed in once in a while, but it's not very often. That also depends on your choice of vehicle, snow driving skills, and how adventurous you are

As a teenager, we rarely let the snow keep us stuck in some where if we wanted out, that's what big four wheel drives are for Seriously, I had a Chevy ext. cab Z71 4X4 and with good tires it was almost unstoppable. I remember driving over the pass into town to visit some friends during a blizzard and cruising down their street to pick them up and there was an easy 12" of powder on the roads. Of course many people get by just fine with smaller all wheel drives or front wheel drives as well, they just might be stuck in a few more times.

But here's the real deal, with a real bad storm, it might take ONE day before your street is plowed and easily drive-able. And you might get one to a few of those a year, not the end of the world.

And when there's a ton of snow that is the perfect time to hit up the slopes! There's not bunch of tourists crowding the mountain! But snow shoeing, cross country, and snow mobiling are also great ideas when the big storms come in.

I don't remember losing power often, once in a while, but not a big deal.

Anyway, living in the snow can be a blast, and if you want to....then you gotta try it out. Many people do and they love it, and they learn how to live in it and deal with it just fine.

[Luke9686]

If theres a snow storm on a weekend, the trouble will be navigating the traffic trying to get back to the Bay Area or Sac.

We went up there last year, and the day we left it snowed like 20 inches. It took us 4 hours just to get out of SLT. Another 4-5 to get home. I bet all the year longers were laughing their tails off at everyone trying to leave!