This is in response to Carl Ribaudo’s “MyView: Notes from the Front Row”, July 27, 2025.

South Lake Tahoe has indeed transformed into an entertainment scene during the summer with many venues to pick from. Carl seems to think that the South Shore has all but solved its traffic and people problems. Has it? Or is it because of other factors?



Entertainment venue tickets can range from free to up to $90+ a ticket. Locals who have limited discretionary income can take advantage of the free venues, but to go to a major headline venue, it’s not cheap. Then of course, you have to pay for parking unless you can use public transportation. Public transportation has limited areas it serves and doesn’t operate 24/7.

What is the percentage of people going to these events who do not live in the city of South Lake Tahoe or even within a 50 mile range of South Lake Tahoe? How many visitors attend because they happen to be visiting Tahoe vs. they are there because of the venue, and how far did they travel?



Implementing parking fees and taking away street parking in one region of Tahoe though tends to shift those people to areas without those restrictions. 

Beaches became cleaner after the 4th because of fees, fencing and/or personnel implemented, not because people voluntarily changed their behavior. 

Sand Harbor’s reservation system has reduced the line of vehicles waiting to enter in the early mornings but people who don’t have a reservation or don’t want to pay a fee to access a beach go elsewhere. That elsewhere is the East shore beaches. They are becoming more and more inundated with visitors. There are no entrance fees, parking fees and SR28 has minimal restricted parking. 

Emerald Bay needed restrictions because obviously people weren’t going to change their behavior voluntarily about where they park. 

So has South Tahoe really improved its traffic and crowd problem or just shifted the problem somewhere else in the region? I would ask the locals who deal with it on a daily basis.

April Stephens