Tahoe City CA

Lake Tahoe, CA 96145

Search all Tahoe City Homes for sale on Tahoe MLS

Location: Where Rte 89 runs into the Lake.

Price range: $200k – $2m. Lakefronts: $2.5m – $8m

Tahoe City is really the heart of California’s side of the Lake. Local agencies have done a great job creating fantastic lakefront or lakeview public attractions. The Heritage Park, lakefront bike/walkway, putting windows in the Dam, re-doing the Gatekeeper’s Museum and grounds, and the new grand dame of TC, Commons Beach. Commons has a huge playground, grassy lawn, an old jail that you can peer into, bathrooms and parking. These are all perfect spots to take in Tahoe’s splendor. There is a public pier at the end of Grove Street. The marina grew by about 30% in 2011 adding more slips and reconfiguring the layout. A large new restaurant now occupies a perfect lakefront spot that had been vacant for a while. The Marina will be the impetus for the second coming of Tahoe City (for more info on this, see text below the map at bottom of this page). Tahoe City has two large buildings near the Marina that we call ‘malls’ (but since I’m from Jersey, I second guess use of this sacred term). They house the well known restaurants Jake’s and also Hacienda (re-opened after years of absence) plus numerous stores and a great little chocolate shop.

Tahoe City’s neighborhoods start at The Highlands near Dollar Point. Down from here by the Lake you have the Skylandia Park and Bristlecone Beach, both are locals’ favorites. Some estate-size lakefronts make up the lakeshore into town. Back behind Tahoe City downtown, is a hillside (with a funny nickname, ask me) with relatively small lots but some lakeviews. Headed south of town, you’ll some to the Granlibakken neighborhood which has nice level, sunny parcels. I’ve extended the Tahoe City search just south of here so it covers the large lots with some bigger, more newly constructed homes before you get to Sunnyside.

 

Second coming of Tahoe City: Town saw a huge outflow of locals and businesses leading up to the bubble. Locals wanting to start families and others who simply wanted ‘more house’ ended up in Truckee. Local census data shows an exact match of the decrease in the North Shore population and the increased in Truckee’s (almost 15% each way). Contributing to that, some major TC landowners put lease rates through the roof which exacerbated the population problems by driving local businesses out. Confusion reigned! There were two prime commercial lots which should have clearly been made in to bars and restaurants but the foggy-minded owners made plans for offices. One resulted in the Customs House right in the middle of town. They had a number of tenants after a few years but now are down to one. Adding to the frustration of many locals, the County has decided to pay the exorbitant lease rates for this building and move the Building & Planning Departments in.

But on the good side, PUD projects are building a good foundation for public desire to visit Tahoe City. Sunday Night free concerts and midweek movies at Commons Beach have become a major draw. The new ArtHaus Cinema is a fantastic addition to the town. The golf course is owned by the TC PUD which is a healthy business/gov’t entity. Local businesses are coming back. And the Tahoe City Downtown Association seems to have young leadership that cares about TC for the long-term. So here’s to the Second Coming of Tahoe City, CA!