South Lake Tahoe Travel Answers

I'm not that familiar with S. Tahoe, but a friend has a house in North Tahoe in Truckee and it seems like a great town. Easier/faster to get to from Sacramento via the I-80 (versus windier road to S. Tahoe) Driving anywhere is do-able in the winter but you'll need AWD (like a subaru) so that you don't have to constantly put on chains!

South Lake Tahoe definitely has a better night life and it has more things, but night life is only fun if you are at least 21. You can only go to the casinos if you are at least 21 anyways. The down side is that the only resorts that are close are Sierra at Tahoe and Heavenly. North has more resorts to choose from.

SLT is a great town. It has lots to do and has many families. The Casinos are not the biggest part of the town. There are plenty of activities for children, like any town.

South Tahoe is a bit "busier" than North Tahoe or the smaller towns around the lake. There's a large grocery store at the south end of town, but you'll need to go to Reno or Carson City for Costco etc. If you're used to driving in lots of snow you should have no trouble. The only time there's an issue is during a snow storm or if there's black ice on the highway. Remember in CA, chains are mandatory if the CHP even sees a flake of snow. 4-wheel drives even have to carry chains although they rarely need to use them. A good friend of mine raised his kids there and speaks highly of the area. As far as "enough to do" it will all depend on what you like. You're not going to get the SF Symphony, Opera, or "Broadway" Theaters, but there are "small town activities. Snow skiing is some of the best in the west and water activites in the summer abound although the lake remains quite cold even in the summer.

I grew up in Tahoe and I think I turned out OK... I don't know the age of your kids or their interests, but there are copious amounts of things to do. The schools are good quality and have lots of sports and extra-curricular activities. The more active/outdoor your kids are the easier they will integrate with the other local kids, but South Lake is large enough there are things for all types. As for shopping, yes, there are the big malls in Reno and Carson, but we managed for decades with only going shopping 'down the hill' when other reasons necessitated going to the city. I don't know what cost of living you are accustomed to, but prices may be a bit inflated at the Lake, but once you add mileage to go up/down the mountain, most of the time it is better to just do your day to day shopping in town and save the large purchases to when you need to go to Reno/Carson. As for your question about driving in winter, I guess it all comes down to your experience and comfort. I've passed Donner Pass, Kingsbury Grade, Mt Rose and copious others in blizzard conditions. We actually preferred it since the weekend warrior tourists didn't get in our way...

It's a hard place to live. Most people I know who have moved there last about three years and move back to where they came from. If they like the outdoors there is a ton of things to do. Obviously, snow skiing also mountain bike, boating. Reno is not that far away and has all the big box stores. Roads there are usually plowed and open.