Lake Tahoe’s new crisis: Families displaced, long commutes and a missing middle class

The Lake Tahoe region is in crisis. Historic real estate prices and a lack of housing options are forcing local sheriff’s deputies and firefighters to commute an hour or more into the basin, threatening response times to emergencies.

Restaurants and resorts that drive the region’s economy have had to scale back services. The hospitality industry, which lost droves of workers during the pandemic, is struggling to find workers who can afford to live there. Most businesses along Tahoe City’s main thoroughfare, North Lake Boulevard, have “Help Wanted” signs hanging in windows, some promising season ski passes to prospective employees.